Support your local dealer...?

[leicanet]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

First of all happy new year to all, wish you all the best for 2010.

 

I am thinking to upgrade to an M9.

I have a 6-months old excellent condition boxed etc 3000 actuations black M8.2 so I thought let's give a ring to the (only) dealer in the UK (one pretty much local to me, one hour drive away) that seemed to have an M9 in stock and see if a P/X trade would be worth the effort. Spoke to the sales assistant who told me yes they have an M9 in stock and that he would enquire with the "boss" about a possible P/X and call me back. I thought I was going to get something in the region of £1800-2000 in P/X for a camera (the M8.2) that is selling on the used market for more or less £2500. After an hour or so the dealer's assistant returned my call to offer me £1200 (!) justifying his low-ball offer on the fact the he has "too many M8s..."

Needless to say I will now sell the camera by myself (if I'll sell it, still not fully convinced about the upgrade to the M9).

I think the attitude of this dealer (and greediness if I may say so) is unjustified and he has definitively now lost a potential customer forever.

Support your local dealer is easy to say but...

[Advertisement]

The Leica Q3 is available for pre-order at B&H Photo Video and Adorama

[stunsworth]

A dealer mark up of 50% on and used equipment is pretty much the norm since they will have money tied up in the stock (which may not sell for a long time) and for a camera like an M8 will usually have to offer a warranty.

 

It's usually a much better idea to sell the camera on commission where the dealer sells it on your behalf and takes a percentage of the sale price. The disadvantage is that although you will get more money you won't get anything until the sale is made.

[andybarton]

There are a lot of used M8s on dealers' shelves. However, a commission sale is very attractive, as they have stock that they haven't paid for. Expect to pay up to around 20% commission.

 

Alternatively, offer it through our B&S section, set your own price, and pay a very small listing fee

[bill]

I think your attitude is unreasonable. I am surprised you are surprised.

 

The dealer is a business not a charity. I don't remember the last time I part-exchanged anything, for precisely this reason, but the margin you have quoted is not out of the ordinary. I cannot imagine you getting a better deal anywhere else. Private or commission sale is the way to maximise your ROI.

 

Regards,

 

Bill

[Marty]

Why would you accept even £2000 if you think you can get £2500?

[adan]

The dealer is taking a risk off your hands. Not, perhaps a big one, with regard to an M8 - although if he has "too many", maybe a big one from his perspective.

 

You get an immediate guaranteed sale without the hassle/cost/time of listing it (eBay, ads, whatever) and following up with buyers (those postal orders from Nigeria, etc.) - he has to tie up money in your camera until it does sell.

 

That being said, my dealer usually gives 60% of his resale price on trade-ins w/purchase and 75% on consignment sales - and only drops to 50% on outright purchases.

 

Whether it is worth it depends on how much you value your time - I almost always go with a trade because I have better things to do with my time than messing around with buyers or waiting for consignments to move. If I am ready for (A) and no longer need ( - why screw around?

[earleygallery]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

To be fair the dealer has made you an offer based on what is acceptable for him - you're not being forced to accept it. If he'd said "I've already got X M8's for sale so I don't really want any more at the moment" would you have been OK with that response?

 

Don't forget they have to build in the cost/risk of offering a guarantee, as well all the other overheads of the business and I'm sure they want a margin of profit too.

 

Trade-in's make life easier but as suggested selling via the forum, a commission sale, or on that auction site are the best options for maximising your returns. Needless to say, proceed with caution if going down the auction route (paypal disputes, foreign cheques that can still 'bounce' several months after you've cashed them, damage in transit etc.).

[leicanet]

Steve,

I did not know offering 50% of the possible retail value is the norm for dealers,

I had some much better deals in the past, but perhaps things have changed and

so I shall definitively avoid that route from now on.

 

Andy, when/if I decide to sell I will surely look into the forum buy/sell section, thank you.

 

Bill, you are right in saying that a business is not a charity and perhaps it is my attitude that is unreasonable but there must be a reason why so many independent photographic shops/retailers are closing down.

 

Marty/Andy/James, I was just checking out what a dealer would offer on a P/X basis,

and if he would have offer £1800 P/X on my camera (we are talking about a 6 months old M8.2 with a year and a half official Leica warranty left) I would have gone for it and avoid the "possible" hassle of a private sale. Of course the dealer can offer whatever he wants.

Anyway, thanks to all for your responses, for the time being I will keep my perfect M8.2.

[gwelland]

The trade info, as you've heard, isn't outrageously low really. If I recall, there's another issue in the UK in so far as the dealer also needs to factor VAT into the selling price equation too for his resale of the camera at some point. You might be able to sell for £2500 but your dealer can only compete at the same price inc. VAT at 15% or 17.5% again soon I believe.

 

I think a big factor in why dealers are going under is the pressure of internet sales and price pressure associated with that. People love to visit the store and fondle the goods but there's also a lot of folks who'll subsequently go online and shop elsewhere to save a few bucks/pounds/euro etc. This factor is compounded when a dealer has to order an item in for you - inevitably you can source it elsewhere more rapidly so that's another lost sale that in the past they might have seen. Lastly, one other large factor that certainly has affected the used market is that the rate of turnover of digital equipment and associated low desirability of older cameras has definitely tempered many stores abilities to offer used equipment. In the good old days of film, the rate of change of bodies was much slower, plus the capabilities of cameras where so much closer that buying older used equipment was far less of a penalty compared to the latest release. Very few stores have the acres of analog gear that they used to have, and also where the greater profit margins were (compared to new stock at least).

 

My local dealer is very dependable and actually doing well as a specialist in a market saturated (but shrinking) with chain retailers. They do offer trades and consignment and I get the similar rates mentioned earlier - 60% for trade, 50% for purchase and 75-80% for consignment - all based on their sale price determination. On many items I'll take the trade these days if only to avoid the hassles of time, dealing with some of the few a$$$$$$e buyers (thankfully 90% time people are fine) & time wasters etc etc.

[Ivar B]

I sold my M8, which was truly mint and in box with papers, to a UK buyer for £1500.

 

I thought that was a fair price, so I the trade in value seems appropriate.