The Talking Machine Forum — For All Antique Phonographs & Recordings

Anyone care to offer a review of the most latest Stanton's sale? Seems like that with some exceptions prices are really down?

I just looked at the results on line. Certainly the early Columbia machines were low, even very low. I imagine there are some very happy buyers but disappointed consignors.

John

I went thru the closing prices, no comment on that, but I noticed the strange Victor VV-XII. It was listed as a (12) the second picture shows a motor board that looks like a (12). But the horn doors are large and each one has four hinges. This is a strange configuration. Who and how was this machine retrofitted? I would assume there is a larger horn behind the doors.

I thought for sure I saw a wide Victor Gothic Victrola in the catalog but did not see it in the final on line catalog. Was it removed from the auction?

Skihawx wrote: Sun May 07, 2023 7:07 am I thought for sure I saw a wide Victor Gothic Victrola in the catalog but did not see it in the final on line catalog. Was it removed from the auction?

The Gothic was not removed. Sold for $8000.

Steve

Garret wrote: Sun May 07, 2023 5:04 am Anyone care to offer a review of the most latest Stanton's sale? Seems like that with some exceptions prices are really down?

One of the reasons I gave up my APS membership was the lack of information about auctions. The magazine was full of glossy high end auction advertisements, but there were never any reports of the auctions themselves. Of course anyone can view the results on line, but all they will see is a list of the prices realised.

By contrast, the CLPGS magazine contains regular auction reports including well informed comments on the condition of the items and the auctioneer's catalogue descriptions, or in many cases misdescriptions. How fortunate we are that our magazine editor is an auctioneer specialising in our field of collecting.

Perhaps the APS should encourage members who attend auctions to submit their findings for publication in their magazine.

If you view the auction on the Live Auctioneers site, you can see the picture of each item along with the price realized.

epigramophone wrote: Sun May 07, 2023 9:59 am
By contrast, the CLPGS magazine contains regular auction reports including well informed comments on the condition of the items and the auctioneer's catalogue descriptions, or in many cases misdescriptions. How fortunate we are that our magazine editor is an auctioneer specialising in our field of collecting.

The Auction articles on the CLPGS magazine are one of my favourites. As Roger says, Proudfoot goes well beyond a mere list, adding his expert views on the condition and rarity of the article sold and comparing with market prices. However, given the magnitude of auctions like Stanton's, when hundreds of items are sold in a couple of days, I think it would be difficult for a single person to make something similar - just inspecting the machines for their condition would be already an overwhelming task, not to mention assessing sale prices. As a consolation, we see here in the forum a somewhat random summary, when people post about the auction items that tickled their fancies.

The recent Stanton’s auction had over 1500 lots. They were sold as is, where is…no implied warranty. It is up to the bidder to determine the condition and bid accordingly. Many of the items sold had significant issues, not evident in the auction listing, which you would not have know about without personally inspecting it. When you look at the results and say to yourself why did that machine sell for so little? You can nearly always be assured that there was a good reason it sold low. You also have to remember to add the 15% buyers premium, sales tax and 3% surcharge if paying by credit card to determine the actual cost. It all adds up. One has to remember that with few exceptions, this auction is a WHOLESALE marketplace. Dealers are buying for resale in most cases. If you assume the new benchmark value of that item is set by that hammer price, it is not necessarily so regarding a purchase from a dealer. Obviously there are exceptions…super rarities will sell high and set new benchmarks…like the Edison Alva.

Regarding creating a detailed condition report about this auction, given the sheer volume, I think this up is unattainable…. To put it into perspective, this auction sells at around 100 items per hour… 1500 items…it took 15 about hours to sell it. If you were to invest 3 minutes per lot to inspect it would be 75 hours … and I seriously doubt it could be done in only 3 minutes per lot more likely 10 minutes by the time you write it all down etc. 250 hours… over 6 weeks of work at 40 hours a week.
Just my 2 cents worth…
Gregg

Well said Gregg