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Surprisingly cheap straight-corded handset WE 500...

Started by twocvbloke, August 29, 2017, 12:10:02 PM

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twocvbloke

Think the last phone I got was that cheapened 2500 motel phone, so, another "Been a while" purchase!!  ;D

But, anyway, spotted this the other night, noticed the price was low, and noted the one picture showing a seemingly straight-cord handset cable, so I put it in my watch list expecting the bids to go wild, but they didn't, and I won it with one bid of £6 this afternoon (with P&P, it'll be a total of £9.99)!!  ;D

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/391871726903

Can't wait to see what it is and its age, only one lone photo that's no bigger than the screenshot below, so, just need to wait for it to arrive... :)

HarrySmith

Cool! Great buy! Looks like an early one, stright cord, metal dial and what appears to be a bakelite G-1 handset. I would guess early 50's. Congrats. These are not easy to find on that side of the pond!
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

ThePillenwerfer

I spied that as well and was surprised at the low starting price.  It made less that the far more common British 746s do.  Well done.

twocvbloke

I was surprised that nobody else bid on it, I guess it's just an example of poor title & description that made it a winner for me, no mention of Western Electric, Bell System or 500, so win-win for me... :)

Can't wait to get it though, it'll probably be older than my red WE500 (March 1956 I think that one is)... :)

andre_janew


AL_as_needed

TWinbrook7

twocvbloke

Quote from: andre_janew on August 29, 2017, 06:25:35 PM
It probably won't take much to get it working.

Just a line cable and the ringer wire moving from G to L2 most likely, simple phones after all... :)

Quote from: AL_as_needed on August 29, 2017, 06:29:50 PM
That is an excellent find, FOTM item for sure.

I'd not thought of that actually, just got to wait and see if it has any more surprises to reveal...  ;D

LarryInMichigan

You can't go too far wrong for that price.  There might have been more bids if the seller had bothered to post more pictures or stated something substantial about the item and its condition.

Nice Catch

Larry

twocvbloke

Thanks, it's definitely a case of luck (good for me, not so much the seller), hopefully it's in decent enough shape, it'll sit nicely with my two other black 500s... :)

HarrySmith

Quote from: LarryInMichigan on August 30, 2017, 07:43:20 AM
You can't go too far wrong for that price.  There might have been more bids if the seller had bothered to post more pictures or stated something substantial about the item and its condition.

Nice Catch

Larry

I never understand that about eBay sellers. Why would you not want to get the most for your item? I have sold a lot of stuff on eBay, not just phones. I take as many pictures as I can, I research the item and provide information in my description. I have had crystal or porcelain items up for sale and others have the same items listed at the same time with poor photos & descriptions. I asked more for mine and mine sold, thiers did not. Common sense. I guess common sense is not so common anymore.
Harry Smith
ATCA 4434
TCI

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

twocvbloke

Common sense has been bred out of people over the years, sadly, resulting in a lot of things today that make me want to bang my head on a bed of nails because there's no logic behind what some do... :o

But there are times that the lack of other people having common sense can be useful... ;D

LarryInMichigan

At least you were able to tell that the item was a black WE 500 with a straight handset cord.  Some ebay listings have images which are so small and/or blurry, that one can scarcely determine what the seller is actually trying to sell.  I have won a few auctions for really nice items with few bids because the pictures were so bad that nobody could see how nice the item actually was.

Let us know about the phone once it arrives.


Larry

twocvbloke

Yeah, it was lucky I actually looked as there were a few 500s on ebay, but skipped them as they seemed unremarkable, it's just that something seemed odd about that one so I stuck it in my watch list to look at later, and of course I ended up seeing the straight cord in the one lone picture, so, once the time came I bid on it and that's that... :)

I'm just hoping it's not a home bodge-job or something...  ;D

19and41

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic."
— Arthur C. Clarke

twocvbloke

Comparing pictures of 530x phones, I'm not sure it's a 5302, the gap between the top of the dial and the hook is longer on this than a 5302 which is more 500 than 5302, did get me wondering enough though to investigate... :)

This particular post having a picture being of a similar angle:
http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=3852.msg148114#msg148114

Hopefully here tomorrow or Saturday, fingers crossed...  ;D