Classic Rotary Phones: Repair, Refurbish, Restore Vintage Telephones

I’m going to share some fundamental “secrets” to finding good buys on eBay. The reason I say fundamental is because these tips can apply to most anything one might purchase at auction, including vintage telephones. Here’s the crux of this whole thing: The more desirable a given auction item appears, the more bidders will participate and the higher the winning bid will be. That is the essence of the auction process in a nutshell. “Well dang, Mark, am I just supposed to bid on the crap that no one else wants?” That is certainly one approach, I’m going to suggest another… find the phones that don’t appear to be as desirable.One can compare eBay to a huge attic, jam-packed with “stuff”. Much of it is worthless (to you, at least), but under the junk lies some items of real merit. There are two good techniques for finding this hidden treasure, the first being to recognize a good phone that is presented poorly. The black beauty from North Electric shown above is sure to have caught your eye, as it is a very good photo. The lighting, composition, exposure and focus are all as they should be. The seller even used a background that is reflected off of the shiny finish! You can bet that no North Electric enthusiast went past that auction without taking a closer look. The auction included many photos of similar quality which, because they showed the obvious quality of the phone, resulted in a winning bid of over $200.

This photo represents the other end of the spectrum. The phone is off-center, out of focus, and tiny in the frame of the photo. About the only thing that one can see is that it’s dirty. A fuzzy picture of a dirty phone taken on a dirty floor. Ever see The Texas Chainsaw Massacre? I can picture Leatherface ordering a pizza with this telephone. Regardless of what the true condition of the phone may be, such an image isn’t encouraging. It’s logical to assume that the phone hasn’t been stored in a proper environment and that the current owner doesn’t hold it in very high regard. What sort of damage is all that dirt hiding? Not only that, but if the seller doesn’t care enough to wipe the filth off of a phone before taking the photo, what sort of care will they take when preparing it for shipping? All sorts of warning flags go up, and few bidders are going to line up to throw bids at a phone that is presented in such a lackluster fashion. But these two photos represent extremes, and between them are telephones that might look almost as rough as the second one, but are in reality just as nice as the first. How to find them? Look closely and ask questions. Train yourself to pay more attention to the “shabbier” listings. It’s possible that the small, out of focus photos are deliberately hiding defects, but sometimes the seller simply doesn’t have a good camera or is “photographically challenged”. Some sellers just don’t get it, and think that presentation isn’t a significant factor, while others focus on high-volume sales and don’t take the time to optimize their listings. Give them another look. If the photos aren’t sufficient to determine condition many sellers will attempt to take better ones upon request. While you’ve got their ear, ask the seller about the condition and history of the phone. Doing this type of footwork can result in your finding a real gem that others strolled right by.
Another “secret” is to find a particular phone where it shouldn’t be, the ones that are listed in the wrong category. The best example of this involves my other collecting hobby, ’50s TV lamps. About three years ago I happened upon an extremely rare TV lamp that was incorrectly categorized as a “night light”. It’s worth well over $750, and I paid $17. That is an extreme example to be sure, but it does illustrate my point…don’t just search in the “1940-1969 Telephone” category! Try searching in the main Telephone category, or try searching all of eBay! Don’t underestimate the odd ways that sellers are liable to categorize an auction. Also, the key words you seek may not be in the title. Click that little “search title and description” box and see what you find. You’ll have more results to sift through, but it could be worth it.
These techniques aren’t my discovery, and aren’t really secrets, but I’m always surprised by the number of seasoned eBayer’s that aren’t aware of these two simple methods for finding overlooked treasures. ‘Till next time.. happy bidding!