Anybody notice Photo Arsenal is gone?

[Bill58]

I just realized that Photo Arsenal (or the other name I can't remember they went under here) in Germany is no longer an advertiser here.

After revealing my very bad experience w/ those guys, I read similar postings from other members and thought it was embarassing that they were still an advertiser here. If Mr. Gandy finally dismissed them, bully for him. If they did it as a business decision, I'm happy that they found it uneconomical to advertise here anymore. Perhaps no more of our members will be putting themselves at risk trying to buy from them.

We need to better promote the many fine dealers of equipment in our world--not the bad ones.

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Were they shphoto? Or is that a different German camera store?

 

[Socke]

Were they shphoto? Or is that a different German camera store?

They share an address at least, many people are under the impression that they are the same company.

OTOH I can't proof it.

 

[laptoprob]

Crazy firm. Strange and rare stuff but always overpriced. Who will miss them?

 

[jaffa_777]

Yes I noticed they have lots of stuff on ebay, but at ridiculous prices, but I guess there are suckers out their who will pay, which doesn't help us!

 

[peter_n]

All of their prices aren't crazy. Recently they had a virtually new M-Hexanon 28/2.8 at $485 and it went very quickly. Maybe it was reasonably priced because it didn't have the name Leica on it. Surely all these sellers know by now that Leica buyers are perfectly happy with price inelasticity?

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[Ororaro]

Their last ebay bill was probably 10 000$ because of crazy high priced listings and BANG! Bankruptcy! hehe

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[rpsawin]

Crazy firm. Strange and rare stuff but always overpriced. Who will miss them?

I will. Their prices always provided comic relief for me. I guess I'll have to go back to the Real Estate section of the newspaper for a laugh.

Best,

Bob

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[MartinP]

Hmmmm, the Photo-Arsenal website seemed strangely laid out I thought, although I never bought anything from them. I did get a few bits of SLR (film, not d******) gear from SHPhoto and that was fine, so I just went to have a look at the addresses. Both street adresses are in Nurnberg, but different postcodes, different streets and different telephone numbers.

EDIT: Looking further on the Arsenal site, I saw a link to "our other shops" which included SH-Photo. Maybe I was just lucky....

 

[Magus]

Post deleted by posters request

 

[Bill Blackwell]

Crazy firm. Strange and rare stuff but always overpriced. Who will miss them?

I couldn't agree with you more. Every time I see one of their ads I cringe and mumble under my breath, "idiots!"

 

[ddutchison]

If needs be I will be happy to fill the void in our community left by their departure.

Serious collectors may take this opportunity to acquire my classic Diana
for $9,000 U.S.D.. No triflers, please.

 

[Didier]

Were they shphoto? Or is that a different German camera store?

Yes, Arsenall, shphoto, it's all shphoto.de from Nürnberg. They have opened an office in Hongkong, too. I had some communication with them through ebay once and it was quite rough and unpolite. It has to be said other RFF members reported more positive experiences after shphoto had offered some lower priced ZM lenses for a wile.

Their price politics is the politics of the dealer who has a huge amount of collectables in stock. They do not need to sell quickly. They can wait until the collector comes that is willed to pay the asked price. I have a friend that owns an antiques business, it's the same there. Patience is gold. That's business and no one is forced to buy there. Personally I believe with lower prices they would finally make more deals and more money, but that's my opinion.

For instance, http://kevincameras.com is such a dealer with a giant inventory and quite proud prices (but not as excessive as shphoto/arsenall). You look for a vintage rangefinder item? They likely have it, for a price higher than at ebay or in our classifieds, with rigid payment options, but at least they're much friendlier!

Didier

 

[wlewisiii]

For instance, http://kevincameras.com is such a dealer with a giant inventory and quite proud prices. You look for a vintage rangefinder item? They likely have it, for a price higher than at ebay or in our classifieds, with rigid payment options, but at least they're much friendlier!

Didier

Kevin will also sell less "pretty" pieces at much saner prices too. I'm not a wealthy collector, by any means, but my Serenar 28/3.5 came from him - and by paying his price I could know exactly what I was getting, unlike most ebay auctions... I've also found that the prices on his web site can be viewed as a starting point, if you're up for negotiating... 😉 OTOH, if you're willing to pay as stated, so much the better for him...

Yes, I've bought from Mr. Li. I consider him a good person to do buisness with, unlike the sleeze at Arsenal. Your mileage will vary...

William

 

[Didier]

... I've also found that the prices on his web site can be viewed as a starting point, if you're up for negotiating...

I agree in everything. I travelled much through north africa 20 and more years ago and there in the souks and basars I have learned to negotiate really! Once in Algier, after several meetings of negotiating spread over a week, I bought a heavy marble/bronce Jaeger Lecoultre Art Deco table clock which I sold in a watch auction in Switzerland for about the 50x amount. But sometimes I regret, the clock was beautiful.

I have been close to buy gear from Kevincameras several times, but they unfortunately do not accept Paypal. I finance my photographic acquisitions mostly out of my paypal account which is fed by my ebay sales. Don't want to transfer it to my bank account and wire it from there for several reasons.

Didier

 

[Bill58]

Yes, Arsenall, shphoto, it's all shphoto.de from Nürnberg. They have opened an office in Hongkong, too. I had some communication with them through ebay once and it was quite rough and unpolite. It has to be said other RFF members reported more positive experiences after shphoto had offered some lower priced ZM lenses for a wile.

Their price politics is the politics of the dealer who has a huge amount of collectables in stock. They do not need to sell quickly. They can wait until the collector comes that is willed to pay the asked price. I have a friend that owns an antiques business, it's the same there. Patience is gold. That's business and no one is forced to buy there. Personally I believe with lower prices they would finally make more deals and more money, but that's my opinion.

For instance, http://kevincameras.com is such a dealer with a giant inventory and quite proud prices (but not as excessive as shphoto/arsenall). You look for a vintage rangefinder item? They likely have it, for a price higher than at ebay or in our classifieds, with rigid payment options, but at least they're much friendlier!

Didier

I think Kevin is certainly overpriced, but 100% honest. From my one experience, I will not say the same for the Arsenal/ shphoto guys. They can stick their overpriced stuff "where the sun doesn't shine" as far as I'm concerned. Perhaps I've succeeded in being even more blunt than Magus? No apologies, sorry.