Auction 119: WE 6-59 Pink 500 P/U Mushroom Phone - Ended 5/15/14

[TelePlay]

This phone was listed a few hours ago in a 7 day eBay auction starting at $19.99 with no reserve. The seller claims it is a '63. The base stamps are present. It now has two bids and is up to $20.49. The photos below are the best available from the eBay listing. The question, once again is, who best knows the selling price of this phone?

With the increased interest in guessing in recent contests, the use of 4% has worked out well, letting more members guess. Since the range on this phone is wide open, we will once again relax Rule #3, the no crowding rule, to 4% allowing more "gaps" for member guesses. As such, guess gaps of 8+% can be split. I'll help with these as the auction goes forward and guesses are entered.

The seller listed it as a "VINTAGE 63 WESTERN ELECTRIC PINK TELEPHONE" with the item condition as "Used" and "- - - " and described it as "Up for auction, I have a 63 Bell System pink telephone made in the USA by Western Electric. Fading to the cord . Good used condition, no cracks. Untested, selling as-is. No returns. I used flash and no flash with the pictures. Look them over, what you see is what you get. No" Buy it Now" on this item.".

http://www.ebay.com/itm/231226591240

Still another chance to either move up a rung or to get onto the CRPF -> Contest Standings <- list.

     . . . or as the great forum philosopher twocvbloke recently pointed out    - - - >  "You gotta be in it to win it ! ! !". . .    "

New forum members are very welcome and encouraged to take a guess. After all, there are no wrong guesses, just one lucky one. No one knows the winning bid on any auction until it ends. However, it is important to get your guess in before someone else grabs your guess.

If you want to see the phones of past Auction Contests, click -> HERE <-



S C O R E B O A R D

$ 375.00 - Dennis Markham  ( 5 ) -> WINNER - Final Selling Price $224.72
$  408.00 - david@london  ( 13 )
$  425.51 - JorgeAmely  ( 8 )
$  450.00 - kleinkaliber  ( 2 )
$  470.00 - HarrySmith  ( 11 )
$  490.00 - baldopeacock  ( 3 )
$  512.50 - Mr. Bones  ( 10 )
$  537.00 - tallguy58  ( 1 )
$  570.00 - Sargeguy  ( 6 )
$  597.50 - TelePlay  ( 12 )
$  625.00 - AE40FAN  ( 7 )
$  750.00 - Fabius  ( 4 )
$  999.00 - twocvbloke  ( 9 )




Early Morning Auction Status Changes

05-08-14     Listed    $       19.99
05-09-14     3 bids    $       27.62
05-10-14   32 bids    $     116.77   ( includes 27 consecutive minimum bids by one bidder )
05-11-14   33 bids    $     119.27 , , , ,
05-15-14     8 bidders, 35 bids $224.72 Ended at 16:30:29 PDT

[tallguy58]

$537

[kleinkaliber]

450.00

[baldopeacock]

$490.

[Fabius]

$750

[Dennis Markham]

$375.00

[Sargeguy]

I was going to guess $537, but tallguy58 beat me to it.  I'll try $570.

[AE40FAN]

625.00  Color seems to be really nice on this phone not to mention it still has the mushroom cap which seems to always go missing on these phones.  Cords look nice too which are notorious for fading on pink phones.

[JorgeAmely]

Put me down for $425.51

[twocvbloke]

$999, just cos... 

[baldopeacock]

If someone wants this and loses out, there's always the ever-present 500 P/U that lives on eBay now at a buy-it-now price of $846.95.   Item 261464172645 today. 

I think it first got listed at $1100 or so about a year ago, didn't it?   Seems like that belonged to someone here who sold it on eBay, where it immediately got relisted.   

[TelePlay]

Yes, that pink mushroom that baldopeacock brought up here has been discussed in at least three topics on the forum:

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=3101.msg41491#msg41491

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=9875.msg105126#msg105126

http://www.classicrotaryphones.com/forum/index.php?topic=3764.msg49846#msg49846


  . . . and it seems to have been at or about the current eBay price the last half dozen times it was listed. This phone dates back to at least July 2010 in the forum posts. All of the eBay links in these topics are now dead so photos and prices are lost if they were not included in the topic comments. But, when reading all three topics, they paint a very nice picture of that phone from original purchase and restoration by HarrySmith to the current listing on eBay, link and listing page below.

This is the current relist link:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/261464172645 , and the current eBay listing page, for posterity.

[baldopeacock]

Reading back through those, it appears that Harry Smith sold it on eBay for $127 in the fall of 2010.   The buyer relisted it immediately for $1150 in the boldest flip attempt ever.      

3.5 years later...  the flip attempt lives on.

[Mr. Bones]

If I can slip in at $512.50, that'd be just hunky, and / or dory!

Best regards!

[HarrySmith]

Yes, that was the one I sold. My guess for this contest is $0, I don't think it will sell, again!

OOPS!! I did not look at this post thoroughly. I will take the $470.00 slot.
That is not the one I sold but it is the same seller that purchased mine. He also bouhgt the 5302 mushroom I created.