Auction 83: 1965 Bell System Picturephone

[AE_Collector]

Question for all you Ebayers: someone mentioned that fact that I have had no previous selling on eBay. Is this something I should address in a follow up discription?
Mo

Generally it is a good idea to have some ebaY "history" before selling something so that bidders are confidant that you aren't a scammer. In this case it is a very big dollar amount too but it is also a once in a lifetime acquisition for someone who really wants this item. They have no option but to take a risk on it if they want it. Your thorough listing does help show that you are "for real".

I am not certain but I don't think that you can make changes to the listing once it is under 24 hours to go. Prior to 24 hours but once there are bids you can't delete anything, only add to the listing. Correct me ebay sellers if that is incorrect.

A payment option that could be offered is "escrow service" where the buyer pays the escrow rather than you and then when the buyer receives and is happy with the item the escrow releases the money to you.

I have no idea what this service costs. Anyone?

Terry

[Russ Kirk]

If I was ever in the position to buy something this expensive,  I would make arrangements to fly there and pick it up in person. The cost of the plane ticket is probably not much more than an escrow service.  It would also give me the peace of mind is seeing the items when I hand over the thousands of dollars.

[AE_Collector]

In Maureen's situation, offering escrow service in her listing (possibly with each party sharing the cost), anyone who is nervous about her zero feedback would not have to worry. Presumably tat option along with cost could be explored after the auction closes and before any money changes hands. once the buyer is in contact with Maureen they may no longer feel the need for the insurance value that the escrow service would provide. Adding her willingness and conditions for Escrow Service to the auction might alleviate any fears that bidders may have. The buyer could always pick it up in person as well.

Terry

[MagicMo]

If I was ever in the position to buy something this expensive,  I would make arrangements to fly there and pick it up in person. The cost of the plane ticket is probably not much more than an escrow service.  It would also give me the peace of mind is seeing the items when I hand over the thousands of dollars.

How cool would that be? I would even throw in  a dinner of Chicago pizza. Or, if the bidder happens to live in a tropical climate, I would be happy to have them fly me and the picturephone in. Gotta do what you gotta do, right? Anyone from Vegas bidding? Just teasing (about the pizza.lol).
Mo

[TelePlay]

As for the auction activity, here is a chart of the bids over time. Lots of activity all at once and then periods of contemplation. There was a $5,000 bid increase on 1/29 which as you can see took 6 bids to exceed it.

Will update this chart as new bids come in to the end of the auction.

[DavePEI]

Just wanted to let you know now, whatever was going on with the shorter URLs on Ebay for us is working normally now. Must have been a problem on whatever eBay server we are routed to...

Dave

[DavePEI]

As for the auction activity, here is a chart of the bids over time. Lots of activity all at once and then periods of contemplation. There was a $5,000 bid increase on 1/29 which as you can see took a few bids to exceed it.

Will update this chart as new bids come in to the end of the auction.

Interesting. I would say that that likely is pretty normal, except for the high dollar amount. You may have to add a few more inches of chart for the end of the auction! Pretty soon and especially in the last hour, I imagine it will shoot pretty well vertically upward!

I suspect some of the bids we have seen so far are exploratory bids - to see how high other bidders are prepared to go. Tomorrow will tell for sure!

This is a fascinating auction, and the wonderful thing about it is Maureen is going to be the big winner!

Dave

[MagicMo]

Thanks DavePEI!
You're gonna be busy tomorrow Teleplay!
Mo

[MagicMo]

Hey there,
I added an update to my Auction. I hope it quells any uncertainty of my legitimacy. Understandably so, I would question it if I were on the other side.
Thanks for the insight!
Mo

PS. I am not going to look at the Auction for at least another hour. I have been glued to my computer like a teenage boy watching...............A FOOTBALL GAME!!? Ha!!

[TelePlay]

...found this image on google..... [from the film '2001']

maureen, yr ebay photo is there too - perhaps you uploaded it ?

link working fine for me........ my guess for the auction price is $29,975.

If anyone uses a Google image search for the one word "picturephone" without the quotes, many images can be seen of this and earlier versions of the phone, even one prototype from 1939 according to the image caption.

Mo's picture showed up there because eBay featured it in a "eBay Remarkable Listing" story that included that photo. Google's search robot must have grabbed it from there, both the Google image and the Remarkable Story image have that picture named as "Picturephone.jpg."

For posterity, you can find the Remarkable Story at this link for as long as eBay has it up. A pdf of the copy is attached. The image below is an ad from 1965.

http://ebay-stories.com/imitate-the-jetsons-with-a-retro-video-phone

[MagicMo]

Hello,
In my quest to find anything related to the Picturephone i found more photos. The following are pictures of slides. The original slides are clear. I only found two so far. Check these out.
PS. Bidding went up just a bit in the last hour.
Mo

[Cleared 'em up a bit - D]

[old_stuff_hound]

Very cool! That peninsula it's sitting on reminds me a lot of the one from my childhood home....

I didn't realize eBay had added buttons like "Like" and "Want". Looks like 7 people like the picturephone, 3 people want it, but no one owns one....  ;-)

Good luck with the auction -- not that you need it at this point! :-)

[Mr. Bones]

     Flipped the second pic over, so the camera lens is on the proper side, hope nobody minds...

Best regards,

Terrence

[david@london]

...early ad for one ?

[QuietStove]

Hi Folks,

I've stumbled onto MagicMo's eBay auction and had a wonderful conversation via telephone with her last night.  She is a good person and has a big heart.   I'm wishing the very best for MagicMo.   MagicMo, Thank YOU for sharing the story and photo's you have posted here.  

It is absolutely outstanding this piece is so well preserved with technical documentation!    I know I am late to the "party" here and I know I am below 24hours till auction end but just for fun I'm throwing in my guess that this piece will be fetching at least 40K.   But, I hope I am wrong with my guess and that this item fetches over 6 figures!    This is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for any serious collector with deep pockets.    There is an incredible amount of "watchers" on this listing.  The last hour of this listing is going to be insane when the snipers come out of the woodwork!

QuietStove