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Used prices climbing?

tjv

Active member
Hi all,
Well, it has been about 18 months since I sold my beautiful Leica kit to find some practical purchases. It's summer here now and I miss my little M's big time. I've been trawling ebay to see what the current going rate is for an M6 and 35mm or 50mm lens. Am I right in thinking that since the release of the M9, prices of used Leica film equipment have gone up? It seems no one is even listing beaten up M6's for less that $1100USD now, where as they could be bought for about $750 - $900USD easily last year.
Just wondering...
T
 

ashwinrao1

Active member
Hi all,
Well, it has been about 18 months since I sold my beautiful Leica kit to find some practical purchases. It's summer here now and I miss my little M's big time. I've been trawling ebay to see what the current going rate is for an M6 and 35mm or 50mm lens. Am I right in thinking that since the release of the M9, prices of used Leica film equipment have gone up? It seems no one is even listing beaten up M6's for less that $1100USD now, where as they could be bought for about $750 - $900USD easily last year.
Just wondering...
T
One of the great things about Leica...prices usually appreciate. You will rarely lose any $ on equipment purchased as used items, though the price of buying new is a bit of a jump. You are right in assuming that Leica prices have increased with the introduction of the M9...

Given the M9's popularity and the M8's popularity as a second hand/entry item, lenses have become scarce, and in fact, many retailers are finding it difficult to maintain any stock of new lenses, let alone used lenses.

Basic law of supply and demand at work here, I suspect. Supply is far outstripped by demand, and thus, prices have gone up....
 

Terry

New member
Lens prices have definitely gone up. I have one more left to sell and I've been encouraged as I've sold off the two before it.
 

ramosa

Member
indeed, lens prices seem to be on the continuous rise. i really kick myself for not nabbing a noctilux three years ago when i got my first RF. they used to cost a couple grand--and now sell for five thousand or so.
 

tjv

Active member
So what is a realistic going price for an Ex+ condition M6 these days? Ebay closed auctions suggest around $1300USD. Seems over-inflated to me. M3's (my all time favourite camera) have really gone up too.
 

Jan Brittenson

Senior Subscriber Member
Seeing what The Leica Compendium sells for these days has me wondering if I shouldn't be selling mine! PopFlash has a copy for $579!
 

proenca

Member
its true, the M9 did revamped the market... well the Leica market :) at a Leica scale :)

Where before my usual stores in Europe had regulary 15 to 20 leica lens in stock, each store, one as 2-3 other 5-6 and other around 10... very very different..
 

tjv

Active member
The Camera West price list confirms what I've found:

+++

M6 0.85 Black 10- $1,895.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 0.85 Black, Bxd 9+ $1,895.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 0.85 Black, Bxd 10- $1,895.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 Black 9 $1,395.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 Black 7+ $1,195.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 Chrome 8+ $1,345.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 TTL 0.72 Black 9 $1,495.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 TTL 0.72 Black, Bxd 9 $1,495.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 TTL 0.72 Silver 9+ $1,595.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 TTL 0.72 Titanium, Bxd 9+ $2,895.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 TTL 0.72 Titanium, Bxd Demo $2,995.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 TTL 0.85 Black 9 $1,495.00 RANCHO MIRAGE
M6 TTL 0.85 Chrome 9+ $1,595.00 RANCHO MIRAGE

+++

The cheapest they have listed is for $1195USD, at a 7+ rating, which by their system means it has moderate brassing, dings and or dents. Seems very reasonable though for a dealer, considering what the private market is getting. Man, I've got the Leica bug again. I knew it would happen. :deadhorse:
 

tjv

Active member
From memory I sold my M7, M4-P, 35mm Summilux ASPH, 28mm Elmarit ASPH and 50mm Summicron (all in mint condition, all lenses coded,) for approx $7000USD total. Not too bad, but not great either. To be honest though, I never bonded with those cameras. I much preferred the older M6 classic and, even more so, a M3 SS bodies I started with many moons ago. I sold just when the M9 came out. I held the M9 in my hand on the day of its release, had the money to buy it right then and there, but realised that I just couldn't justify the expense when what I really needed was a DSLR. A tough call for any Leica fanatic. I find no real joy in using my D700, although my bank manager would care to differ.
 

doug

Well-known member
Some of the last R equipment is showing similar if not greater price increases, such as DMR and any APO glass. I bought my 280mm f/4 APO six years ago for US$1600, they're selling for about $5000 now.

