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I absolutely do not get it? A treatise on eBay prices

Started by Dan/Panther, April 09, 2018, 03:01:06 PM

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jsowers

#15
The $201 red 554 looks like Stromberg-Carlson plastics to me too, at least the housing. I have an SC 554 in light beige in my garage with a logo very similar to that. I downloaded the pic to my hard drive and enlarged and tweaked it and I'm 99% sure that says Stromberg-Carlson on the first line and Made in USA on the second.

The chassis is WE. So the buyer will probably have a little remorse. That is a seriously high price for such a common phone, and this one isn't original to 1964 at all. It's atypical from the average eBay red 554 auction.

One other thing nobody has mentioned--the light gray 1961 500 set went to the JKL Museum. They seem to have a high budget for getting what they want, but I can't figure out why they wanted that phone so badly. When two bidders with high budgets bid, you get endings like that, which is above market value.
Jonathan

Doug Rose

Agreed Jonathan....it is a SC Made in USA for the $201 Red 554.....Doug
Kidphone

kleenax

Quote from: jsowers on April 10, 2018, 01:30:21 PM
The $201 red 554 looks like Stromberg-Carlson plastics to me too, at least the housing. I have an SC 554 in light beige in my garage with a logo very similar to that. I downloaded the pic to my hard drive and enlarged and tweaked it and I'm 99% sure that says Stromberg-Carlson on the first line and Made in USA on the second.

The chassis is WE. So the buyer will probably have a little remorse. That is a seriously high price for such a common phone, and this one isn't original to 1964 at all. It's atypical from the average eBay red 554 auction.

One other thing nobody has mentioned--the light gray 1961 500 set went to the JKL Museum. They seem to have a high budget for getting what they want, but I can't figure out why they wanted that phone so badly. When two bidders with high budgets bid, you get endings like that, which is above market value.

The "market value" is just that; $201 for a WE-chassis, SC plastic RED 554!  Remember, people all-over-the-world look and buy on eBay; not just collectors. If it looks good, and works, and is guaranteed, it's SOLD!
I doubt if the buyer will be feeling anything but GLEE because it most probably is a non-collector who is "over the moon" at snagging a SUPER-NICE LOOKING (in their eyes) RED "Kitchen Phone". Probably what they remember from when they were growing up. The seller is a good friend, so I will ask him for particulars so we can see if our suppositions are correct or off the mark.
Ray Kotke
Recumbent Casting, LLC

AL_as_needed

Quote from: kleenax on April 10, 2018, 05:52:20 PM
The "market value" is just that; $201 for a WE-chassis, SC plastic RED 554!  Remember, people all-over-the-world look and buy on eBay; not just collectors. If it looks good, and works, and is guaranteed, it's SOLD!
I doubt if the buyer will be feeling anything but GLEE because it most probably is a non-collector who is "over the moon" at snagging a SUPER-NICE LOOKING (in their eyes) RED "Kitchen Phone". Probably what they remember from when they were growing up. The seller is a good friend, so I will ask him for particulars so we can see if our suppositions are correct or off the mark.


That is by nature the definition of an auction. Something is only worth what people at that particular time are willing to pay for it. Just look at the value of commodities on the stock market, they change by the second.
TWinbrook7

zenithchromacolor

As an example of the variability of ebay auction prices, last year I sold two lenses for a rare collectable camera. Due to non-paying buyers, I had to relist the auctions, one three times and one twice.

The one that I listed three times sold for $224.50, $146.05, and finally $200.55.

The one I listed twice sold for $526.00 and $710.55.

These were relisted auctions, so they had the exact same photos and descriptions. They were listed a few months apart. Items like these lenses, as well as certain collectable phones are worth a lot of money, but only to a very small group of collectors. If the auction happens to be going on when two collectors decide they really want something, the price will certainly go up. But it is not like selling an iPhone on ebay that many thousands of people will be seeking out all the time.

monophone_lover

i agree with ray when emotions get involved i find my self for reasons unknown fighting it out for something i hardly want paying big prices when i know better, all because the taxi driver took me the long way home.. really it sometimes is like that.... and as someone pointed out two people who want it... any auction may be deemed as a gamble.
Rob
ATCA # 4057

WEBellSystemChristian

One good reason for the ABS phone selling for more is that it was sold by someone who has sold several valuable phones. Only a few of those need to be immaculate and extremely valuable in order for potential buyers to closely watch that seller's items.

This same seller sold a Mahogany Brown 500 for $510:

www.ebay.com/itm/253409931531

...and a Rose Beige 554 with a matching backboard for $697:

www.ebay.com/itm/253409931531

...along with eight other phones of different varieties, including NOS 10 button units, a NOS 2554, and a NOS 701B. With the exception of a Kellogg Banjo (listed before the expensive phone showed up), not one has sold for under $100.

