OT...is there a member buy/sell area??

[ebwilson]

In the old forum there was a user area where one could offer or buy equipment.
I can't seem to find that here. If there is not such a thing here, can anyone suggest
an alternative featuring mostly Leica equip. If this is an inappropriate post please accept apologies in advance.

[stunsworth]

Edward, no there's no buy/sell area - although there were personnal sales in the old forum Leica have said that they will not be allowed in the new one.

[jmr]

Steve,

I must have missed Leica's pronouncement on this. In my view the occasional "for sale" post is pretty harmless and may be valued by some members. I suppose it might get out of hand, but Andreas could be the judge of that.

[stunsworth]

John it arose during Leica's negotations with Andreas concerning their ongoing support of the forum.

[clogwog]

Edward, There is of course Ebuh, but...
For a sale to more likeminded people you could try rangefinder.com or www.photo.net/bboard/forum?topic_id=1548. I have not traded on either of these, but have bad experiences on Ebuh....Why Leica doesn't want any trading on this forum is a mystery to me. I would have thought it establishes a market and marketvalue that is fair -as opposed to the sillyness of Ebuh- and provides entree level access to great gear for new enthusiasts (followed by a lifetime addiction). Who then can graduate to joy of lusting after and acquiring of (mostly)new leica gear.

Gerrit

[fotografr]

I also don't understand why this is not allowed here. The forum is a ready made audience for people using, buying and selling Leica equipment. Furthermore, while there are no guarantees, I believe an element of trust is established by dealing with someone you might have known through the forum for a long period of time. I have bought and sold Leica equipment using the old forum and trust the people I have gotten to know there without question. On a couple of occasions, I even sent equipment off before receiving payment and never had a moments worry about it.

Is this something we can bring to the moderators for reconsideration, or is the rule written in stone? Anybody know?

Cheers,

[stunsworth]

Brent, why not raise it with Andreas? Hopefully the attitude to sales will have softened on Leica's part.

I can only assume that they don't want ads for used equipment because of the effect it may have on sales of new cameras and lenses.

[kidigital]

I'm with you on this one Brent. I believe that establishing a buy/sell area would provide an excellent opportunity for Leica to gain valuable insight into the current market for used Leica gear and potential future trends. There are certainly guidelines that can be placed on the forum to protect dealers, buyers and sellers, and the hopelessly Leica addicted. There is really no better place for the free exchange of Leica gear as it also serves as a means of exposing Leica fans to more Leica gear. This experimentation many times leads to even more purchases (new and used gear).

One example to look at would be the very well run Buy and Sell Forum on the Fred Miranda site. With a few guidelines and a simple feedback thread, a marketplace based on trust, respect and self-policing makes it easy to buy and sell equipment. A few of us over there, have certainly bought and sold a few Leica items with great success.

Kurt

[marknorton]

It's interesting that the old forum appears to have upset Leica...

[lambroving]

Correct. This one is not a volunteer effort and will be more closely moderated. There were a number of complaints which reached Solms arising from the old Forum.

[Bernd Banken]

We have this buy/sell area in the german Nikon forum.
The person who wants to participate must pay an entrance fee in order to be checked by an adminitrator.
This area is well visited and a platform for beginners and pros, both have their advantages.
I bought recently a wide angle lens and after the transaction I had to testify the vendor and the deal.

I can't understand Leica in this point, but let's wait and see.

Regards
Bernd

[symmetron]

Leica wants to promote the sale of NEW Leica equipment; not used Leica equipment. Frankly, I don't blame them at all even though it would be convenient to have WTB/WTT/FS section on this forum.

I can't but believe that used equipment sales competes directly with new sales. If one were to conduct a survey with at least 30 people for statistical significance, I suspect one would find that approximately half of the participants have never bough new equipment.

I think I'll post the survey and then present the results.

[andybarton]

There was no "Buy and Sell" area in the old forum.

[earleygallery]

As Andy says there wasn't a buy/sell forum anyway, but it was acceptable to place a brief note if you had a Leica item to sell and invite e mail enquiries.

I too can understand Leica not wanting to support a forum with a selling platform - not so much regards new sales but politically they should be seen to support their dealers (who maybe make more income from used sales?).

However, I don't see anything in the FAQ's to state that one isn't allowed to make similar posts on this site.

Perhaps Andreas can clarify. We can't risk losing Leica's support for this site!

In the german forum, we never had such a place - but we also would like to have one.

[admin]

Yes I can clarify.

Leica is sponsor of this forum and one of their requirements is:

No buy/sell/used gear section.
Please understand this as an official rule (which I will write down ASAP).

There are good arguments for such a section, but please accept this rule.

Thanks
Andreas

[starwatcher]

Andreas is working on this issue.
There have been numerous discussions with Leica on this topic and (this is my personal believe) all arguments have been exchanged.
Pls wait with buy/sell activities here until Andreas releases a statement.

thanks - Klaus

[leicapages]

I think the major issue with the old forum was the sometimes high number of inflammatory postings that should never have been allowed (or should have been taken off right away). When people write demeaning postings about others, this gets really beyond the purpose of the forum and the minimum common decency required, especially in a friendly neighborhood such as this one. I hope this will be put under closer scrutiny in the new forum.

[abrewer]

Originally Posted by leicapages

I hope this will be put under closer scrutiny in the new forum.

I suspect Andreas welcomes help from all of us in watching over the Forum in this regard.

Thanks.

Allan

[brunom]

It has to be said that Leica itself encourages the used camera market by producing so many 'special editions' that are bought ,mainly not to use but as investments, so why not allow notification of Leica items for sale to be posted - just so long as it's not abused ?

Bruno