The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

I know this topic has been discussed before many times but every time I see it, it sickens me. This eBAY seller is parting out some VERY nice, complete machines, 4, 5 or more auctions per machine in many cases including:

- Model F Edison Home
- Fireside
- Columbia A
- Victor Z
- Long Case Home
- Amberola 30
- Edison Standard Model D

Very sad. A link and a couple pics below.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Edison-Home-Mod ... 56594b5e1e

that's sad indeed... but he's doing it for money.

yes, he typically says - should you message him and ask, as I'm sure various people here have, why are you doing this - that no one will pay his full asking price for the complete machine. the ridiculous thing I've noticed is that, even if he's able to sell parts of a given machine, what he manages to pull in doesn't usually seem to add up to what one might pay for the whole thing anyway. it makes little sense, especially considering the extra work that goes into disassembling these and then photographing and listing them in a bunch of separate auctions. and I think it even amuses him at times, how irate he makes some people by doing what he's doing. it's easy to say he's just a p.o.s., because he certainly appears to be, but it's a little more difficult to understand exactly why he's doing it.

It's my opinion that by bringing up this seller continually on our forum just gives them further exposure. Why would we do that??? . Since we live in a "free" society.......he is free to do as he pleases. Sure, I too may not agree but, who am I to criticize??.
I just don't think "this" has a place on the forum.

gramophone78 wrote:It's my opinion that by bringing up this seller continually on our forum just gives them further exposure. Why would we do that??? . Since we live in a "free" society.......he is free to do as he pleases. Sure, I too may not agree but, who am I to criticize??.
I just don't think "this" has a place on the forum.

I view criticism of this type of behavior as as pretty much the same as expressing an opinion on whether or not it's wise to refinish a machine in excellent original condition. Both behaviors are bad for the hobby and one should not keep silent about them.

Valecnik wrote:

gramophone78 wrote:It's my opinion that by bringing up this seller continually on our forum just gives them further exposure. Why would we do that??? . Since we live in a "free" society.......he is free to do as he pleases. Sure, I too may not agree but, who am I to criticize??.
I just don't think "this" has a place on the forum.

I view criticism of this type of behavior as as pretty much the same as expressing an opinion on whether or not it's wise to refinish a machine in excellent original condition. Both behaviors are bad for the hobby and one should not keep silent about them.

Sure. However, how many threads should we make regarding this "same" seller??. What if this seller is a member of this forum (they may be) and continually had to read the threads posted about their business??. It could be looked as a form of harassment. We are not discussing "refinishing". We are discussing a particular "person".

Again, I too am not in favor of this sellers ways of conducting "their" selling and the above is my opinion.

gramophone78 wrote:

Valecnik wrote:

gramophone78 wrote:It's my opinion that by bringing up this seller continually on our forum just gives them further exposure. Why would we do that??? . Since we live in a "free" society.......he is free to do as he pleases. Sure, I too may not agree but, who am I to criticize??.
I just don't think "this" has a place on the forum.

I view criticism of this type of behavior as as pretty much the same as expressing an opinion on whether or not it's wise to refinish a machine in excellent original condition. Both behaviors are bad for the hobby and one should not keep silent about them.

Sure. However, how many threads should we make regarding this "same" seller??. What if this seller is a member of this forum (they may be) and continually had to read the threads posted about their business??. It could be looked as a form of harassment. We are not discussing "refinishing". We are discussing a particular "person".

Again, I too am not in favor of this sellers ways of conducting "their" selling and the above is my opinion.

there's a pretty big difference between discussing a person and discussing a person's "business" practices, particularly as they relate to phonograph collecting and preservation. whether or not that person participates in this forum should make no difference regarding the decision by others to discuss what he's doing (to these machines), which again is one of the many reasons why forums like these exist - discussion and debate, which inevitably will involve some disagreement. and if we were to adopt some rule to avoid discussing something "new" whenever that something may have been touched on previously, I should think that this forum would grow rather stale pretty quickly... particularly considering the volume of constant craigslist posting criticisms, ebay policy complaints and general repeated (exponentially) requests for information about how to repair this or value that, etc.

Parting out otherwise good machines shows a lack of respect for the artefects as well as a lack of respect for the collecting community that should theoretically be a seller of such items' customer base.

For the above reason I do not bid on ebay where someone parts out an otherwise ok machine that has been together for the last century.

I do not like this parting out of perfectly good machines at all. Unfortunately he is free to do whatever he wants with them.

"One Mark Twain was talking to a friend who had a hard time making both ends meet. When Carnegie's name came up for discussion, the friend remarked, 'Old Carnegie's money is all tainted!'

" 'Yes, it is,' replied Twain, taking his pipe from his mouth.

" ' 'Taint yours and 'taint mine.' "

To me what is worse is the restoration of machines that are good but not mint. They are only original once, as they say in the antique auto collecting world. Back in the 90's I missed out on a rather nice Victrola IX and Pooly record ejector cabinet in a rather nice but dirty wax oak finish. A gentle cleaning would have conserved this back to a good to mint condition. Within a week it was in our local antique mall covered in polyurethane varnish. Over the dirt & decal too!

I have learned to just chant "serenity now!" after dealing with ignorance of this proportion.