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A Special Edition model of the Fujifilm X100VI has been found for sale at $18,000 on eBay.
Following its release by Fujifilm with lots of media buzz and fan excitement, the X100VI quickly sold out of its existing stock.
Demand was so great though that according to Fujifilm, it’s now not only sold out but also heavily backordered with a waiting list of months for new shipments.
This demand applied even more to the 1,934 units sold as limited-edition versions of the camera, with unique decorative features celebrating the company’s 90th anniversary since its founding in, you guessed it, 1934.
In other words, if the X100VI quickly became hard to obtain, you can imagine how exclusive the 1934 edition is.
However, a certain number of lucky buyers did manage to get their hands on a limited-edition X100VI and now, possibly one of them has placed it on eBay for a whopping $18,000.
The website Fuji Rumors was the first to spot this incredible “deal”.
According to the eBay sale post, placed by user elar-9021, the individual managed to obtain delivery of an X100VI Limited Edition camera from Fujifilm House of Photography and is now willing to part with it for $18,000.
The seller has also done one other unusual thing to show how serious he is about the sale price.
Instead of being listed as an auction item in which multiple bids can be made, the camera has an $18,000 Price tag or Best Offer option for buyers.
Overall, the entire deal does seem a bit fishy. As Fuji Rumors implies, the ridiculous price might be for a fake item or one that the seller doesn’t even have.
The site speculates about how the post creator even got his hands on the limited edition X100VI.
His screenshots show that the order was placed at “Fujifilm House of Photography” but according to Fuji Rumors, only Fujifilm House of Photography in Australia was accepting orders for a chance to obtain the camera at this site.
Even these orders weren’t guarantees of a purchase. Instead, anyone who placed an order would be added to a lottery that gave them a chance to buy the collector’s edition camera when it became available.
All winners of this ad hoc lottery were picked by the 28th of February and had to respond by the 29th to their invitation to actually pay and receive their device.
Fujifilm House of Photography was/is selling the Limited Edition X100VI for a steep but much more reasonable price of $3,499.00 (we’re assuming that’s in Australian dollars.)
So sure, it’s possible that this particular eBay seller was one of the lucky winners, but as mentioned, Fujifilm House of Photography is in Australia, and the camera is being shipped from the United States.
Are we to suppose that this individual got himself listed as an accepted buyer on an Australian site and then decided to ship the camera from the U.S. instead, taking into account all travel expenses that would detract from his profits?
Maybe, or maybe the entire listing is bogus. It’s hard to say right now, but one thing it does do is highlight the absurd nature of the demand for the X100VI and the scalper’s market that has probably formed around the camera.
This particular listing is the only one of its kind on eBay for the Limited Edition Fujifilm X100VI, but, likely, many of the preordered, ordinary units of the Fujifilm X100VI were originally bought by people hoping to resell them at a premium.
Since most preorders won’t ship until at least 3 to 5 months have gone by, it’s also possible that many would-be scalpers end up selling at a loss when demand slumps as people obtain their units.
Currently, some sellers on Amazon are offering units of the ordinary X100VI for a heavily marked-up price of $2,489 but even this doesn’t come with immediate shipping. You’ll still be waiting despite paying more.
The regular-issue X100VI camera is also being sold on eBay by those who managed to receive units shortly after its release. Many of these sales postings have the cameras retailing for $1000+ above their regular MSRP.
If you want your own X100VI, your best bet is probably to just preorder it now and simply wait for it to arrive. At the very least, you’ll be paying nothing more than its regular retail price even if you have to wait a while.
Also, we’d recommend carefully examining any supposed sales postings for units of the camera claimed to be immediately available for shipping, particularly if they’re at steep markup prices or for supposed Limited Edition units.
The Fujifilm X100VI can be pre-ordered here for its genuine, standard retail price of $1,599.99.
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