Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2007/01/13
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]A Leica fable re the price of the M8. (and Rolex watches, Mont Blanc pens, and all cosmetic products.) We have a friend, a dealer in modern paintings in New York's trendy uptown art market, who is a firm believer in negative price elasticity. Since it is almost impossible to tell the absolute artistic merit of a contemporary painting, most of her customers use price as a surrogate cue to quality. "You get what you pay for" seems to be the mantra of the affluent customers who patronize her studio. When a painting doesn't sell after a reasonable amount of time, she raises its price by several thousand dollars. A customer, returning to the studio, notices that the painting is now more expensive than it was on the last visit, concludes that the painting must be worth having since the price is going up. Out comes the checkbook and the painting changes hands before the price increases again. The dealer makes a nice profit. The customer hangs the painting on the living room wall, confident that everyone will admire his/her good taste. "It costs more but I'm worth it." The painting may be a piece of crap but it doesn't matter. Everyone is happy. Larry Z