[Phono-L] Phonographs and the economy

[harvey kravitz]

Hi Group, I too, have noticed a down turn on the price of phonographs in the past few years. They are getting cheaper. I have seen many good deals with fellow collectors,  Ruby Lane, Craigslist and the local paper. In these hard economic times, this is an excellent time to buy. I would caution selling, though. My basement is full of machines(common ones) ready to sell. I have put a lot of time restoring them and I will not give them away. The economy will get better. This is a buyer's market for now.  Harvey P. Kravitz.

--- On Fri, 2/20/09, phonolist at mac.com <phonolist at mac.com> wrote:
From: phonolist at mac.com <phonolist at mac.com>
Subject: Re: [Phono-L] Phonographs and the economy
To: "Antique Phonograph List" <phono-l at oldcrank.org>
Date: Friday, February 20, 2009, 10:30 AM

Ray;

I can share my personal perspective on this.

With all of the talk of doom and gloom, I had vowed to be prudent and to hold
onto my money and not to buy any phonographs at this time.  Well, of course I
was offered a phonograph that I had been wanting for a while.  The seller was a
very knowledgeable collector.  The machine was what I would term a very scarce
variation of a somewhat scarce model (how's that for being vague), and I had
only seen one other offered before in 30 years of collecting.  The price was
twice what the standard model is currently selling for, but I bought it.  It
was, however, half the price of the only other example that I have seen, a few
years ago at Union.

My feeling is that all levels of the hobby have been effected, with the very
rare items much less effected than the common items.  I believe that even with
one-of-a-kind instruments, that buyers are expecting to pay less.  With common
items, buyers are tending to sit on the sidelines unless the price is absolutely
irresistible.


On FridayFebruary 20, 2009, at 8:36 AM, Raymond Wilenzick wrote:

> A friend asked me if this is a good time to sell his phonographs, or
should he wait for better times?  So, how has this economic disaster we are in
affected our hobby?  Common machines are selling for less than they did 20 years
ago.  Better ones are holding some value, but even they are down from a few
years ago.  Are the truly rare phonos, that usually trade privately between
collectors, still selling to collectors with deep pockets?  Is the hobby
declining in interest from new collectors?  Are phonos selling at the shows? 
Any comments along these lines would be interesting to hear.
> 
> Ray
> _______________________________________________
> Phono-L mailing list
> http://phono-l.oldcrank.org

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