In short, some of his phones are a little over-hyped, simply due to those more expensive phones listed by the same seller. If that same phone were sold by a different seller using different (but not worse) pictures, it probably would have sold around $100.
Christian Petterson

"Whether you think you can or think you can't, you're right" -Henry Ford

Partyline4

Ma Bell always says eBay's like a box a chocolates, you never know what your gonna get!

magicbrain

Quote from: Dan/Panther on April 09, 2018, 04:44:28 PM
I started the bidding at $49.99. I wouldn't take a cent less, and it's still, way below what I felt it was worth. The other phone is an ABS hard plastic phone mine is a Soft Plastic, all original 11-1958.   
Don't collectors know the difference anymore ?
Maybe you are right, but collectors SHOULD know it's worth more than the other phone, and both listed under the same heading ?

D/P

Dan - I am the one who bought your phone and yes, I was very happy (and surprised) to get it at that price.
If it makes you feel any better, it almost completes my collection of colored soft plastic 500 phones - I only need WHITE to have all of them - I do have a white 500 all dated 11-58 except it is ABS hard plastic.
Bruce

Dan/Panther

Bruce;
Congratulations on your win. You got a darn nice phone for a bargain price. If I would have known the final price I would have kept it. It arrived safe I assume ?

What bothers me, is that something like a dozen watchers let it go for that price. I would have bought it, just to turn around and try to make a profit off of it.
Then to see a much less phone go for $40.00 more is just disheartening.
Lesson learned, next time I'll just spray a coat of F-21 on the phone and give it a fake new look.
Sometimes being honest sucks.

D/P

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

Partyline4

I understand your frustrations, Dan

I have bad luck when it comes to phones - and getting top dollar. It has all to do with the sellers reputation, and the clientele they've built over the years. Reputation on eBay is crucial, otherwise phone collectors think your just a person looking to make a quick buck - instead of a very knowledgeable telephone collector, who know's what they've got...

I've listed several high value phones before, and got a decent price, but the watchers would spread like cockroaches once it got near value price....The majority of eBay users are trying to find a killer deal - to make some profit on. I've had excellent luck finding phones on eBay and reselling them on eBay!!!! It's amazing!

There was a case not long ago - a blue AE 50 that went for like 1300?? Someone scooped one up on eBay for something around 300??? it was only listed for mere minutes before being scooped....It happens all the time

19and41

The only difference I could see was the lower starting price.  That may have attracted more people to the auction where the dynamics got the bids going.  Or Ebay is truly fickle.   :D
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

Partyline4

Quote from: 19and41 on April 11, 2018, 01:30:42 PM
The only difference I could see was the lower starting price.  That may have attracted more people to the auction where the dynamics got the bids going.  Or Ebay is truly fickle.   :D

Usually...People like me are scanning at a very fast rate for prices - not pictures...If the price is low enough, I'll look at the picture. Name of the game

Dan/Panther

Quote from: Partyline4 on April 11, 2018, 01:08:16 PM
I understand your frustrations, Dan

I have bad luck when it comes to phones - and getting top dollar. It has all to do with the sellers reputation, and the clientele they've built over the years. Reputation on eBay is crucial, otherwise phone collectors think your just a person looking to make a quick buck - instead of a very knowledgeable telephone collector, who know's what they've got...

I've listed several high value phones before, and got a decent price, but the watchers would spread like cockroaches once it got near value price....The majority of eBay users are trying to find a killer deal - to make some profit on. I've had excellent luck finding phones on eBay and reselling them on eBay!!!! It's amazing!

There was a case not long ago - a blue AE 50 that went for like 1300?? Someone scooped one up on eBay for something around 300??? it was only listed for mere minutes before being scooped....It happens all the time

Reputation  ?

I have 1892 all 100% Positive Feedback, I've been a seller on eBay since 1998.
The other seller has less than half the positive feedback I have.



D/P

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

Partyline4

Quote from: Dan/Panther on April 11, 2018, 03:06:31 PM
Reputation  ?

I have 1892 all 100% Positive Feedback, I've been a seller on eBay since 1998.
The other seller has less than half the positive feedback I have.



D/P

Doesn't matter - When he got started, your inventory could have been weak, while his was strong. He could have very well just got lucky, or it could have been a a set up operation to speculate prices?? With all the buzz it gets on the forums, and who knows how many collectors groups - he could have a mystique to his page. It's like my eBay - I sell a lot of various Ju- I mean merchandise...So people arn't going to believe initially that I am a phone man... I asked an eBay community question one time about a similar issue - and all replies said that the users would feel comfortable paying MORE for a phone ITEM offered by a seller that sold NOTHING BUT that particular item - That's where a reputation comes in.