Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1998/03/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]snip > So I get very > suspicious when I read the advertisements in Shutterbug. How come every > advertiser has exactly the same price - US$1995 - for a new M6?? Is there a > Leica price cartel in the US? Well, not exactly, but US law does permit the mfr to enforce, in effect, a minimum resale price vis-a-vis its dealers. It is very common among luxury goods of a technical sort, such as cameras and watches. Moreover, some mfrs charge much more in the US than elsewhere. Rolex is an example. Leica may be another. Canon, OTOH, charges less in the US than anywhere else in the world as far as I can tell. Go figure. snip > They can't directly sell the stock in the US because their > contract would not allow them to. Neither can the agent indirectly sell to > a third party that would later import them to the US or other territories. > Though some do make to other shore in small quantities. Any contract > lawyers out there? It is surely true that the Asian distributors and dealers would violate their contracts with Leica if they imported into the US. It is almost as surely true that they shouldn't be crossing *any* borders beyond their respective territories, whatever they are. If they are doing either in any volume, it may well be because of the desperation and temptation presented by currency and economic imbalances. The latter cause of some pricing anomalies is temporary, so take advantage of it if and while you can. The former - express Leica pricing policy - is probably more permanent. As in the case of watches, though, the non-US distributor or dealer who tries to take advantage of Leica's differential pricing by feeding the US grey market is risking its authorized status. Having said all of that, what is the name and fax # of that HK dealer? <g> Cyrus Gardner Kormendi\Gardner Partners 202/822-0900 voice 202/331-1151 fax