What makes this such a high-priced standard?

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FloridaClay
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What makes this such a high-priced standard?

Post by FloridaClay »

OK gang, how is it a Standard goes for this kind of money? Is it the reproducer?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1902-Edison-Sta ... 7675.l2557

Clay
Arthur W. J. G. Ord-Hume's Laws of Collecting
1. Space will expand to accommodate an infinite number of possessions, regardless of their size.
2. Shortage of finance, however dire, will never prevent the acquisition of a desired object, however improbable its cost.

Chilesave
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Re: What makes this such a high-priced standard?

Post by Chilesave »

His phonographs always seem to go four outrageously high prices and most of the time they really look like mint examples.

For me, this looks like a $250 Edison Standard. So, I don't know what the deal is.

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Bruce
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Re: What makes this such a high-priced standard?

Post by Bruce »

This seller sure knows how to sell. He provides lots of detailed photos and narrative giving the buyer confidence that they are getting a quality product.

To me I do not see any reason for this to have gone over $ 800 except for buyers that every seller wishes for.

Bruce

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De Soto Frank
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Re: What makes this such a high-priced standard?

Post by De Soto Frank »

I think the presentation and listing copy have as much to do with it as anything else...

Aside from that, I don't see anything super-remarkable about this machine that would place it above a $600-$800 Standard at Wayne...
De Soto Frank

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VintageTechnologies
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Re: What makes this such a high-priced standard?

Post by VintageTechnologies »

Last year I bought that same model for $500 and the cabinet and pinstripes look at least as good if not better. The only thing superior about his is the winged reproducer and an original horn. I figure having those things might add another $200 to the cost. That's quite a bit less than what this buyer paid.

There are some marketing lessons there, folks. Good merchandise, lots of great pictures, a long yarn, and a consistent reputation to assure prospective buyers. It amazes me how many sellers get all those selling points wrong!

Jerry B.
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Re: What makes this such a high-priced standard?

Post by Jerry B. »

Today at Union I sold a similar machine. My Model A Edison Standard with 2&4 minute conversion, great decal & finish, good striping, and a Steve Medved serviced H reproducer sold for $365. The drawbacks of mine were a reproduction 14" horn and only part of the shaver. Jerry Blais

clevelander
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Re: What makes this such a high-priced standard?

Post by clevelander »

On top of the points mentioned above, as a previous buyer (and simply when I have contacted for information regarding serial numbers of machines for Martin's project) I can guarantee that any requests for information will be dealt with immediately by Grant, with nothing too much trouble.
This particular machine though is a bit of a surprise regarding the end price, in that it is nothing special and has had the lining on the bedplate amateurishly touched up, and that was clear in the photo..
As previously stated, some points to think about when selling.
Last edited by clevelander on Sun Jun 21, 2015 10:03 am, edited 1 time in total.

martinola
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Re: What makes this such a high-priced standard?

Post by martinola »

Having sold stuff on ebay on and off through the years I can say that sometimes you get lucky with motivated bidders that want that item right now! It doesn't hurt that this seller has great descriptions, appealing photos and a good reputation.

On one occasion I ran into some strange monkey business with a buyer of a camera I was selling. The two top bidders ran up the amount to far above what it should have been. Both bidders had very new accounts. The top bidder backed out and then another bidder from the same country as the original winner asked if I would consider a "buy it now" at much less. To this day, I'm not sure if that was a scam or not. I had a funny feeling about it and re-ran the auction yielding a normal price. I guess what I'm saying is that we can't always tell on the outside what occurs when we see a weird price spike on something. In one way I hope that the price is legit. If it is; I'm sitting on a gold mine! :mrgreen:

Martin

Hailey
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Re: What makes this such a high-priced standard?

Post by Hailey »

Repeat buyers...most likely going to China. Has been happening for decades.
If not...remember, it's eBay. Anything can appear as such.

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long_island_phono
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Re: What makes this such a high-priced standard?

Post by long_island_phono »

To add to what other member's have said, based on my careful study of Ebay sales and of his site, the reasons for the figures he receives comes from his long history on Ebay and his feedback rating, not necessarily the quality of what he offers. There's an awful lot of hyperbole and left out information and that coupled with his long-standing Ebay residency is what helps with sales such as the one detailed in this thread.

Take this Standard for instance. Nobody has pointed out that the pinstriping was redone, cheesily at that. Notice how one corner has new gilt detailing, sloppily applied, but the other corners are the darkened original detailing.

Also, if you look at the top down photos you can see the shellac finish is patchy.

Another note is that he shows a photo of the bottom which has a crane foot bracket, meaning the owner of the Standard upgraded to what we can assume was a paneled horn, as was fashionable when the Edison case cranes were introduced in 1907.

I would argue that the most impressive feature of this relatively common and unimpressive Model A is the carriage arm shaver. Other than that it's a decent 2-minute Standard coupled with a nice original horn, albeit not the historically correct horn, given the crane foot bracket.


-Jake

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