Western Electric 500 true value?

[malpa]

Hello all,

  I am new and I joined this site because I need help or direction on finding a nice Western Electric 500 that I can use as my home phone.  I am sick of using my cellphone to make calls at home and the stuff they have on the market today are flimsy, high tech garbage.  I just want a solid phone like I remember using when I was a kid.

      That being said, I've gone to a couple resale or antique shops and that was a miss.  I've gone online and found several sites that supposedly offer nice, clean, solid phones, some supposedly still "new" in the box, but for prices from anywhere from $50 - $90. 

      So my question is, what is a reasonable price for a good 500?  Are those sites a rip off?  Should I just keep looking at different resale stores.  Like I said, I just want  to get a nice old rotary phone that can be my "everyday driver." 

   Thank you for your time.

     rob

[Phonesrfun]

Malpa:  Wecome to the forum.

Keep looking if all you can find are ones priced at $50-$90!

It largely depends on how old, how nice (or beat up) and if it is an early phone from the '50's what color it is in, and whether it has all the parts inside that have reasonably matching dates.

For a daily driver, say a phone that was made in the late 60's through the '70's, you can find them at garage sales in the $2 to $10 range, $10 being a little high for a daily use phone that is not unique other than the fact that is is a 500, and not a newer electronic phone.

[LarryInMichigan]

Rob,

As you will learn (I did), the values of WE 500s cover a very wide range.   As Bill stated, a run-of-the-mill 500 can often be bought a garage/yard sale for $2 or so.  Phones with modular cords are generally worth much less than those with hard-wired cords.  Phones in less common colors are worth more.  500s with soft plastic (tenite) shells (generally 1958 and earlier) can be worth much more.  In general, the value of a phone depends on its age, rarity, and condition.  A price of $50-$90 might actually be a bargain for certain 500s.

Be warned that, if you are like most of us tortured souls, you will not be satisfied with your first old phone, but will spend plenty of time and money seeking and buying more and more old phones

Larry

[HarrySmith]

Hi Rob! Welcome. I will ditto what has been said already, the value depends on the phone and the buyer. I'm sure someone here has a decent 500 to offer at a reasonable price. I will check when I get home tonight as I just sold a few on eBay and I am not sure if I have any more ready for use. be careful, phones are addicting

[Dennis Markham]

Rob, Welcome to our Forum!

A while back I wrote a 5 part series on my blog about the differences seen in Model 500's that are routinely listed on eBay.  I titled the article "Western Electric Model 500 - Is It Really from 1957?".

This link:

http://www.vintagerotaryphones.com/index.php?s=is+it+really+from+1957

Will take you to the article #5.  Just scroll backward to begin with the 1st posting.  Some of the information may be redundant but some may be useful if you have the time to read the short articles.  The model I use is the most common one found, the black one.  Like the others have said, you will read about modular vs hardwired cords, leather feet vs plastic feet, replacement dials, etc.

When you get into phones in color you will see open center finger wheels, hard center finger wheels, etc.  (The above article does not get into the colored phones.  I guess it's time to write that post).  Some colors are common, some are out there but hard to find and some are just downright scarce.  Values are applied accordingly, usually.  If you have additional questions, please ask!

[McHeath]

Welcome.  A 500 from the 1970's and 80's with modular cords, the easy snap in and out connections, and in a basic color like ivory or beige is not worth a whole lot.  Maybe 10 bucks if it's super clean and looks new, much less if it's got old stickers and dirt. 

That said you can find great deals on more rare models on e-bay if you look.  I got a 1951 model 500 for about 12 dollars a while ago, and last night bought a grey one from the 70's for 5.  (grey is a rarer color)  Antique stores often think they are all worth a lot, but really only certain ones are. 

[paul-f]

Welcome.

The question of value is one that's often debated and has different meanings to many of us.

Most of the comments I've read so far seem to apply to telephone savvy collectors who are looking for phones "as-found," as they are capable of troubleshooting any potential problems and have the patience to clean and polish the phones so they look and work great.

When you comapre prices on-line, be sure to take into account whether the phone is being offered "as-found" or whether it has been refurbished and mechanically serviced and comes with a warranty.  Each of these is an extra service and adds cost to what you are buying.

Many of us here buy phones cheap at many of the sources mentioned, work on them and sell them to others who are happy to pay us to do the work.  We have been discussing one seller who gets phones much shinier than when they left the factory and have compared his products to works of art.  They sell for hundreds of dollars to a select clientele.

Please look closer before labeling high priced phones "rip offs."  If you can find a really nice 500 that's been properly serviced and has a warranty for $50, that may be a bargain.

There are also numerous variations of the basic single line 500 that were made in much smaller quantities.  Some command very high prices among collectors.

[HarrySmith]

Thanks Paul. As an example, I sell my regular 500's on eBay for $49.00 after I service, clean and polish them. I have sold the AE 90's with new plastics for $99.00. I just sold a modular ITT 554 for $30.00, so again it depends on the phone. I just checked and I do not have any 500's ready for use at the moment. I am working on a 302, two 5302's and my "toaster" phone at the moment. There are several 500's waiting for me

[Sargeguy]

It depends on  a few factors like age, color and condition, but for an everyday black phone I would not pay more than $5 ($10 for a color set).  You can get black ones for 99 cents plus shipping on eBay if you are patient.

[mtfischer]

Hello!
I am also new to this forum but search it every evening.  Several months ago, I purchased a 500 from a website listed as "NOS "for $90 (http://www.rotarydialphones.com/).  What I received was a New ITT 500 from '89.  What disappointed me the most was the feel and quality of the phone.  Sure from 10 feet away it looked great, but I quickly realized that it was too recent and not nearly as good quality as the earlier models.  Take your time on your search.  If you have limited knowledge (like myself), you could purchase a 500 that was manufactured as recent as 2006!  Since then I have contacted Dennis to refurbish a black WE 500 from 1955.  My advice is to look for a good deal on this forum.  Everything I've seen here is honest and much better than something you'll find from a google search.  Good Luck!

[malpa]

      Thank you everyone for your very informative replies.  I hope I did not offend anyone by asking if some of the online site phones were "rip offs."  I didn't mean that they were, just wondering if they were too good to be true or if the phones were jacked up on price for unsuspecting ignorant individuals such as myself.

      I am very impressed by the wealth of knowledge from the members on this site.  I guess I will do some more ground work before I get a phone and also keep my eyes peeled for a phone on this site.  Just FYI, as it stands with my limited knowledge, I am looking for a black 500, I guess from the 60's, 70's.  I will do my homework.  Thank you again for your time and please keep the replies coming.

                  rob

[Sargeguy]

Personally I would look for one from the 1950s with leather or neoprene triangular feet, metal fingerwheel and bakelite handset.  The 60s phones are okay and the 70s is when they start to become flimsier by comparison, although they are still good phones.

[Greg G.]

Craigslist.  I found all but a couple of the 50+ phones I have there.  There are different search engines that are good for searching CL, I use this one:  http://craiglook.com/

[KeithB]

I picked up <this 500> for $9.99 + shipping last night.  Appears to be late 50s, but it could be 60 or 61.  It should clean and polish up VERY nicely.

[Greg G.]

I can't quite tell, but it looks like 12-59?