PANASONIC NA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING? GX9

MrALLCAPS wrote:

JakeJY wrote:

I take it is because in the US, people don't tend to buy the body option for entry/mid level cameras even when it's offered. Buying the kit and selling off the lens tends to make more financial sense. Eliminating that SKU reduces costs for Panasonic and their dealers.

Makes more financial sense for whom? Not Panasonic. That doesnt make business sense at all.

In that line I was talking about the user; for example GX85 with 12-32mm kit is selling for $600. You can sell off the kit lens for $150, ending up with $450 net. No way Panasonic will offer a body for only $450. Note even though the street price for a 12-32mm is ~$150, it does not cost Panasonic that much to bundle the lens with the camera.

It makes business sense for Panasonic too not to offer an SKU if practically no one buys the body-only version. It costs money to maintain that SKU (it will be in all the sales sheets, order systems, to create the specific packaging and labeling for it) and also costs money to maintain an inventory (both to Panasonic and vendors). For low volumes, this overhead cost can easily be much higher than the sales they saved from having a body-only SKU (especially given the same people can just buy the kit and sell it off).

I remember the GX85 had a body only SKU that was discontinued very quickly in the US. I take it is because sales were extremely low for that option.

Sales were extremely low for the GX7 MkII period. The MkII isnt even discontinued, but bundled with two lenses for around $600. https://www.amazon.com/PANASONIC-12-32mm-45-150mm-Stabilization-DMC-GX85WK/dp/B079VDF7ZG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1534709432&sr=8-1&keywords=Gx85

This hurts sales for the MkIII even more, because theres not much that many new features that separates the two.

You linked to a new 12-32mm + 45-150mm SKU they just introduced recently. Of course the sales for that is lower since it's quite new. The GX85 12-32mm kit sold well from what I can tell.

I never said the GX85 was discontinued. What I'm talking about is the body-only SKU for the GX85 (DMC-GX85KBODY), which you are complaining there is no equivalent of for GX9:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1281436-REG/panasonic_dmc_gx85kbody_lumix_dmc_gx85_mirrorless_micro.html

This was offered initially, but was discontinued very quickly. Again, likely because few people bought the body-only. Panasonic probably made the decision not to offer it for GX9 after that experience.