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I have been offered a VV 8-35 . Hand cranked and he said it has all the correct record albums. he said in good condition and no veneer damage. he or I have no idea what to ask or offer for it. I want to be fair with him since he is a great friend ( not a collector ) any idea guys

I bought two project machines in 2011 from an experienced collector for $225, a 1917 VV-XVI and a mid 1920s Columbia Grafonola lowboy. He also was selling a gorgeous 8-35 that he had completely restored, having done his own cabinet work as well. That 8-35 had a $700 asking price. It sounded great, had all the albums, motor serviced, Orthophonic soundbox in great shape. The market is supposed to be "soft" now, but the machine I saw was a few pegs away from "mint". Just an observation for you.

I've seen them sell for anywhere between $100 for a machine missing albums and sporting a few broken pieces to nearly $2000 for a very nice complete example. In my experience, an average complete 8-35 would normally sell for around $1000 (give or take a couple hundred).

The high-price mark for one of these seems to have come around this time in 2013, when a forum member sold his -- a beautiful example, complete with books -- on eBay for a little over three thousand dollars, and if I remember correctly something over four hundred for shipping. That sale had to have been an outlier.

One that had been refinished by the seller, with three original books (though the seller told me on the phone that he'd found a few more in storage after posting the listing, all in rough shape) popped up on the Rhode Island Craigslist about three weeks ago. He was asking four hundred, and called that price negotiable. I'd probably have gone after that one myself if I hadn't bought a better one, with all the books in decent shape, in Connecticut just the day before the Rhode Island posting went up. (I'd rather not say what I paid. ) The Rhode Island one went to a local collector within a few days.

Echoing what Brandon said above, there's a very wide range of possible prices for an 8-35. And as has been said many times on the forum, a fair price is what you're willing to pay and what the seller is willing to accept. If you want to treat your friend fairly, look the machine over carefully, taking into account what work needs to be done, and make an offer that you consider fair.

I agree there's a wide variation in prices. The spring motor version seems to be a little less common than that with induction motor. I bought mine (also spring motor) for about 2K 9 years ago, in excellent condition with complete set of albums. But that included delivery.

I definitely need to play it more often!

I bought mine for $800 in 2010, prices were a bit down then and I lucked out.

I bought this one earlier this year (February). I paid $400. It was missing the motor board pull knob, crank escutcheon, needle cup and the tone arm had been stripped of its bronze finish. There were no albums, I used the reproduction spines made by a forum member. I put a couple of hundred in original parts and the repro spines and albums.

A good set of original albums could bring a lot more than I paid for my machine. $1500 to $2000 is a good retail range for a complete machine with no issues and a good set of original albums in my opinion.

Matt

Well he gave me a price and I agreed without blinking an eye ( $200 ) It needs a couple of albums ( but I'll get the reproduced spines on ebay ) but other than that, she is great. my first orthophonic

chrisg wrote:Well he gave me a price and I agreed without blinking an eye ( $200 ) It needs a couple of albums ( but I'll get the reproduced spines on ebay ) but other than that, she is great. my first orthophonic

You did quite well. Especially since you got some original albums. You will love the sound. Awesome! Please post pics when you can.

I would be interested to see your 8-35 and I would like to know how well it sounds compared to other orthophonic machines.



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