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Archive 2022 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

modlin
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p.7 #1 · p.7 #1 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

how much $ you did not save?

Feb 09, 2023 at 10:09 AM

JimRU
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p.7 #2 · p.7 #2 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

All of it!

modlin wrote:
how much $ you did not save?

Feb 09, 2023 at 10:23 AM

modlin
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p.7 #3 · p.7 #3 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

JimRU wrote:
All of it!

?
your post implied that you bought something here in NA...thus paying more vs. England

Feb 09, 2023 at 10:48 AM

JimRU
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p.7 #4 · p.7 #4 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

modlin wrote:
?
your post implied that you bought something here in NA...thus paying more vs. England

I'm just in the market now, so lamenting missing the savings in England.

Feb 09, 2023 at 12:22 PM

RexGig0
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p.7 #5 · p.7 #5 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

JimRU wrote:
I'm just in the market now, so lamenting missing the savings in England.

Such things happen. I bought three pre-owned Leica M lenses, earlier in 2022, rather than buy a new Leica M10-M or M10-R camera, or a new high-end Leica lens. That left me with little discretionary cash, when the exchange rate later favored buying from the UK. There is no reliable way to predict such things. I cannot say that I regret having and using the three Leica M lenses, however, so, no actual lamentations.

Feb 09, 2023 at 02:03 PM

modlin
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p.7 #6 · p.7 #6 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

JimRU wrote:
I'm just in the market now, so lamenting missing the savings in England.

wha are you trying to buy?

Feb 09, 2023 at 02:41 PM

JimRU
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p.7 #7 · p.7 #7 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

modlin wrote:
wha are you trying to buy?

I've been going back and forth between a Q2 and an M, but I just bought a Q2. I'll be in England in May, so we'll see how the prices are. Maybe I'll add the M then!

Feb 09, 2023 at 03:28 PM

Desmolicious
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p.7 #8 · p.7 #8 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

JimRU wrote:
I've been going back and forth between a Q2 and an M, but I just bought a Q2. I'll be in England in May, so we'll see how the prices are. Maybe I'll add the M then!

The problem is it is much harder getting your VAT back if you buy it in England. You have to jump through more hoops and they take a cut of the action at the airport. You have to claim it at point of departure out of the country.
It's not just the exchange rate that matters, but also that in England they pay 20% tax on the item.

Feb 09, 2023 at 03:44 PM

JimRU
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p.7 #9 · p.7 #9 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

Desmolicious wrote:
The problem is it is much harder getting your VAT back if you buy it in England. You have to jump through more hoops and they take a cut of the action at the airport. You have to claim it at point of departure out of the country.
It's not just the exchange rate that matters, but also that in England they pay 20% tax on the item.

Probably more trouble than it's worth.

Feb 09, 2023 at 04:09 PM

1bwana1
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p.7 #10 · p.7 #10 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

JimRU wrote:
Probably more trouble than it's worth.

When I was looking into getting a M11 a few Months ago, the EU Countries seemed to have the best prices, and it is easy to get the tax refunds in some of those like Italy. I was able to work out a deal with Leica Store in Florence where the M11 would have cost me net just under $6,900. I still passed because I lack confidence in the reliability of the M11, and the lack of IBIS.

Feb 09, 2023 at 05:11 PM

Desmolicious
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p.7 #11 · p.7 #11 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

JimRU wrote:
Probably more trouble than it's worth.

It's easy enough if you mail order.

Feb 09, 2023 at 05:16 PM

JimRU
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p.7 #12 · p.7 #12 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

Desmolicious wrote:
It's easy enough if you mail order.

The GBP has rebounded, though. Is it still a better deal there?

Feb 09, 2023 at 08:10 PM

JimRU
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p.7 #13 · p.7 #13 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

1bwana1 wrote:
When I was looking into getting a M11 a few Months ago, the EU Countries seemed to have the best prices, and it is easy to get the tax refunds in some of those like Italy. I was able to work out a deal with Leica Store in Florence where the M11 would have cost me net just under $6,900. I still passed because I lack confidence in the reliability of the M11, and the lack of IBIS.

I'll be in Italy and France over the summer, too. I'll have to look into this further...

Feb 09, 2023 at 08:11 PM

johnvanr
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p.7 #14 · p.7 #14 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

1bwana1 wrote:
When I was looking into getting a M11 a few Months ago, the EU Countries seemed to have the best prices, and it is easy to get the tax refunds in some of those like Italy. I was able to work out a deal with Leica Store in Florence where the M11 would have cost me net just under $6,900. I still passed because I lack confidence in the reliability of the M11, and the lack of IBIS.

