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Purchasing used m9-help please

Don Libby

Well-known member
Pardon my directness however it seems you've done all the research you can do on this sale and it's time to fish or cut bait. I'll agree there's a lot of money riding on this however in the end it must be your decision to either walk away or buy. Bottom line - what's your gut telling you? No one here can make that decision for you.
Again, it sounds like you've done a good job of researching your options, now it's up to you.
Best of luck either way you go.

Don
 

JPizzzle

New member
Not offended at all Don, just making sure I have all my basis covered. My gut is telling me that it may actually be legitimate due to him providing me with a pic taken today from the camera with a 50mm, his flickr history with the camera, positive amazon marketplace feedback, pics of the camera and lens. I think I'm gonna give it a shot on this one assuming he still wants to sell-speaking to him tonight to finalize. I don't think there's much more that I can do to protect myself. If it all works out, it'll be really unbelievable-for the lens more so then the camera. I was actually just planning to buy the 35mm zeiss for the m9, but I can come up with an extra 1k for this summilux masterpiece. Keep your fingers crossed for me guys....
 

monza

Active member
It's not difficult to sell on Amazon, but not as easy as ebay. The fact that he's selling there gives him credibility, IMHO. Use a credit card. Charge it back if there are problems.
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
It seems very unlikely that it could be stolen property, given the info you have given regarding Flickr etc etc - but I'd ask him to send you a photo of the original bill of sale.

Good luck!

Bil
 

Araakii

New member
5K is a decent price but it's not that good of a deal if you feel like the risk is too high. There are plenty of M9s around for slightly more.
 

JPizzzle

New member
Thanks Bil, I'll make sure to have him send me that. I was concerned about the scratches in the glass, but a leica dealer told me that I can probably take it to a jeweler they can get it out with a diamond polish of some type. I was also told that the glass cannot be replaced by itself since it's attached to the back and warrants a full back piece replacement. Anyway, it's not a huge deal considering he brought down the price. I think i'm covered risk wise, so we'll see where this goes!
 

D&A

Well-known member
Hi JPizzle,

You've gotten some very good advice from all here on Getdpi. $5,000 is a pretty low price for a M9 even with a small scratch on the LCD. What concerns me more is the 50mm Lux asph for $2000. That for me personally raises a red flag. Approx 40-50% of what they nomally sell for is a cause for concern, at least for me it is. I personally would proceed with caution even though I have no way of knowing if this is a perfectly ligitimate deal or not. Hope whatever you decide that it all works out OK.

Dave (D&A)
 

JPizzzle

New member
Thanks Dave,
I'm doing the best I can at this point. I'm just waiting for him to email me a pic of the receipt. I have the serial numbers for both the m9 and the lux. The lux appears to be made in 2008, but he bought it in 2010. So that might be something to look into. Should I post the serials here? Not sure what info i'd be able to find.

I spoke to a leica dealer and told him about the situation, he states that the owner may simply not know the going rate on the lens and is comparing it to what he paid, which may happen more then we think. Either way, I sent him a notice letting him know that I will have everything checked out by an authorized dealer and if anything comes back with a problem, then I expect a full refund.

BTW I truly truly appreciate the help through this. Hopefully it wasn't for nothing. This is my first leica, and a beyond expensive purchase for me. I'll actually be selling off my rarely used gibson les paul to help fund it. So it's great to get advice from more experienced buyers. If this works out, which I won't believe until it arrives to my door, I will deff share my impressions with the community :).
 
L

LaurenceNorton

Guest
Good luck with your decision. I'd be nervous, but you've been thorough. Please post how it goes.
 

250swb

Member
If it comes with a Summilux it is the bargain of the century.

