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Rotary phones

Started by electric al, July 30, 2017, 12:46:26 PM

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electric al

 I am finding it very hard to find any old phones .

A few years ago , it was possible to find phones at flea markets etc.

Now , they are very scarce , and when you  come across a find , the asking price is just incredulous !

Any one else having this problem ?

Either the phones are worth more money , or people have lost interest !
Never met a phone I didn't like !

paul-f

Quote from: electric al on July 30, 2017, 12:46:26 PM
Either the phones are worth more money , or people have lost interest !

Well, phones don't seem to be worth more money...   ;)

Flea markets and thrift stores are full of items that are currently coming out of estates and home downsizings. At least in my area, most of the folks who had spare rotary phones lying around sent them to the flea markets in the 1990s and early 2000s -- and don't have any more to offer.

When I started collecting decades ago, the old timers talked about the days when candlestick phones were coming out at flea markets, and could routinely be found for under $30.  Once the supply started drying up, prices went up for a while.
Visit: paul-f.com         WE  500  Design_Line

.

TelePlay

A walk through of my local antique mall, where I've found good phones in the past at less than eBay prices, seems to have a price range of $40 for a modular 500 to $60 for a '54 500 to $95 for a 302 with an F1W handset. They did have a chrome NE 233 with both keys about two weeks ago asking $350 and sold for something in the $250 range, insides unknown and a modular cord coming out of the back. Other than that, no wood phones, no sticks, no nothing less than a fully restored eBay listing, all the work done, price. Been that way for at least a year.

twocvbloke

Over here in the UK, it's a similar story, people selling something pretty mundane and not unique for a lot of money, one small shop I know of in Durham city had a lot of phones, including a poor-condition BTMC kettle phone with the handle, all over-priced and not in good enough condition to justify the money...

There was even a wooden phone, which I think was actually a WE phone, but had been hacked and modified, the transmitter removed from the front and a handset hung from the earpiece's hook, think they wanted about £200 for it............ :o

andre_janew

Have you seen the massive collections of some of our members?  Could they be the reason for the shortage?

.....

Quote from: electric al on July 30, 2017, 12:46:26 PM
I am finding it very hard to find any old phones .

A few years ago , it was possible to find phones at flea markets etc.

Now , they are very scarce , and when you  come across a find , the asking price is just incredulous !

Any one else having this problem ?

Either the phones are worth more money , or people have lost interest !

Al,

I think you will most certainly find some here:  http://www.phoneshow.ca/ 

Doug

HarrySmith

You can also find lots at the ATCA national show in Shipshewanna: http://atcaonline.com/shows.php
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

"There is no try,
there is only
do or do not"

Jim Stettler

There were lots of phones (very cheap) at the Kansas show last May. I even found an Orchid SC 1198.
jMO,
jIM s.
You live, You learn,
You die, you forget it all.

Dan/Panther

Maybe what happens , when we start collecting, any phone is what we want for our collection. As we gain more phones, the common ones are not desired anymore, and the harder phones to find are priced higher. I would guess that if you looked for the very first phone you purchased, in most cases you could find one and it would probably be cheap.

D/P

The More People I meet, The More I Love, and MISS My Dog.  Dan Robinson