Interesting. While I struggle with whether or not to keep my M10, I have no desire whatsoever to get a M11. Lack of IBIS at 60 MP makes it a no-go even if I had the money. The M10-P? Interesting. The M-10R? Same as the M11.

Feb 09, 2023 at 08:21 PM

1bwana1
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p.7 #15 · p.7 #15 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

johnvanr wrote:
Interesting. While I struggle with whether or not to keep my M10, I have no desire whatsoever to get a M11. Lack of IBIS at 60 MP makes it a no-go even if I had the money. The M10-P? Interesting. The M-10R? Same as the M11.

John,

I am in agreement with you on my reservations on getting the M11. I would probably shoot it in 36mpx more that 60 mpx. However, for landscapes/cityscapes when traveling abroad, and the ability to crop, I sometimes whish for more resolution that my M10-P has at 24mpx.

Frankly I have heard so many reports of serious issues and long repair times with the M11, and my M10-P has been pretty much a flawless performer, that I am reluctant to switch just on that basis alone. I would have more confidence in a pre-owned M10-R which would only be about a $1,000 upgrade.

But, I love my M10-P so much it will need to be a near perfect camera for me in order to get me to upgrade.

Steve

Feb 09, 2023 at 08:41 PM

Desmolicious
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p.7 #16 · p.7 #16 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

JimRU wrote:
The GBP has rebounded, though. Is it still a better deal there?

Log into one of the UK sites and see.

Feb 09, 2023 at 11:52 PM

1bwana1
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p.7 #17 · p.7 #17 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

So, I found my new M11 used here on the boards. Loving it so far. I needed to find a spare battery, and a Visoflex 2 to complete my kit. My Wife is in Flourence Italy again this week so I had her stop by the Leica store there. She was able to buy me a Visoflex 2 for $627 instead if $749 plus 7.75% tax here, and a battery for $170 instead of $200 plus 7.75% tax here. So, worth doing saving around $225 but not as much of a saving as it was a few Months ago when the Dollar was at par with the Euro.

Mar 21, 2023 at 10:42 AM

Desmolicious
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p.7 #18 · p.7 #18 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

ok, to close the loop on my Leica M6 purchase from the UK, so people can see the full experience, warts and all.

My initial tentative savings, given the favorable exchange rate at the time, was to be $1800 over buying in the USA.
A few days ago I received a notice from the California Dept of Tax and Fee Adminstration for use tax, as DHL had declared it to customs when the camera was imported. DHL had declared the value at $4250, and the state of California said I owed them $423 in tax.

So basically my savings on importing a new M6 went from $1800 to about $1300 after I also take into account that little $46 fee that DHL plonked on top.

There you have it, I saved $1300 by buying an M6 from the UK when the exchange rate was super low. I would guess now you'd save maybe $1000 seeing the GBP has strengthened.

Mar 29, 2023 at 09:58 PM

greenhuevito
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p.7 #19 · p.7 #19 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

Desmolicious wrote:
ok, to close the loop on my Leica M6 purchase from the UK, so people can see the full experience, warts and all.

My initial tentative savings, given the favorable exchange rate at the time, was to be $1800 over buying in the USA.
A few days ago I received a notice from the California Dept of Tax and Fee Adminstration for use tax, as DHL had declared it to customs when the camera was imported. DHL had declared the value at $4250, and the state of California said I owed them $423 in tax.

So basically my savings on importing a new...Show more →

How long was the entire process would you estimate vs. buying US? Would you do it again?

Apr 03, 2023 at 12:38 PM

Desmolicious
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p.7 #20 · p.7 #20 · US dollar at 20 year high - good time to buy Leica gear from the UK!

greenhuevito wrote:
How long was the entire process would you estimate vs. buying US? Would you do it again?

The item I purchased was the new M6 - which shipped when they received one to ship. So that cannot be used to judge how long it would take.
But after being shipped there was an issue with DHL due to misclassification of the item so that added about another week to the process.

If shipping went smoothly - as one would expect - it would take just over a week from an in stock purchase to you getting it.
Would I do it again for a Leica product? Depends on the potential savings, but if it the savings were not significant I would not.

Because I do not trust Leica's quality control and so I would pay the extra to be able to easily return for a full refund if needed. Instead of getting a run around and have Leica's service department screw things up over and over again.

Apr 03, 2023 at 06:41 PM

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