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Author Topic:  eBay laps overpriced?
Francisco Castillo

 

From:
Easter Island, Chile
Post  Posted 1 Jul 2018 9:12 pm    
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Hi. I've been trying to get me an idea about prices. Surprised cause the same lap, same condition, offered here U$ 500 - 600, in evilBay are offered as much as U$ 1200.

what's wrong???

Ebay too expensive? Or here too cheap?
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Blake Hawkins


From:
Florida
Post  Posted 2 Jul 2018 7:09 am    
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The guitar is worth only what someone wants to pay for it.

The e-bay sellers don't always get the asking price.

Please check the completed auctions to see what was actually paid for the item.
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Brad Davis


From:
Texas, USA
Post  Posted 2 Jul 2018 8:10 am    
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Also check Reverb. Still some inflated prices, but some more reasonable. I consider all of them a starting point (from the seller) for negotiation, and would come in much lower based on what I think the guitar is actually worth. If they don't accept or won't budge, move on. There's always another guitar.
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Michael Butler


From:
California, USA
Post  Posted 2 Jul 2018 11:09 am    
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some feel that there is a sucker born every minute so they throw out a diriculous(my word) price and if someone bites.....

play music!
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Jack Hanson


From:
San Luis Valley, USA
Post  Posted 2 Jul 2018 2:09 pm    
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Many eBay lap steels are indeed overpriced. But there are exceptions. For example, a 1951 Gibson Ultratone that appears totally original, in its case, just sold for less than $500.
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Steven Welborn

 

From:
Ojai,CA USA
Post  Posted 2 Jul 2018 3:30 pm    
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have you seen the prices they're asking for in Japan??
Anybody actually buy from those sellers?
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Larry Carlson


From:
My Computer
Post  Posted 3 Jul 2018 9:00 am    
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I regularly check in on the Goodwill Auction website in their lap steel section.
Originally I though maybe I could pick up a guitar that needed a bit of care and fix it up at a reasonable price.
Boy was I wrong. Some folks in there act like it is a battle to the death to win the auction.
I've seen rather shabby guitars go for more than I bought mine new.
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Charles Stange

 

From:
San Francisco, California
Post  Posted 3 Jul 2018 9:54 am    
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I've noticed, in many categories, eBay sellers often have
"Delusions of Grandeur" with regard to the price of their items.....
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Bill Creller

 

From:
Saginaw, Michigan, USA (deceased)
Post  Posted 3 Jul 2018 4:17 pm    
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Well said Charles !! Delusions is a good term for the crazy prices.. Very Happy
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Bill Sinclair


From:
Waynesboro, PA, USA
Post  Posted 4 Jul 2018 6:36 am    
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Blake Hawkins wrote:

The e-bay sellers don't always get the asking price.

Please check the completed auctions to see what was actually paid for the item.


That works for actual auctions but not for the "Buy it Now" sales. I've noticed that when I purchase something with an offer that is less than the seller's asking price, the item shows up in the completed auctions as having "Sold For (the asking price)". It used to say Best Offer Accepted or something like that but it doesn't anymore. This has the effect of making people think that an item sold for more than it did. I see this as market manipulation through fraud and I wonder if ebay's lawyers are aware of what their bean counters are doing.
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Jim Sliff


From:
Lawndale California, USA
Post  Posted 4 Jul 2018 6:20 pm    
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eBay has become a ridiculous market for sellers to ask astronomical prices for pedestrian items.

You simply have to ignore asking prices if you are trying to determine a fair purchase price. Most vintage buyers & sellers use the Vintage Guitar Price Guide. Nearly all guitar stores have a copy, as do many of us here.

Prices are given in a range of what vintage dealers would actually *sell* an item for in excellent condition. Parts of the book give guidelines fo determining condition.

That's you most reliable resource IMO.
_________________
No chops, but great tone
1930's/40's Rickenbacher/Rickenbacker 6&8 string lap steels
1921 Weissenborn Style 2; Hilo&Schireson hollownecks
Appalachian, Regal & Dobro squarenecks
1959 Fender 400 9+2 B6;1960's Fender 800 3+3+2; 1948 Fender Dual-8 Professional
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Francisco Castillo

 

From:
Easter Island, Chile
Post  Posted 5 Jul 2018 6:27 pm     The bible
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Vintage Guitar Price Guide.... amen.

Thank you
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Jim Dulfer

 

From:
Southeastern USA
Post  Posted 6 Jul 2018 10:45 am    
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I approach eBay in this way, with two basic assumptions to guide me:

First I make an assumption that sellers who list an item with a fixed price are dealers (since a very large percentage are in fact) who are selling their merchandise for essentially their store prices. If it's not a dealer, it's someone who invested heavily and wants to get their money back. Buying an item at a fixed price only works for me if it's an item I have to have and can't wait. When I shop for a deal, I never look at fixed prices; I only look at auctions. If you remove fixed price items from your search, you will effectively remove 90% of the listings which tells me that eBay is no longer a place to buy from individuals, as it used to be, but is a marketplace for dealers to sell on line.

Secondly, while a true auction format is generally considered a good gauge of the current market value of an item, that can be misleading. When someone points to the final sale price as the value of an item (and sellers almost always do!), I look at the bid history to see where the majority of bidders were weighing in. If only two buyers are responsible for lifting the final sale price 25% beyond the majority of bidders, I can't honesty say that the final sale price represented the true market value! Two people's opinions of value in the entire country (or world) can hardly be said to represent market value. I make the assumption that the better gauge of market value is where the majority of bidders weighed in and stopped bidding...not the final sale price often arrived at by two competing buyers.

Just sayin'.
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Andy DePaule


From:
Saigon, Viet Nam & Springfield, Oregon
Post  Posted 7 Jul 2018 10:57 am     Most on E-Bay too much
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Most of the steels on E-Bay are way too much.
I'd recommend buying from someone on the forum if they are regulars and have posted a lot.
Had a couple of deals go south with forum members, but most are honest.

If you can afford it, the Clinesmith Aluminum lap steel is the best sounding steel I ever owned or played. Well worth the price because you'll never need any other later...

I sent you the 3 bars this morning and a PM with the tracking number.
So now they have gone from the USA to Viet Nam and back to the USA and soon to Easter Island... Well traveled bars indeed!
Best wishes,
Andy Very Happy
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Inlaid Star Guitar 2006 by Mark Giles. SD-10 4+5 in E9th; http://luthiersupply.com/instrument-gallery.html
2017 Mullen SD-10, G2 5&5 Polished Aluminum covering. Custom Build for me. Great Steel.
Clinesmith Joaquin Murphy style Aluminum 8 String Lap Steel Short A6th.
Magnatone Jeweltone Series Lap Steel, Circa 1950? 6 String with F#minor7th Tuning.
1956 Dewey Kendrick D-8 4&3, Restoration Project.
1973 Sho~Bud Green SD-10 4&5 PSG, Restoration Project.
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Joe Elk


From:
Ohio, USA
Post  Posted 7 Jul 2018 11:04 am    
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My old Accounting Teacher And I am Old Used to say that Fair Market Value was determined my a Willing and Willing Seller
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