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Leica pricing on the used market

rayyan

Well-known member
I love the 35 and 50mm fls. So much so that when the M8 came out I bought 2 M8s and one set each of the crons and the luxes.

On a whim I bought some zm glass too. The sonnar, planar etc. I love the 50mm.

Mind you I already had a set of luxes for my film Ms.

I shall see if I can find a sucker/s for my unused brand new in the box 35/50/75/90.

I am sure I will. There does not seem to be a shortage of them for Leica products.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Hmm, just a thought but its not generally a good idea to refer to your potential buying community as "suckers" even if just meant in jest ... just saying .... :rolleyes:

p.s. how much for your 35 'cron? :D
 

thrice

Active member
Haha Good luck with your sales rayyan! I imagine it will be a very lucrative process ;)
I have a 50 lux asph due tomorrow, bought new from a store. I waited less than 2 weeks and paid $3695.
 

retow

Member
Prices for used Summiluxes are particularly high in the buy and sell section of this forum. Which I consider strange, since one would expect the crowd here to be an "educated" one. I have no idea why people believe e.g. a Summicron 50 is worth 5-6 times as much as a ZM Planar etc. However, markets are what they are.
 

rayyan

Well-known member
Hmm, just a thought but its not generally a good idea to refer to your potential buying community as "suckers" even if just meant in jest ... just saying .... :rolleyes:

p.s. how much for your 35 'cron? :D
Graham, you are absolutely correct.

A thousand apologies to Connoisseurs who appreciate the beauty that can be created in glass by Leica. A thousand pardons friends. My phone number is
...

Take care.

p.s the 35 cron is getting to be a very rare item. You see how it glitters when you look at it..at an angle!!:D
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Graham, you are absolutely correct.

A thousand apologies to Connoisseurs who appreciate the beauty that can be created in glass by Leica. A thousand pardons friends. My phone number is
...

Take care.

p.s the 35 cron is getting to be a very rare item. You see how it glitters when you look at it..at an angle!!:D
:D The current Leica gear has a special sparkle - one that comes from the liberal use of unobtanium in their construction. :D
 

rayyan

Well-known member
Haha Good luck with your sales rayyan! I imagine it will be a very lucrative process ;)
I have a 50 lux asph due tomorrow, bought new from a store. I waited less than 2 weeks and paid $3695.
Daniel, good luck and congrats on the lux. A fine lens indeed.

There is a growing interest around here in this arcane looking camera and its lenses. I think I shall wait some more for the appreciation to take hold!!:D

Best.
 

Paratom

Well-known member
Personally I have collected my Leica gear over many years.
I think there are so many alternative posibilities of lenses and so many used lenses on the market (which will keep their value) that I dont see a real problem waiting a couple of months for a certain lens.
Want a 50asph/1.4 and have to wait? Buy a used Summicron, or a Nokton, or a 50 Zeis 1.5 or 2.0 and use that until one gets the 50 Lux.

The nice thing is IMO you can buy a new lens without having to be afraid of loosing too much money in case you dont like/need it any more one day. Because you know you can sell it for a good price.

Personally I would not pay any more than list price for a lens just because it is hard to get. (if I didnt need it very very urgently)

Some of my Leica lenses I have owned for 15 years now - so what are 6 months of waiting?

I am more concerned that one has to (sometimes) send in a new lens for calibration - which stretches my patience.

So once I have a good calibrated lens I would say and recommend: Keep it. I would never sell my 50/1.4asphto gain some extra over list price just to buy a new one which might not work as well from the beginning.

Again - I think there are so many lenses on the market for Leica M that anybody who wants to shoot one can find the right lens.
 

John Black

Active member
If shopping for new lenses in the US, Keeble & Shuchat has the 50 Nocti ASPH for $10,495. I bought one from them earlier this year - http://www.kspphoto.com/leicastore.html. They also have several other lenses. Sean Cranor at Camera West will call / email if you're looking for something in particular. Ken Hansen is another option. I've bought from Camera West as well - and they do not mark up prices either (on new lenses).
 

wattsy

Well-known member
My personal view is that current used prices will not be sustained in the longer term - the whole buying frenzy has a distinct bubble feel to it. I've used the present situation as an opportunity to reshuffle my own lenses without financial loss (and I've also unashamedly 'scalped' a couple of high demand lenses I was able to buy from stock and sell for a modest 15% or so profit). Being able to sell used (albeit mintish condition) lenses for significantly more than I paid is a welcome change from the days only five or six years ago when selling a mint Summilux bought new meant taking a financial haircut. I sold my like-new Noctilux F1 in (I think) 2005 for about 60% of what I paid for it - a price which is itself now about 25% of the going used rate.:eek:

The present bubble seems to stem from a supply shortage largely outside Europe - probably a consequence of (or coinciding with) unexpected demand in North America and China. The situation in Europe seems different. There are waiting lists here in the UK but if you have a good relationship with one of the older dealers you don't have to wait very long. Probably a large element of luck but I recently obtained a 75 Summicron within a couple of days of asking and a new 35 Summilux within a week (the latter also, believe it or not, coming with a 10% discount:)).
 

leicashot

New member
I'm curious as to why people see this as a bubble? Demand for Leica is increasing a lot, and there seems to be no indication of Leica increasing supply.

I see the pricing as a trend and it would not surprise me if Leica is doing it as part of a longer term strategy to increase prices to match the used market, considering its obvious people are willing and able to pay such prices.

I can't imagine dealers are happy when consumers are buying at retail and selling at a profit. So Leica will either have to increase supply or increase prices to level out the market, new and used.
 

stephengilbert

Active member
Whether or not there's a bubble, I think the market is inflated by predatory buyers who seem to be buying lenses and then selling them on sites such as this one. I'll bet the dealers who sell to these people are thrilled to see them making more on the lenses than the dealers do.
 

Double Negative

Not Available
Whether or not there's a bubble, I think the market is inflated by predatory buyers who seem to be buying lenses and then selling them on sites such as this one. I'll bet the dealers who sell to these people are thrilled to see them making more on the lenses than the dealers do.
Yeah, seriously. Not just for the sake of reselling either. People with gear are selling if no no other reason than to take advantage of the situation and gouge the prices.

"So let me get this straight. You want me to buy your used lens for 20% more than list, new?"

I don't care if there's a waiting list or not. You can eat me. :thumbdown:
 

tele_player

New member
You could just as well criticize buyers who are willing to pay a premium rather than wait. It takes both buyers and sellers to drive prices up.

Whether or not there's a bubble, I think the market is inflated by predatory buyers who seem to be buying lenses and then selling them on sites such as this one. I'll bet the dealers who sell to these people are thrilled to see them making more on the lenses than the dealers do.
 

Moonshine

New member
Are any of you willing to sell me a 50mm lens? My M9 arrives today and i have a 1956 coll cron to use on it for now...wanted some newer Leica glass but ebay prices are just beyond me!
 

Double Negative

Not Available
I think part of the problem is people ordering five lenses from just as many dealers (causing a stock shortage) and selling them on, here, on other forums and the 'bay for well above list. The greed of a few is affecting the many and it's sad because neither Leica or its dealers see any of that. Granted, they're moving product - but c'mon.
 
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