Columbia Toy,,, pocket change

[FloridaClay]

I wonder how much musicaltreasuresofmiami paid for this setup--i.e. how much profit he is making on this.

Well, of course that is not terribly relevant. Any seller is entitled to market price. It's a business.

Clay

[TinfoilPhono]

^^^^
Agreed. Any dealer is entitled to make an honest profit. It is a business. I have no problem with that; if I want it, and don't consider the price wildly out of line, I am happy to let a dealer earn a living. (I'm biased, however, since I make my living similarly, though not in phonographs.)

As it happens, I do know how much markup there is on this since the machine was offered to me by its previous owner. I was sorely tempted. I will not reveal anything but I will say that Raphael is being more than fair. I commend him as a very honest dealer.

[phonogfp]

And ditto. Profit is not evil - it's what makes the world go round. Even a very high profit (which is reportedly not the case here) is not necessarily a bad thing as long as no one is forced to pay it.

If you find a pink Lambert among of group of cylinders at a flea market, are you going to re-sell it for the five bucks you paid? You can sell it to me for $100 - - twenty times what you paid for it - - and I'll thank you for the opportunity to purchase it for about half the going rate.

I worry about a generation which is being indoctrinated with the idea that making a profit is a bad thing.

And so far, the fellow offering the Toy Graphophone hasn't even made back his substantial investment, much less a profit! I hope he does well with it.

George P.

[welshfield]

Me thinks all the ladies do protest too much. I merely wondered what the profit may be.

Ver-r-r-r-y interesting replies.

[Raphael]

I too find the replies very interesting, and thank those readers who have offered their kind comments. May I add that "fair profit" is truly a debatable exercise, and should be totally irrelevant to the merits of collectibility. It would be far more productive to focus on the item itself, so we all could learn more about it.
I just left Stanton's auction, but not before approaching one of the buyers who I thought grossly "overpaid" for a music box. I asked him to kindly explain to me why he paid so much, and he was nice enough to spend a half-hour educating me on the item, of which I thought I knew plenty about to begin with. It was time very well spent and we both enjoyed comparing notes on similar items that we both own.
Raphael

[JerryVan]

Me thinks all the ladies do protest too much. I merely wondered what the profit may be.

Ver-r-r-r-y interesting replies.

Me thinks the question is a crass one.