Anyone watch this auction? Was this a steal, a deal or an over pay? It's a single line hearing impaired set but the amplifier was said to be not working.
Hadn't seen one of these listed or sold before now. The gold paint on the shell had some issues and there may have been a small vertical crack in the right front corner (below the volume control knob) but it sold for $90 plus $17 in shipping.
Listed in a 7 day auction at $9.99, it sat with two bids until the end at $19.49. Three snipes within the last few seconds drove it up to $90.
Seller listed it as a "WESTERN ELECTRIC 532 IMPAIRED HEARING GOLD ROTARY DESK TELEPHONE PHONE " and described it as up "For auction is a limited production gold 1957 rotary 532 Impaired hearing desk set manufactured by Western Electric in February of that year. Please note, the 151-B amplifier component of this set is inoperative. when by-passed, the receiver volume works normally. The ringing dialing and transmitting qualities of our telephone are all good. This telephone features several original items common only to earlier 1950's Western Electric 500 series sets including: dark brown handset cord and (3 wire non modular) mounting cord, open center clear plastic finger wheel and brown leather covered riveted feet. The plastic case and G1 handset are in generally in fair condition with small imperfections and will require cleaning polishing etc. Winning bidder pays USPS shipping fees on this rare and uncommon Western Electric item"
John, I placed a sniper bid but it was too low and didn't register at the final bell. They show up from time to time on eBay. Considering the condition, I think that price was about right.
I saw it when it was listed and checked on it after it ended. It went for a little bit more than I thought it was worth. Thanks for posting the pictures from the auction. I can see a "4" on the handset cord date stamp, which means it's a 1964 cord. It doesn't have the hefty "look" of a 1954 brown cord.
Most of the time these gold painted or flashed phones were assembled from parts years after the date on the base of the phone, so you're not getting something 100% original to the date on the bottom. That being said, the mounting cord looks old and this phone would probably clean up nicely.
I saw that, and I was planning on bidding on it. $90 is far more than I would have spent on it.