The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Off at a bit of a tangent, perhaps, but apart from the utterly clueless offering, I get very irritated by "Ultra rare!!!" or "WOW!" - usually pertaining to an RCA "original Caruso" or yet another Evan Williams record. Then there are the folks selling a 10-inch record described as "LP" and/ or "Vinyl"

Another irksome thing: views of all the machine, "EXCEPT", the one that might be important...

Nat wrote: ↑Fri Aug 20, 2021 1:05 pm Off at a bit of a tangent, perhaps, but apart from the utterly clueless offering, I get very irritated by "Ultra rare!!!" or "WOW!" - usually pertaining to an RCA "original Caruso" or yet another Evan Williams record. Then there are the folks selling a 10-inch record described as "LP" and/ or "Vinyl"

...or something like "one of a kind" on a listing for something that appears again two items farther down at half the asking price (and usually still 10 times too much).

I just did an eBay search for the word "rare," and the results numbered 2,422,792.

In addition to poorly presented items, I'd like to add outlandish prices. There are just too many items on eBay--and I don't mean just talking machines--that are wildly overpriced. I think many of these sellers ain't totin' home a full bag of groceries, if you catch my drift. As someone has noted above, so much of this is described as "rare." I have little or no gripes with regards to the company eBay, but I only buy new items like vacuum cleaning bags and watch batteries. Case in point: my son's watch needed a new battery. I found one on eBay with free shipping for about $3. A few days later, his watch was running again and the Old Man's a hero. That's where I find eBay a useful forum.

Many sellers of antique and collectable items are too lazy to do any research before listing them on eBay.
Anyone selling an item which they know little about should look at similar items in the "Sold" listings. These give a reasonable idea of what to expect, and as others have said, prices achieved often bear no resemblance to prices asked.
Even then a seller might see, for example, an HMV163 sell for £500 and assume that their anonymous machine in a cheap plywood cabinet fitted with cheap bought in components must be worth at least as much.

Even one of those charity shop "experts" is at it now... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353667577553

Makes my blood boil, charity or not. They want £700 for a tiny portable but although there are 11 or 12 photos we never get beyond the same photo viewpoint of the inside of the case!

Irksome idiots. I'm sorely tempted to tell them as much. Any charity deserves better than that!

Orchorsol wrote: ↑Fri Sep 10, 2021 8:36 am Even one of those charity shop "experts" is at it now... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353667577553