Might also be a symptom of hyperinflation about to hit us. Can't "print" money as the US has done and expect otherwise.
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
I recently bought a 50 mm Lux ASPH on u-know-where, and while it is absolutely mint and just two months old, I paid the same price as I would have for a brand new one from a dealer - IF any dealers had one!

But a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush...and every time I use the lens (pretty much every day) I know I did the right thing.
Bill
 

Traut

Member
Some of the last R equipment is showing similar if not greater price increases, such as DMR and any APO glass. I bought my 280mm f/4 APO six years ago for US$1600, they're selling for about $5000 now.

Might also be a symptom of hyperinflation about to hit us. Can't "print" money as the US has done and expect otherwise.
There is approximately $200 trillion in US money supply and debt outstanding. Printing an extra $300 billion will not cause a ripple towards hyper inflation.
 

BeeWee

New member
There is approximately $200 trillion in US money supply and debt outstanding. Printing an extra $300 billion will not cause a ripple towards hyper inflation.
Don't mean to steer this thread off topic but from someone who lives north of the boarder, I would consider a 24hr jump of 3 cents on the Canadian Dollar right after the announcement of the "quantitative easing" by the US more than a ripple. Not that I mind of course, as it means I pay 3 percents less when I buy stuff from the US. =P
 

Traut

Member
Don't mean to steer this thread off topic but from someone who lives north of the boarder, I would consider a 24hr jump of 3 cents on the Canadian Dollar right after the announcement of the "quantitative easing" by the US more than a ripple. Not that I mind of course, as it means I pay 3 percents less when I buy stuff from the US. =P
Inflationary - yes. Not hyper-inflationary though. A relatively weak dollar is beneficial to US exports. It is a task for other nations to keep their currency pegged so to speak to the dollar to keep their manufacturing viable. That is the US's complaint vis a vis China's exports.

Our #1 problem is the dearth of manufacturing within the US. There is too much monetarized debt held in other countries for them to alllow an assault on the $$

That being said, hard assets - Leicas, Rolexes, silver and Florida Real Estate are good bets.
 

f8orbust

Active member
Having just seen this I don't know if used MFDBs are climbing - sheesh, someone got an early Xmas present. What a steal! Optechs have one of these (in a different mount) for sale for over twice the price.
 
A

Adam Marelli

Guest
Hey T,

After shopping around for a few months, I bought my M6 from http://www.photovillage.com in NYC.

The TTL ended up closer to $1500, but it was in flawless shape. They have cheaper M6's and TTLs to choose from.

Most of their used stuff is on the site, but not all of it, but you can call and Will (shop dude) can post pics of items you are interested in.

Good Luck! And didn't anyone ever tell you how much they regretted selling their M Gear? I feel like I have read this story a hundred times. Hold on to it.

Best-Adam

http://www.adammarelliphoto.com
 

larryk

New member
My wife has grown so weary of my saying that I would sell a couple of lenses to help pay off my M9--and now 50mm Asph--that she asked me to give them to her for Christmas so she could sell them. [As we all know, she's more or less free to do that anyway.] What she doesn't know is that once she actually "owns" a Leica lens, she too will not want to sell it . . . for so much less than it will be worth next year. But I really do have to sell something to justify the cost. The performance of the M9 with any lens is well worth the money. But, then, all my kids are out of college now. No way I could have done it 20 years ago.
 

thrice

Active member
I predict a used prices backlash, when the novelty of the petite M9 has worn off on well-heeled pros and newer cameras offer ISO1,000,000 without grain they will desperately want to offload the camera and lenses to upgrade to the 'latest and greatest'.
About 1.5 years from now, we might see some prices like the pre-M9 days.
I remember I passed on a chrome 50 lux asph for 1900, and a 90 APO for 1500... *sigh*.
 
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