Being interested in these type of things....What is the (generally speaking)wholesale to dealer price on a M6 body? Does anyone know how product is distributed from the factory to dealers? Just curious.

-- Brooks (bvonarx@home.com), July 13, 2001

Answers

Ah...a question I'll love to answer. I sell Leica! In Canada!! I sell and M6 body for $3220.00 CDN. The Canadian distributor charges me $2800.00 CDN, a mark up of 15%. At our store we have about 20 staff members on any given day. Electricity, water, rent, etc. Anyone with a business degree will tell you that 15% is just about the minimum you can run a business on (18-20% is considered the breakeven point). So all you Leica users that figure your dealer is gouging you and living the high life - quess again!

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), July 13, 2001.

Bob,

A couple of additional questions.

About the same markup % for the new Leica lenses? My local camera store charges 25% for consignment of used equipment. Is that about a customary rate also?

Thanks!

-- David S Smith (dssmith3@rmci.net), July 13, 2001.

David, I used to manage the used section of a nice camera store when I was younger. Me and my boss used to have a joke, that if we could just get someone to start manufacturing "new" used equipment, we'd be making a lot more money. The mark up on new cameras is so poor, that we often made more on a roll of film and developing than on a mid priced SLR. Now E-bay is cutting into the used camera market heavily and taking away money from the dealers on both ends. I think more used dealers will be going the way of Del's Camera- which just bit the dust. The big used and classic camera dealer near me was complaining that people are living too long these day, and its very bad for his business! (he gets most of his high end stuff from estates).

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), July 13, 2001.

David - yes the markup on new lenses is the same as bodies. As is noted by another, it is far more profitable to sell accessories, which is why newcomers to photography unfortunately end up with a whole raft of stuff they don't need. My personal peeve here is Cokin filters, which are mostly junk yet end up in the bags of a lot of newcomers to photography who never use them. Luckily I work for a store that is well established and has been around since 1948 so there is not such a push from management to 'hardsell' this stuff. We depend on solid repeat business. And yes, 25% or more is usual for consignment. The higher markup is to cover the equipment we take in that is purported to be in great shape, looks it, then turns out to have serious problems that don't come to light on first inspection. It doesn't happen often, but recently we took in an PentaX 6X7. About two weeks after someone purchased it they brought it back saying the focus wasn't consistent across the film plane. We sent it to Pentax (we offer a limited warranty on our used gear), only to be told by Pentax that the chassis was cracked and was unrepairable. Oh well!

-- Bob Todrick (bobtodrick@yahoo.com), July 13, 2001.