Had thought was done with WE 500's until started discussing colors on a different topic. (How uncommon is "rare" if three Med. Blue phones listed in September?)
Anyway, doing a little research on the bay ran across this listing: 251588797156
Discovered light gray would match office equipment perfectly.
And it was only 63 dollars. Photos might still be up, but will attach one for posterity.
Since I'm new, will type what I've learned to look for & see if anything needs to be added to my "phone spotting" check list.
- 6 holes in receiver cap
- 7C dial
- 'Old style' handset cord (not tapered)
- Open FW
- Feet don't seem to have caused any rust
- Base is clean - no refurb dates
- Ask about dates and matching color code on back of dial
1.) What did I miss (or phrased differently) what was wrong with this phone that it didn't seem to attract any attention?
2.) How common are these? 65 bucks I'd have bought it! (If same soft plastic, etc. - PhoneCo wants $139 for theirs.)
thx
--Bruce
Nothing seems wrong with the phone. Its just light gray isn't a super rare color. Light gray uncommon compared to ivory, but not as rare as...say...oxford gray, which is much darker. I'd say it went for a reasonable price.
-Ken
Kenton is right, these phones aren't nearly as rare as the 'Holy Grail' 500 colors (Oxford Grey, Med blue, Rose beige, Mahogany brown), so I see why it went for a low price. That being said, I really want a light grey 500, so I probably would have paid more for it.
So "Rare light gray from 1959" a relative term & part of his sales pitch.
Wondered if had missed crack or something major.
thx for quick replies
--Bruce
"rare" is indeed a relative term, as are many other terms, some of which may be a bit inaccurate in their use, such as "extremely rare (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=8671.msg93184#msg93184)," for example.
You may enjoy a list of other such terms posted in this forum topic from about a year and a half ago: eBay Glossary of Terms (http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=8671.msg93094#msg93094)
Actually, this went for a semi-high price in my opinion, as a chip was glued back in to repair the set. I know this because this was a forum member's phone, LM Erricson, who use to have a YouTube video on it.
To be fair to Grayson, some people may consider soft plastic rare.
Ben
Devil is in the details I guess. Wouldn't have caught glued crack. On eBay (depending on seller) may or may not be pointed out in photos or listing.
Add to check list: "ask about chips, cracks, flaking to plastic etc."
EBay glossary hilarious. : )
Hard to think of a rejoinder.
"Checked it on my cell and it works." = Cell phone works fine-- rotary phone anyone's guess."
thx
--Bruce
I'm wondering who paid $360 for the darker Oxford Gray phone that just closed a couple of days ago. It was offered by some sort of non-profit organization that likely didn't realize what they had. I hope they don't think every rotary phone they receive will bring in that amount of money.
I was watching the auction just to see how high it would go. At $360 it still only went for less than half of what a mushroom phone tends to command on ebay.
I'm surprised it didn' t go for more? Appears to be in great shape!
Quote from: rp2813 on September 26, 2014, 02:23:13 PM
I'm wondering who paid $360 for the darker Oxford Gray phone that just closed a couple of days ago. It was offered by some sort of non-profit organization that likely didn't realize what they had. I hope they don't think every rotary phone they receive will bring in that amount of money.
I was watching the auction just to see how high it would go. At $360 it still only went for less than half of what a mushroom phone tends to command on ebay.
Maybe I should have listed it as "uncommon"?
Grayson, when I list a phone I never give a opinion. Relative or not.
Ben
Quote from: WesternElectricBen on September 26, 2014, 04:40:55 PM
Grayson, when I list a phone I never give a opinion. Relative or not.
Ben
Huh?
Harry, refer to LM Ericsson's last post, asking if he should call it 'uncommon.' I personally think that in a listing, a seller's opinion should not be included, as it can cause confusion.
Ben
I think all listings will inevitably have opinion. I think It's necessary for describing condition. But it can't misrepresent the product though.
Ok. I did not think of uncommon as an opinion. I thought it was part of the dezcription. Like using beautiful or shiny.
I see I am outnumbered here, but I agree to disagree. Meaning 'uncommon' is used as a relative term. Somebody could think (bad example) a 1981 ITT 500 was uncommon, because it's relative to their opinion.
Ben
I am not sure if most of you all know this , but this was my listing on eBay. I was not sure how to describe the phone so I put rare, in the title of the listing. To me, a light gray model 500 is rare to me, but may be different to someone else. On the other hand, Med. Blue, Oxford, Mahogany or others I forgot to mention, are extremely rare to me.
Quote from: WesternElectricBen on September 26, 2014, 07:06:30 PM
. . . 'uncommon' is used as a relative term.
Actually, "uncommon" is a synonym for "rare" and "rare" is a synonym for "uncommon."
The adverb "extremely" could be put in front of either to modify the adjective, "rare" or "uncommon" to make it mean "much more" rare or uncommon.