At 05:56 PM 3/7/98 -0500, Denton Taylor wrote:
>Still, Leica and Contax do the same thing (produce exquisite, low-volume,
>manual focus cameras) and seem to make money while doing it. In fact, they
>have both been aggressively _reducing_ prices. The M6 has had a $500 rebate
>for some time; the R8 has had at least one substantial price reduction, and
>the G2 has also just had a $500 price reduction, along with a $50 rebate
>for each lens.
Leica uses the rebates in part to deal with currency fluctuations without
creating a grey market. The list price has stayed the same in most
countries, but in the US, they keep the price the same, but rebate to cover
the currency difference. This prevents cameras being bought in another
country for a lower price (because of the currency differential) and resold
in the US. Without the rebate, the camera bought grey market in the US
has no advantage over the camera bought through normal channels with the
rebate. Since the rebate program started, Leica prices regardless of
source have been more or less the same (grey Leicas are called "demos" in
ads.)
Of course, Olympus has gone the other way, but that's another story.
Jeff Spirer
B&W Photos: http://www.pomegranates.com
Color and B&W Photos: http://www.hyperreal.org/~jeffs/gallery.html
Axiom/Material: http://www.hyperreal.org/axiom/
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