The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

schweg wrote:I think Jim is right. If I got everything I saw on Craigslist, the house would be so packed I'd have to live in the garage. OK, it's close already, but not quite to that stage..

..and, missing out on some good ones makes it that much more fun when I'm the one who got there first and found a great "bargain" (that the owner thought was a piece of junk and thinks I'm crazy for even paying money for!)

Also, I don't mind driving some to catch a good deal, I have kids about 7 hrs away so if I can combine a trip to pick up an item (most recently an Edison DD A-150) with a chance to see them, it's all that much better.

Steve

Show us your A150! It's one of my favorite DD machines!

again dean, thanks for posting the photos.

the 111's are kind of uncommon, aren't they? distinguished from the many similar models by the much larger horn/and horn doors? I had one of these in walnut for a little while, although I definitely paid more than $15 for it. it's too bad the seller didn't place it on ebay, he probably could have pulled in at least $50 for the reproducer alone... funny, even with the $15 price, he still indicated in the listing that he'd consider other offers. I can only imagine that someone would still offer him less...

that, by the way, is all I think of in terms of craigslist at this point... while moving and selling the house, I've been trying to get rid of a lot of things, some large pieces of furniture, etc., for the past few months, and craigslist to me has become synonmous with low-balling flakes. no matter how much I ask for something - even, seriously, if it's next to nothing because I just want it out - someone will contact me and literally offer half... in phonograph context, it could be a VV-XX for $100 and someone will offer $50, or it could be a VV-XI for $1000 and someone will offer $500. makes no sense. and what's worse, two of the last four or so deals that were set up, the buyer failed to show - even after multiple emails and phone conversations... and at this point, this stuff is at a house where I'm not even living, so talk about wasted time/trip/etc.

Agreed, Brian. I ended up taking two refrigerators to the dump recently. Had them on CL for free, had about four people tell me they wanted them and never showed. I ended up pulling the ads and taking them to the dump...sad, but I needed them out of my garage.

There are some flaky sellers too though. I've been back and forth with a guy who has a machine I'm interested in for WEEKS now. I'll call, leave a message and hear back DAYS later. After just over a month of this BS, he finally called me back the other night and after I made a very reasonable offer after finally getting photos, he went apesh*t on me. I was still nice and left it as a standing offer, but he's going to be stuck with a machine nobody really wants for a LONG time with his crappy attitude.

Sean

Sean, Be patient on that phono. I found one on CL that I was interested in, made an offer, and was told, "well I have someone coming to look at it tomorrow so I'll get back to you". Didn't hear back so figured it sold. About 2 months later, there it is on CL again. I wrote the seller a note, gave him a call, and went and picked it up for the offer I originally made. He said he tried to get a hold of me but, I have an answering machine so kinda doubt that.. Anyway all's well that ends well so hang in there.

Bruce, I will put on some pics of the A-150 but it's definitely not as nice as yours! I liked it for the neat oxidised finish, baffle sound control (discussed already elsewhere) and pretty good paint on the bedplate. It is actually sitting right next to me here in my office but I don't have a camera so will get to it when I remember the camera.

Steve

This past Spring I received a call from an elderly lady who told me that she had heard (through a local dealer) that I was interested in phonographs and music boxes. She asked if I were that person. I said, "Yes Ma'am, that's me. What do you have?". She went on to tell me that she would soon be moving from her home into an assisted care facility and could not take everything and would I be interested in a Regina music box she had. I said sure and the next day made the trip to look. To make a long story short I made her what most would consider a generous offer for her music box and several discs she had. The finish was pretty rough and scratched and there were signs that some buffoon had pushed the lid open beyond the tolerance of its hinges and thereby cracked and removed some of the supporting wood beneath the hinges. And the crank was missing, but the movement was functional and the teeth were fine so I based my offer primarily on that. She indicated that another person would be coming to look at it who was a friend of hers and was also interested in it. I said OK and to please let me know what happens. She said she would call me later that day with an update. A week later I called her for an update and figuring that she sold it. She sounded annoyed that I called and told me that she had not yet made her decision and she would call soon with a decision. I waited 2 months. Still no call so I called again. Still no decision and she indicated she would call for sure very soon. About 6 weeks ago I called and she said, "Well, I guess my grandaughter wants it now so I MAY end up giving it to her. But I WILL let you know for sure." Two weeks later I was searching local estate auction listings and there in the auction was her Regina, pictured with a makeshift crank and all shined up. I immediately felt a sense of loss and thought about calling again but decided to heck with it. As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, some sellers are indeed pretty strange. I have no idea what it sold for at the auction as I had no intention or desire of attending. But I certainly do question the logic of some sellers. I suppose there was a chance that after paying the auctioneer's fee (20% ?) that some sellers believe they will get the most they can but in this case, considering my offer, I highly doubt it. Oh well...more venting about a loss. Thanks for listening.

FellowCollector wrote:This past Spring I received a call from an elderly lady who told me that she had heard (through a local dealer) that I was interested in phonographs and music boxes. She asked if I were that person. I said, "Yes Ma'am, that's me. What do you have?". She went on to tell me that she would soon be moving from her home into an assisted care facility and could not take everything and would I be interested in a Regina music box she had. I said sure and the next day made the trip to look. To make a long story short I made her what most would consider a generous offer for her music box and several discs she had. The finish was pretty rough and scratched and there were signs that some buffoon had pushed the lid open beyond the tolerance of its hinges and thereby cracked and removed some of the supporting wood beneath the hinges. And the crank was missing, but the movement was functional and the teeth were fine so I based my offer primarily on that. She indicated that another person would be coming to look at it who was a friend of hers and was also interested in it. I said OK and to please let me know what happens. She said she would call me later that day with an update. A week later I called her for an update and figuring that she sold it. She sounded annoyed that I called and told me that she had not yet made her decision and she would call soon with a decision. I waited 2 months. Still no call so I called again. Still no decision and she indicated she would call for sure very soon. About 6 weeks ago I called and she said, "Well, I guess my grandaughter wants it now so I MAY end up giving it to her. But I WILL let you know for sure." Two weeks later I was searching local estate auction listings and there in the auction was her Regina, pictured with a makeshift crank and all shined up. I immediately felt a sense of loss and thought about calling again but decided to heck with it. As has been mentioned earlier in this thread, some sellers are indeed pretty strange. I have no idea what it sold for at the auction as I had no intention or desire of attending. But I certainly do question the logic of some sellers. I suppose there was a chance that after paying the auctioneer's fee (20% ?) that some sellers believe they will get the most they can but in this case, considering my offer, I highly doubt it. Oh well...more venting about a loss. Thanks for listening.

or maybe she gave it to a friend or someone in the family, if not just sold it to someone else... who in turn consigned it for an auction sale. that is pretty lame though, to string you along for weeks if not months.

CL can be a very strange beast! I've bought and sold via the site without to many issues other than the spamming crap for about a day after listing something. Some sellers are great, will bend over backwards to answer your questions, pictures or whatever, others, well, not as helpful. I've posted a piece of computer equipment three times in the last couple of months, and the same kid/person/spammer answers it within a half an hour. "I'll take it", "I have money in hand", sent from a Blackberry. We get to the point of them stopping over, and then the emails stop. I finally wrote and said forget it, this is your third time, don't bother replying anymore. It's frustrating when you want to move something, and people play games with you. Luckily, I haven't run into the no-shows yet, but I'm sure I will somewhere along the line. Then again, it's a free service, and if you can put up with the b.s., you can't really complain to much... or can we

I hate to turn Sonny's post into a good/bad CL report, maybe we should start a new thread called "Let's Vent Here"

Have a Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!!

- Jim