The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Has anyone else seen this listing on eBay for 58 cylinders in POOR condition?

http://m.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-38-Edison- ... ING_ACTIVE

It's over $550 now with five days to go. Am I missing something?

Rich Gordon

Hi Rich,
Well it doesn't make any sense to me??? I could see the price if they were brown wax and someone was thinking of shaving them but not black wax.
Pete

Hi Pete. I have several hundred like this, maybe I list a box if 50 and see what happens.

Rich Gordon

I don't know why so much either. Why do so many sellers stack these things like empty beer cans on a college dorm window sill??
Bob

The cylinders are moldy and worthless... The boxes are OK, but 38 boxes x $5 each (if you could get that) equals $190... ????

This has to be a scam, since there are 4 days left and 45 bids have been placed by a total of 3 bidders - the 1st bidder bid $10 and since then, the remaining 44 bids are between a newbie and another bidder...

It's easy. Just get some friends to do some shill bidding in an attempt to entice the inexperienced buyers. If it works, great. If not, it is worth the risk to the seller.
Welcome to eBay! I can actually furnish names of several sellers who do this.

Not necessarily making any accusations with this listing...but, it is rampant on eBay.

Ah, just what I've always wanted; a pile of moldy unplayable cylinders!

Clay

They are good titles, but not worth the money in poor condition. Perhaps someone knows how to chemically shave them and is going to re-record them, the titles are all on the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project page.

Someone is going to chemically shave them and record the original song on them. The titles on these are on the Cylinder Preservation and Digitization website. That is what I think, they though are not worth as much as they are.