[Leica] where oh where is the DMR?

[York915 at msn.com (Stephen York)]

Do you mean the profit margin?  I just purchased a Leica rangefinder at 
dealer costs from a store which was liquidating it's Leica inventory, and it 
was about $500 less than the price for the  same item  from a store like 
B&H.  And Tony Rose (www.popflash.com) is always selling his stuff at a 
couple hundred dollars less than everyone else, and he's still making a 
profit.  So I figure that the "normal" retailers are making about a 20% 
profit on Leica items. This would be consistent with the price of the camera 
and lens which I purchased at this fire sale.

----- Original Message -----
From: brad daly
Sent: Tuesday, June 28, 2005 8:27 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] where oh where is the DMR?

in the photo store in which i worked from 2000-2002, the margin on   
leica products was absolutely zero.  i can't comment on any other   
store.  in the entire time i worked there, i sold 1 leica.  the buyer   
ordered a couple of extra lenses, and they took months to arrive.  i   
can't imagine it was a good buying experience for him--though he was   
always patient with us--and i know it was bad for us simply because   
we were embarrassed that we couldn't get the customer the stuff he   
had ordered.  we stopped keeping leica in stock after that.

for the record, the margin on *any* equipment was extremely low.    
generally the higher priced the equipment, the lower the margin.

also for the record, the store in which i worked was not a canon   
dealer when i worked there.  they stopped carrying canon in the early   
90s because of supply problems and problems getting any attention   
from the canon corporate rep.  just in the past few weeks they've   
started stocking canon digital cameras--20D and rebel XT.  (nikon's   
corporate rep was a great guy.  very accessible to us sales peons on   
his store visits and very considerate of the guys in our management,   
even though we were a very small store and represented a very small   
segment of his sales.)

--brad

On 28 Jun 2005, at 8:31 PM, Don Dory wrote:

> Why do dealers not restock an expensive film based inventory?  Its all
> about inventory turn and profit levels.  $2000 U.S. in a Leica body
> that might sell in six months or 200 1GB cards that will turn in two
> or three months.  Five percent margin on the Leica body versus twenty
> percent on the memory cards makes this a really easy decision for the
> camera store owner.



--
brad daly
brad@bradbrad.com
http://www.bradbrad.com

"I love the Pope, I love seeing him in his Pope-Mobile, his three   
feet of bullet proof plexi-glass.  That's faith in action folks!  You   
know he's got God on his side."
     --Bill Hicks


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