Until the past few years, one would see Leica stuff FS quite regularly in the "Photography" section of the local newspapers. In recent years, this has all but evaporated. Why is this? I believe it is because Leica-wise, in-house persons at the newspapers intercept such equipment before it would ever get into the ads. Anyone besides me had that impression? (My first Leica came from a large city newspaper ad. It was a mint M4/50 Summicron and the price was very reasonable.)

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), December 02, 2001

Answers

One word: eBay.

-- Chris Chen (furcafe@cris.com), December 02, 2001.

Yup. And look what eBay has done to the classifieds in SHUTTERBUG magazine.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), December 02, 2001.

Frank: Ebay, Ebay, and Ebay. I work for a mid-sized newspaper - Ebay and other on-line outlets have eaten up about 40% of our classified volume over the past decade.

I WISH we got a look-see at the camera ads ahead of time - but the classified ads come in through clerks and go more-or-less directly into an automated typesetting system and then to the press.

The clerks earn $10.00/hour - good, hard-working people most of whom will eventually move up to retail ads sales and/or running the department and make 3 times what I do - but not, at the moment, prime candidates to 'intercept' Leica ads.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), December 02, 2001.

It's not just eBay. There are a thousand places to sell in the online world. Newsgroups, for example: rec.photo.marketplace.35mm. All the dealers are online. Don Chatterton no longer has the huge ad in SB that he used to have; he has a good website which is updated every week. The cost is minimal, compared to SB. And of course, people sell right here on this forum, as well as on photo.net. Who wants to go back to newspapers ads anyway? You can access a world marketplace with the internet......

-- john costo (mahler@lvcm.com), December 02, 2001.

I'm surprised anyone sells anything in the newspaper anymore.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), December 02, 2001.

Best bets are

www.photo.net

www.ebay.com

www.keh.com

and also www.leicatime.com (in Italy) www.donchatterton.com www.tamarkin.com

-- Mani Sitaraman (bindumani@pacific.net.sg), December 02, 2001.

Thanks. You have all "hit the nail on the head." I've been "on- line" for about 7 months, so I'm new to this. The thing about newspapers is that this is local stuff and one can go over and examine stuff in person. I have never been to eBay, so I don't know if one can narrow these ads down to local people. There still seem to be ads in the newspaper for cameras; I just never see any more Leicas.

-- Frank Horn (owlhoot45@hotmail.com), December 02, 2001.

KEH?! I've been looking for a 90 lately, KEH seems to have the absolutely highest prices in the world. More than a new lens in many cases. You have to pay extra to get lens caps. And, they don't know a 'fat' from a 'thin' Tele-Elmarit.

-- Dan Brown (brpatent@swbell.net), December 02, 2001.

In my estimation, KEH's prices are all over the place. Some things are over-priced but others are certainly under-priced. I don't think they know their Leicas! But I do agree with you that it's irritating how much extra they charge just because a lens has front & rear caps.

-- Ray Moth (ray_moth@yahoo.com), December 03, 2001.

Just a comment from France:

It seems that the Leica R has disppeared from the shelves of the local trade too. While 2 years ago you could find reasonably priced used lens with reasonably wear, today, most offers are for old battered workhorses or with prices 75% of the new.

Ebay? Yes, but good proposals are expensive too.

Regards. Xavier

-- Xavier d'Alfort (hot_billexf@hotmail.com), December 03, 2001.

I don't agree about KEH. Sometimes they are a little more expensive, sometimes not. They certainly seem comparable to Don Chatterton, taken as a whole. They are not Leica experts so you need to be aware, but this applies to buying any Leica stuff. They certainly give you excellent service and guarantee. Don Chatterton once had the cheek to tell me that the no one was interested in buying Leicaflex SLs anymore because they took the PX625 battery! Pah! What he means is that HE is not interested in buying them - quite a different proposition. There is he was saying on his site "I need your R stuff". Also have you seen prices and B & H for secondhand Leicas? Again all over the place. As for ebay - most of the Leica prices requested (although often not obtained though I am pleased to see) bear little resemblance to the world of other used sources.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), December 04, 2001.