So if he isn't a scammer all I can say is dust is dust, cleaning your sensor should be normal user maintenance, so perhaps he doesn't know much about cameras (are his Flickr photo's any good for instance?). It may explain his innocence regarding the value of a Summilux? And remember shutter acutuations and file numbers are two separate things. The file number tells you nothing at all about the number of shutter actuations since it can be reset by the user. For the true shutter count you need to see the hexadecimal 'Unique Image ID' number in the EXIF file attached to a recent image, put the last characters (ignore all the 0's) into a hex to decimal converter (easy to Google one) and that gives you the number of times the shutter has been pressed. On average brand new cameras seem to have around 80 - 200 that reflect Leica's quality control process. I wouldn't worry much about shutter count though as even if it was in the many thousands the camera is built to take it.

Steve
 

JPizzzle

New member
Ok so everything is just about finalized on this. Spoke to him multiple times over the phone. He even offered to show me the camera over webcam, but I wasn't able to at the moment. He was mistaken about where he got the lens from since he had been trying multiple places at the time of purchase. He stated that it is from dale photo and will call them today to get a copy of the receipt before we finalize this. It's deff the deal of the century if it shows up-I deff believe that he has the items, the only issue would be that he never sends-but i'm protected via paypal purchase and am using credit not debit cards so I feel ok. He stated that he is selling due to his wife being upset over having an expensive camera that people cannot use to take photos of the whole family and that only he can use. His flicker photos are primarily family pics so I'm leaning towards believing him. So besides telling him that I think that he can sell it for more, I think i'm covered on all ends. We'll see after I receive a tracking number..
 

bradhusick

Active member
Good luck. In the future perhaps you could save yourself time and worry by buying from a GetDPI forum member with an established reputation. Just sayin'...
 

JPizzzle

New member
Ok-so everything completed over paypal purchase-seller sent USPS express today and provided me the tracking-he even brought down the price a little for using papal purchase instead of amazon. So let's hope that I don't get an empty package and that everything is legit-I should be receiving it tomorrow I think, but tracking isn't up yet....deal of the century for sure if this works out, but don't want to get too excited...:)
 
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nowherean

Member
I'd be too afraid to buy it like this. I agree that buying from established GetDPI members or eBay is a much safer way.
 

JPizzzle

New member
Alrighty people- by 12pm eastern tomorrow my new camera and lens should be here (or possibly a box full of rocks lol). He was able to get a copy of his receipt for the lens from the company (adorama not dale) and its a legit pdf. Both receipts have the matching serials, his address, name, phone number, everything looks to be adding up. Should I ask for a paper receipt from the store or is a printout copy good enough if necessary for warranty work?

So a little of my story:
Assuming that this ends up being real, this is a huge deal for me. My previous most expensive camera was $1200, and that being the fuji x100 (I did have the next with 24 zeiss for a couple of weeks before deciding to sell). I had always dreamed about owning a leica. The history, the mechanics, the quality. Amazing. I just hope for no issues, since this is my best shot at affording this kind of setup.... I will keep you all posted. Thanks again,

JP
 

JPizzzle

New member
Ok all,
So I got everything-and of course not everything is as described. The issues appear to be cosmetic. The camera does have a couple of scratches on the lcd glass, but also has dust underneath the lcd. Also, the bottom plate has scratching and braising along the corners. The lens itself appears to be in good condition so far except for some scratches underneath where the lens hood extends out-not sure how that got there since the inside of the hood appears to be rubber. Anyway, i'd love some advice-this was done as two paypal transaction one for $4700 for the camera and 2k for the lens-assuming everything is in mechanically good condition-it takes pics but I need more testing. Do you think the prices are fair? I contacted the seller and he said that he would provide a full refund, but would want the lens back as well since he discounted it due to me buying the camera. Also, his warranty states that it's a 3 year warranty for the m9-isn't the warranty typically 2 years? Anyway- any advice is appreciated. This is a great deal of money for me-so I'm obviously anxious about all this.
 

monza

Active member
There is no factory warranty except to the original purchaser. Perhaps there is a third party warranty? Is the lens indeed a Summilux?
 
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