[biz-engineer]

Since I have a lot of Pentax gear and when I get the new gear I use it instead of the old gear, when I buy a newer camera model, I'd like Ricoh to take it back my old gear and offer a discount based on the gear I give back.
Or simply, the pricing of the new gear would depend on the previous gear I already have, that is to say that the cost of upgrade would also depend on how much improvement I can enjoy from the previous model. This would provide an advantage for the user, as well as for Ricoh because they would sell more cameras.

[Nowhere Matt]

Or a loyalty program that gives discounts on gasoline or 5% cash back on purchases.
Shutter count reporting like frequent flyer miles.

[biz-engineer]

Shutter count reporting like frequent flyer miles

Ahhh excellent ! That give me the idea that the camera of the future would be internet connected and you could pays per picture, like in the film days.

[Wired]

how about a camera/lens lease program?

[biz-engineer]

lease program?

Yes, absolutely a good idea for camera above a certain price.

[stevebrot]

how about a camera/lens lease program?

Excellent idea...and fire sale prices on the badly abused lease-returned cameras!


Steve

[Kunzite]

I quite like the idea, but who's going to pay for that?

[luftfluss]

As nice as that sounds, I don't think there's much in it for Ricoh. "Loyal" users will want to upgrade eventually, and in fact for years Pentax users have been dying for something(FF) to upgrade to. It may make more sense for Ricoh to offer a "conquest" program for users of competing brands, get them into the Pentax fold.

[biz-engineer]

"conquest" program for users of competing brands

Yes, of course , this is one way of seeing it. Some people explain that the drop of the DSLR camera sales saying it's because either people do not use their DSLR camera or are content with their existing APS-C camera so they do not feel the need to upgrade to neither a new APS-C nor FF. Regarding Canikon users switching to Pentax, I think there were more Pentax users who left Pentax for a D800 or 5DII then Canikon leaving Canon or Nikon to buy a Pentax APS-C. One of the problem of Ricoh may be to sell camera upgrades to as much user base as possible and this won't happen if the price of the next camera is out of the budget of existing users. One possible way to convert existing users is to offer different financing ways so that everyone choose what suit best to his/her finance case. And if Canon, Nikon and Sony do not offer these kind of alternatives; that would be a + for Ricoh.

[Fogel70]

I quite like the idea, but who's going to pay for that?

Those that buy the gear at a discount of course.

Buy the camera from Ricoh at a higher price with a discount, or buy the camera from a retailer at a lower price without discount.

[Adam]

Since I have a lot of Pentax gear and when I get the new gear I use it instead of the old gear, when I buy a newer camera model, I'd like Ricoh to take it back my old gear and offer a discount based on the gear I give back.
Or simply, the pricing of the new gear would depend on the previous gear I already have, that is to say that the cost of upgrade would also depend on how much improvement I can enjoy from the previous model. This would provide an advantage for the user, as well as for Ricoh because they would sell more cameras.

IMO, it's the manufacturer's job to make the products their users want, and the retailers' job to make attractive offers. Large US retailers already do this- you get a certain percentage of most purchases back in rewards. You can also trade in your gear, but you won't get nearly as much as through a private sale. Once exception to this is Sony- they've been running official trade-in programs on the A-series full frame cameras were you get a big discount just for trading in any old body.

[waterfall]

how about a camera/lens lease program?

You mean like Adobe Creative Cloud? That is simply a constant revenue stream for Adobe. Meaning a constant revenue drain for those of us who subscribe to it. (Not me, by the way. Bad enough that Adobe wants subscription payment for Acrobat! Which drives be acro-batty!)

[monochrome]

IMO, it's the manufacturer's job to make the products their users want, and the retailers' job to make attractive offers. Large US retailers already do this- you get a certain percentage of most purchases back in rewards. You can also trade in your gear, but you won't get nearly as much as through a private sale. Once exception to this is Sony- they've been running official trade-in programs on the A-series full frame cameras were you get a big discount just for trading in any old body.

My father would run a Trade-In sale on office furniture every couple years. Trade in a 'file' to get a new one. Trade in a 'desk' to get a new one. Generally they were 25% trade-in allowances. We cleaned up most of the old stuff and gave it to Charities (for a decent tax benefit).

People brought in 3x5 Index Card files - they got the 'Trade-In' with a smile.
Once someone brought an old school desk - sure, discount applied!
Once someone brought in an old wooden shelf from a bathroom to get the trade-in on a new steel shelving unit - Sure, discount applied!!!

They were just 25%-off sales with a little psychology thrown in to get people motivated.

[Wired]

You mean like Adobe Creative Cloud? That is simply a constant revenue stream for Adobe. Meaning a constant revenue drain for those of us who subscribe to it. (Not me, by the way. Bad enough that Adobe wants subscription payment for Acrobat! Which drives be macro-batty!)

More like an automotive lease... but yes.


I understand and respect how people don't like the CC subscription format. Personally I love it. Especially $10 usd a month for PS and LR.


I look at it this way, for someone like me, who has transitioned from amateur to professional, a leasing option makes a lot of sense. Even if I was still just shooting for me, I'm also the person who likes the latest and greatest, and for better or worse has the money to support my bad purchasing habits. Since I am taking money for services I can write off a lot of my expenses, part of that is writing off LR/PS. Its much easier to write off $10 a month than $1000/year for photoshop and $150 for lightroom, not to mention a lot cheaper on the pocket book. And that's just to stay relevant with the latest and greatest tools. Sure you could do most of what we do today with CS5, but it would take you a little more time and more knowledge of the software.


Now flip it for cameras. For full-time professionals a leased camera may be a lot easier to write off come tax time (much like a leased car payment is). You also are guaranteed a "trade in" value at the end of the lease period in which you can trade in for the new model or upgrade. So for example, lets say you paid $80/m for 2 years for a Nikon D800. You've come to the end of your lease agreement, you can either buy out the remaining balance of the camera, or maybe raise payments from $80-85 for the difference in price, and now you got a D810 and don't need to worry about selling the old camera privately, and you can still write off most of the payments.You also don't have to worry about the private buyer who may be cautious of the high shutter count you've accumulated from the countless weddings, lifiestyle, or sports shoots you've done over the past 2 years.

For the hobbyist who likes to upgrade frequently, your essentially paying less to keep up with technology. But you never own.


I look at camera bodies like cars now... They are not investments. They are tools that you use and you will almost always loose money on them in one way or the other. A car is not an asset, it's a liability. (a camera not so much, as they are often bought for cash I would think instead of a monthly payment). Of course that is different for the majority of camera buyers.

[robjmitchell]

All trade in deals make the recycler money. Thats why god invented Ebay!