epigramophone wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2023 4:09 am
Steve wrote: Wed Jul 26, 2023 4:03 am
That was an incredibly cheaply 193 though, sold during C19 period of inactivity and hardly typical of where the true value lies. In fact it might even be the cheapest one sold in the past 40 years?
So what is the "true value"? Certainly nowhere near £2000 for the eBay example under discussion.
In addition to the faults which you have already mentioned, the listing states "Motor winds up and spins but will not play a record; requires attention or overhaul". The prospect of overhauling the No.34 motor will put many prospective bidders off.
Well, for a start I'd say the one at SAS was worth around £2000-2500 and not the derisory £900 it sold for. I've seen 163's advertised (and on the continent, selling) for almost that, which is ridiculous. Back to the one on Ebay, it's got to be worth £1200-1500, surely? Given that the seller is accepting offers under £1995 I'm still surprised no one has managed to negotiate a keen price on it yet. I don't think the motor is the main issue though: the larger re-entrants have rarely found homes in the UK. It seems UK collectors in the main tend to prioritise smaller items in general and / or items that need
a lot of restoration and can be bought inexpensively.
A well known dealer summarised it well, many many years. On the continent the major collectors are wealthy businessmen who can afford to indulge to buy the best items and usually display their collections in purpose built rooms. In the UK most collectors are retired and whilst perhaps financially "comfortable" are satisfied to have project machines that they can restore and tinker with in their sheds when their wives are out playing bingo! I knew of one such collector, now sadly no longer with us, whose wife would not even let him display any machines in the house so they were relegated to an under stairs cupboard.