Help Needed in Deciding to Pursue or Not... Large lot of telephones and parts

[HarrySmith]

I noticed that box marked with #2 dials, also #4, AE & Leich. Could be some gold in there. A lot of 302's also. I agree with all that has been said, if you have the time & the desire you can definetly make some money. I also would agree on talking up the fact you are a collector and they won't end up in a landfill. After that make an offer.

[Nick in Manitou]

Well, I went to see the collection this afternoon...now I am even confuzeder than I was before.

The seller is selling his own collection. (We had to walk between his Model Ts to get into the garage.) We had a good talk and shared a lot of similar interests. He used to have a space at a local antique mall where he sold phones and said that he enjoyed it for many years, but having to actually produce enough phones to keep the shop supplied eventually took the fun out of it. He is aware that the selling price for many of the phones he is selling has dropped over the course of time and that an unrestored 302 is not going to bring high dollars. He said that, unrestored, the price used to be around $35 and is now around $25. With statements like that it seems that he has a pretty realistic view of the market. Then he pointed out several sticks with subsets that he said, even if you only get $100 each for them and for the old wood wall phones, you have made back a significant portion of your investment.

He said that the labels on the boxes should be pretty accurate and that most of the phones are as complete as he bought them, in that he rarely would take one apart and put it back on the shelf half constructed. The reason I think these statements are important is that we couldn't get to most of the boxes due to the amount of "stuff" in the way.  I did see a number of #2 dials on sticks and B1s.

Everything he has related to telephones is part of the sale. The telephone and dial testing sets, the spools of cable, the cabinets...

So where am I?

I would have to build a storage shed in the yard even if I end up working in the garage, I would have to put all this stuff someplace.  I would need to inventory what I unpack so that I would know what was excess and what was required to assemble working units...also know what parts would be available to sell.

Perhaps I would need to put together a website to sell the stuff.  I realize that even if I were to get the price down by 25% I would still have to invest a bit of money to get things started.  It really would be like buying a business.

My head hurts (figuratively)!

I took some photos, but unfortunately I didn't get into opening boxes and didn't bring my better camera, so the cell phone photos are all I have.  Some of the photos are similar to the ones from the ad, but they are subtly different.

Input is still actively solicited!

Nick

[Nick in Manitou]

In photo number 0376 (above) is a tan 2-line wall phone he pointed out - said it was all there.

I asked him since I saw a lot of AE handsets if he had any chrome rings for them...he said, sure quite a few, I give you a couple...but couldn't find them.

More photos from this afternoon...

[LarryInMichigan]

I see a number of radios in the pictures.  Are they included in the deal?  None of them are especially rare or valuable, but they could be worth $20-$60 each.

This would be a tough decision.  Someone with the energy and motivation to keep working on and selling this stuff could make quite a hobby/business out of the opportunity. 

If you don't have the space for the stuff now, you could rent a storage unit in the interim.  I expect that they are ubiquitous in Tucson as they are here in metro Detroit.

Good Luck!


Larry

[Nick in Manitou]

Larry,

He used to do basic repairs to radios as well as doing phones. He said that he would pick up radios that just hummed and that for the most part there were a couple paper capacitors that were usually the failure point.  He would then just replace the caps, clean the units up and sell them.

I could probably throw the radios into my offer as something he could easily accept or counter. There didn't seem to be very many of them around but there were a couple that looked pretty cool.

He drives one of his Model Ts on almost a daily basis doing errands!

Nick

[LarryInMichigan]

Most old radios have dried out electrolytic filter capacitors, so they hum.  The paper capacitors can be a safety hazard because moisture can seep into the paper dialectic and cause a short.  More than a few phone collectors also restore radios.  Radio collecting can be as addictive as phone collecting.

Larry

[kleenax]

Larry,

He used to do basic repairs to radios as well as doing phones. He said that he would pick up radios that just hummed and that for the most part there were a couple paper capacitors that were usually the failure point.  He would then just replace the caps, clean the units up and sell them.

I could probably throw the radios into my offer as something he could easily accept or counter. There didn't seem to be very many of them around but there were a couple that looked pretty cool.

He drives one of his Model Ts on almost a daily basis doing errands!

Nick

Nick;

what was his name? 
Is/was he a member of the clubs? Listserves?  Interesting!  Heavens, I saw $1,000 worth of B1's sitting on the bench in one of the photos!

[Nick in Manitou]

His first name is Scott, I don't know his last name or whether or not he belongs to any of the groups.

[Dan/Panther]

There has to be a minimum of double your investment with that lot, probably way more.
JMHO

D/P

[Nick in Manitou]

Well...it might be a test of my focus, patience and wisdom...but we made a deal.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My wife and I had plans to be out of town for the weekend and there is a lot of boxing-up to be done in order to move the phones, so I will start the moving process next Monday, April 2. The seller is going to start gathering and filling some boxes in the mean time. (I am glad that I feel good about his being a straight-up, honest sort.)

Excited...overwhelmed...kind of wishing I could start moving stuff right now to get on with it...

Nick

[Doug Rose]

Happy for you Nick......keep the best for yourself and sell the rest. You will be busy!....Doug

[Nick in Manitou]

Thanks Doug!

[kleenax]

His first name is Scott, I don't know his last name or whether or not he belongs to any of the groups.

Scott Parsons Maybe?

Good deal!  Please tell us what you 2 decided on for a price if you don't mind!!  I am very excited for you too!

[Pourme]

~

Wow!....I have a big smile on my face for you.....I feel excited for you!

Good to have the wife on board as well!

We all look forward to sharing this adventure with you!

Benny

[RB]

Yup, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the awesome!
Bring it on