Good place to buy used Leica in Basel?

[Jakeman]

Hi Folks,

I'm in Basel for a few days. Are there any shops around that sell Leica? I'm interested in used lenses, primarily. Is this a good place to go shopping?

Thanks,

Jason

 

[kully]

Jason, gear is expensive in Switzerland - I've hunted around the shops in Basle, Lausanne and Zurich when I had spare time last year and prices do not compare well with London shops. Of course, if you don't mind about the money then Google - I know there are shops selling Leica (and Voigtlander) here but I can't remember the addresses.

 

[Jakeman]

Yeah, I was thinking it might be higher here. A lot of things do seem more expensive. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in Basel... so the options are limited.

Thanks!

 

[nksyoon]

Have you tried Foto Marlin?

Foto Video Digital Marlin
Aeschenvorstadt 21
4051 Basel
Tel. 061 273 88 08

 

[Pherdinand]

the best place to buy leica I have found to be THMK
(that is, a rff member 😉 )
he sold me the m2 with a collapsible cron for a very friendly price.

 

[kully]

Physics, Jake? I'm sure you'll have a grand time, a lot of people from many different countries there.

 

[thmk]

the best place to buy leica I have found to be THMK
(that is, a rff member 😉 )
he sold me the m2 with a collapsible cron for a very friendly price.

🙂 Indeed, I think it was a good price and hopefully the M2 still gets the action it deserves. In the meantime I moved to Winterthur and try to find the time to use my remaining stuff... Concerning Basel I only know the store in Freie Strasse (near the marketplace with the beautiful townhall). I think it was Photo Wolf (Freie Strasse 4, 4001 Basel, Tel.: +41 (0) 61 269 99 99). Not much on offer and prices are definitely higher than in Germany.

Cheers

 

[veraikon]

Switzerland ist a high price country. It is not very wise to buy there.
Try to look for a shop eg. in Freiburg (Germany 30min trainride from Basel )

 

[Prosaic]

You´ll pay around 20% VAT in any European Country. Better buy in the US, except you´re a collector with unlimited funds.

 

[yanidel]

There is a misconception that Switzerland is more expensive that other EU countries probably because the old cliché of rich Switzerland. Yet, VAT is only around 8% vs close to 20% in the rest of Europe. So many times, on high amount items (such as cars and cameras), it might result cheaper, this is my experience anyway.

 

[nksyoon]

In Switzerland cameras in brick and mortar shops are still very expensive compared to the US, or even compared to Swiss online stores. The high retail prices are reflected to a certain extent in secondhand prices as people are reluctant to lose too much when selling secondhand. Also camera stores try to make a good margin even on secondhand equipment.

Within Switzerland secondhand prices are more reasonable in Bern and Lausanne than in Zurich or Geneva. Good deals can also sometimes be found at secondhand camera fairs.

 

[Jakeman]

Wow! Thanks again everyone for the comments. My colleagues here all think that living in Switzerland is pricey and do most of their shopping out of the country when possible. -Heard some amusing stories about garbage collection, how it's so expensive that folks do not bring the boxes home for most items they buy (e.g., shoes, TVs, etc.). If I had more time to sneak away, I'd go to some of the places outside of Switzerland. Worst of all, it's raining nonstop, so getting around is less convenient. It's funny how you'd think that being closer to where Leica are produced, that prices would be a lot less, but this definitely does not sound to be the case.

Thanks again,

Jason