A (Pricing) Blast From The Past (1 Viewer)

I

In Focus

Well-known member

• Jun 7, 2018

• #1

Check out these optics prices from 1990 - this is our ad in the Birdfair brochure for that year:

https://twitter.com/infocusOptics/status/1004378150892113920

Those were the days...

 

Kevin Conville

yardbirder

• Jun 7, 2018

• #2

I think I bought my first full size Leicas in 1991, 10x42 BA "Ultras". It was a hard pill to swallow ponying up $1000. I never regretted it though.

 

Alexis Powell

Natural history enthusiast

• Jun 7, 2018

• #3

Kevin Conville said:

I think I bought my first full size Leicas in 1991, 10x42 BA "Ultras". It was a hard pill to swallow ponying up $1000. I never regretted it though.

Click to expand...

The thing that gets me is that 10 years later (in 2001), a top-end bin from Leica, Zeiss, B&L, or Nikon could still be had for $1000 or less (e.g. I got my Leica 8x32 Trinovid in ~1998 for $710), but then, when Swarovski priced the EL at $1250, things were never the same after. I'm not claiming cause-effect, just that prices started ticking up significantly around 2001 after a long period of stability. The climb to ~$1600 or so happened quickly. Maybe, in hind-sight we've been in another period of relative stability. Top-end bins are now priced ~$2500 but it seems that they often sell for less (even under $2000) for one reason or another.

--AP

 

Kevin Conville

yardbirder

• Jun 8, 2018

• #4

That's how I remember it as well, Alexis. A relatively sudden ramping up in prices. When birding bins hit the $2k mark I remember thinking that's it, I'm out.
Used are another story.
It's not that I'm not willing to pay for premium optics, it's that I'm not willing to pay that much for something that I use handheld. There just isn't that big of a difference for me, after a certain point.
Handling and ergonomics are more important, to me.

 

Last edited: Jun 8, 2018

B

Boogieshrew

Well-known member

• Jun 8, 2018

• #5

Opticron Elite 9x35s! My first bins in 1985. £120 I think they were.
Didn’t really suit me as a glasses wearer but there weren’t many bins for us species back then.
Wish I still had them, I’d love to see what I think of them now.

 

M

Maljunulo

Well-known member

• Jun 9, 2018

• #6

Things didn't cost less ....... the money was worth more.

 

Alexis Powell

Natural history enthusiast

• Jun 10, 2018

• #7

Maljunulo said:

Things didn't cost less ....... the money was worth more.

Click to expand...

Yes, the fall in the value of the dollar was a big part of it. However, nothing else that I like to buy rose in price like bins did, so they stick out in my memory, _and_ my salary didn't increase correspondingly.

--AP

 

Troubador

Moderator

Staff member

Supporter

• Jun 11, 2018

• #8

I bought my Leica 8x20 BCA in September 1990 for the same £211 shown on the price list, but from a different dealer.

14 years later I bought a Zeiss FL 8x42 for £915, which is almost double the prices of the 7x42/10x40 Dialyts shown on the price list.

Fascinating looking back in time.

Lee

 

P

Pileatus

"Experientia Docet”

• Jun 11, 2018

• #9

Much of the quality in those 1990 optics can be had today for under $1000. In some cases, much less. The best optics in 2018 are luxury items and one should expect to pay a premium. The rules of supply and demand cannot be ignored.