Decline of Rolleiflex prices?

[jasonjoo]

I remember a couple of years ago, I bought a Rolleiflex 3.5E Planar for close to $600. I bought another beat up Rolleiflex 3.5E Planar with sticky shutter for close to $300. Now I see the same Rolleis, that are in good working order, sell for $300 on eBay!

Did I miss something? I'm not in touch with the film world as of late.

 

[abstraxion]

eBay is such a ridiculous crapshoot that I wouldn't get my feelings hurt. It's gotten to the point where I won't purchase anything from a known dealer or at least someone with a great reputation and a return policy.

If anything, I think Rolleiflexes have become MORE popular as people start to love TLRs, especially younger people. That's purely anecdotal, though. What's the link to this cheap Rollei?

 

[jasonjoo]

Rolleiflex 3.5E

Rolleiflex 3.5E - Very good condition

Granted that in both listings, the owners mention that the shutters stick below 1/15th, I think these are very good prices!

 

[Ian Grant]

The condition varies wildly so do the prices. My 3.5 E is mint, and so potentially worth more, because of that I use my Yashicamat for more general use when travelling.

Now is a very bad time to sell a camera etc because everyone is in Summer holiday mode either saving, or recovering fom their summer break. It's a great time to buy as far fewer people bid, it's the same very year.

Ian

 

[abstraxion]

I don't know much about Rolleiflexes, but is a sticky shutter below 1/15 not a big deal? I shoot a lot of slow film so it would be a big deal to me, I imagine...

 

[Rolleiflexible]

I think the trends are in the other
direction, unfortunately. I just lost
an auction for a 2.8E with a bid of
$950. And it is getting harder to
find clean cameras to put to work.

 

[jasonjoo]

Slower shutter speeds are an issue, but I bought a beat up old Rolleiflex 3.5E for $300. These are going for the same price!

Ian, that makes a lot of sense. Times are rough, that's for sure.

 

[Ian Grant]

And I actually agree with Sanders, prices really plummeted for Rollei's and Leica's but they are climbing back up quite quickly.

Getting a shutter CLA is £50 ($80) in the UK, it cost me £90 ($170) to get my 3.5E serviced it was mis firing due to 46/7 years of no use at all, less tahn 10 rolls from new

Ian

 

[luvcameras]

I have had a hard time keeping my Rolleiflex TLR Price Guide accurate lately. Prices have been varying wildly the last few months... However, the ones in very nice condition remain in high demand and still fetch very nice prices..My favorite, a late model 3.5F, still can easily get $1,000 USD in minty condition.

Rollei Price guide here Dead Link Removed


Dan

PS - Rolleicords are holding nicely... Dead Link Removed

 

[jasonjoo]

Ahh, so that was your site Dan! It was very helpful when I was looking to purchase a pair of Rolleiflexes.

Thanks!

 

[dpurdy]

3 years ago I bought a 3.5F with case cap and strap in good condition for 260.00 off ebay and no one bid against me. It did need a CLA but the Planar was perfect. I was surprised but it goes to show that sometimes things slip through. At about the same time I sold a 2.8E2 xenotar with slight haze for 1400.00. I even offered some money back but the (German) buyer never responded... just paid and gave a positive.
Dennis

 

[aldevo]

And I actually agree with Sanders, prices really plummeted for Rollei's and Leica's but they are climbing back up quite quickly.

Getting a shutter CLA is £50 ($80) in the UK, it cost me £90 ($170) to get my 3.5E serviced it was mis firing due to 46/7 years of no use at all, less tahn 10 rolls from new

Ian

If one is willing to ship to BRIC countries, I assure you that Leica prices have been monotonically-increasing even throughout the economic crisis.

I have two contacts who buy/re-sell Leica gear and both simply sell to purchasing agents in mainland China. It is, as we say in the USA, doing one's fishing with dynamite.

 

[Ian Grant]

The plummeting prices were some time back now, and yes Leica's have been steadily rising in value since then. The swings & changes of value of our respective currencies make our perceptions differ.

Ian

 

[aldevo]

The plummeting prices were some time back now, and yes Leica's have been steadily rising in value since then. The swings & changes of value of our respective currencies make our perceptions differ.

Ian

Offhand, I can't recall a period where Leica prices were declining in the USA over the past 10 years. Again, I would suspect this has much to do w/ the decline in supply in the USA as dealers do the easy thing and ship them overseas to purchasing agents.

The increase in prices over the past several years far exceeds the drop in the $ vs. Yuan.

 

[Ian Grant]

My experience was I paid very fair prices for a user Leica and lens, from different dealers around 1989/90, excellent camera & lens a few very minor marks and tiny ding but mechanically & optically perfect. Then late 90's the value dropped by around 50%, I could pick up similar and there were plenty around and prices stayed low for some time but I guess the pound was rising, it went from near parity £1=$1 to close to £1=$2.

Leitz also controlled the second hand pricing and quality through their dealers by keeping new prices high and not flooding the market with new products. A consequence was that Leitz dealers were doing very well selling second hand Laica's & lenses plus a few new ones, and actually providing customers with a level of service quite unique in the photographic field.

As an example my M3 hit a tree as they do Well I guess while wading through a thick wooded area it hit a branch, the view finder glass cracked, no other damage at all, it was covered by insurance, so I took it to the dealer, Leitz repair said £120 because we won't let a camera out of the workshop without a full service, when I picked it up the charge was half the quote, they knew the camera had n ot long been serviced & exactly who by as soon as they opened it up.

That impressed me, not because they'd read the pencilled service code inside the body, but because despite being expensive they were fair and honest. This seems to be the case for all the Letz dealers I've used or visited in the UK.

Ian

 

[elekm]

I also was thinking that prices of used Rolleiflexes have been rising recently. In 2001, I paid $350 for a very nice 3.5F. And I've bought several Rolleiflex Automats, and none cost me more than $150. I tried to sell a very clean Automat with a Tessar for $175, and there were no takers.

I also agree that prices on eBay have a very wide range.