Is buying M3 cheaper in Germany?

Johnmcd

Johnmcd

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I will be in Frankfurt for a few days come November and if this GAS remains will be looking for a M3. Am I likely to get one cheaper in Germany or do I just keep my eyes open online?

If so, any good places to look in the Frankfurt area?

Thanks,
 
Compared to the prices the M3 reaches in the US, buying one in Germany is not the best idea. I don't know about the price of an M3 in Australia, but you may want to take a peek at the German eBay or German store sites and figure it out.

Keep in mind that unless you act very quickly, the few days you have in Germany will have to suffice to test the camera (however way you choose to do it). Developing film over there is kinda pricey: I paid about 17 euros for a roll of 24 exposures because I wanted to show the photos to my wife and didn't want to wait... Now, if you can handle... good for you! :)
 
Honestly KEH or Igor Camera would be cheaper/give me piece of mind, M3s aren't cheap anymore fullstop.

If you wanted one locally CameraExchanges' going rate seems >$1300 as well.
 
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will I get banned for this?

There is a M3 in the classifieds which is a pretty good rate going by the indicative prices given above.

PS: the seller is a friend. :)
 
naruto said:
will I get banned for this?

There is a M3 in the classifieds which is a pretty good rate going by the indicative prices given above.

PS: the seller is a friend. :)
Click to expand...

So you are friends with yourself? I guess you'll never be alone :p
 
Only stuff that's well, cheaper" in Germany is new stuff when the Dollar's high......a while back M9's where cheaper overseas then here, now it's all about the same
.........and sometime's you find strange rare stuff in LTM, like Carl Zeiss Jena Sonnar's and Schneider Kreuznach Xenon's, I have picked up such lenses in Germany before, UNDER the collectors prices.

But, when it comes down to M3's, I think you will find a really great one far cheaper in the USA............Leica IIIG's and M3's have always been TOP NOTCH collectibles in Germany since get go :)

Tom
 
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EthanFrank said:
If you read the ad, he says he posted for another member, which is confirmed in the comments.
Click to expand...

Rayt said:
So you are friends with yourself? I guess you'll never be alone :p
Click to expand...

Are they trying to tell you something?
You're missing that one final screw
You're simply not in the pink my dear
To be honest you haven't got a clue
I'm going slightly mad
I'm going slightly mad
It finally happened - happened
It finally happened - ooh oh
It finally happened - I'm slightly mad ...

Too much Queen.

:)
 
Thanks for the answers. I sort of suspected as much. I suppose It was a romantic notion :)

I'll keep my eyes peeled in the classifieds here too.

Thanks again.

John
 
For whatever reason (probably the high volume of exports to the US as well as the exchange rate imbalance Germany once was as notorious for as China is nowadays) Leica gear was (and used still is) quite considerably more expensive in Germany than in the US.

The cross-border window shopping made possible by the Internet has eroded these local price differences for modern products, so that their current product line is roughly the same everywhere in the large picture. But you can still benefit from short term exchange rate fluctuation, if you happen to be in the right place at the right time.
 
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I agree with the rest of the board, prices in germany are not cheaper. I make a habit of hitting the big camera borse (used camera sales held in community type centers) and you will find lots of languages spoken there. The biggest buyers appear to be oriental and they are scooping up everything, driving prices higher. I watched one guy buy almost every m2, m3 and m4 that one guy was selling, easily spending over 15k euros. That guy walked to another sellor and started buying lenses. At that point I switched gears and started looking for large/medium format stuff. With that, you can find a deal as long as you are looking for a user camera and not a collector but that takes time. Hit one of the used camera resales folks, you will get a fair price and a working camera.

./e
 
I suppose if you bought the camera in Germany you would be able to get the VAT back when you leave the EU so that's roughly a 20% discount and maybe with a bit of haggling you could save even more. Although I have no idea if you actually do pay VAT for second hand goods in Germany, possibly?

Nonetheless, it's still cheaper than buying in Australia.
 
Normally there is no VAT on used items in Germany.

You can have luck in finding a good cheap Leica anyway.
E.g. I bought one of my really great M3 at a local camera store, that does not sell via Internet. Was a really good price. I talked a little bit with the seller and he said, that he put the camera out in the window 20 minutes before....
And that those would sell within one day normally.

But I'd say, it's luck and you have to know the right places. But it is possible.
Well known traditional local camera stores are getting new stuff nearly every day.
Old people know these stores because they are in town for decades. So they just bring them their stuff in order to sell it in commision.

Have fun at your trip!
 
I bought stuff from this guy in Franfurt. He is right in the middle of downtown.
I was pretty happy with my purchase: FOTOBRELL.
He has an ebay account as camera gentleman

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You are travelling through Germany or have a stop-over at Frankfurt Airport? Visit our shop in Frankfurt Kaiserstrasse 50 with many more second-hand offers and also accessories like filters tripods adapters and so on. Photographer Mike Schraft will take care of your wishes there. Just a 15 minute underground ride from the airport and a 1 minute walk from main station!
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There is a really nice m3 and pristine collapsible summicron in a local respected camera store in Appleton Wisconsin. Send me a pm and I can put you in touch with the owner. I tested the lens and camera and there are no issues at all the summicron is flawless with perfect coating and no haze. He wanted 900 for the package


Nik
 
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