montesquieu Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) Just off the phone to a guy who is selling a piece of vintage hifi. Was on ebay for 10 days, starting price £1000, 83 views, no bids, so not exactly a highly-desirable item. I had called him last week, and got some info. It's an interesting old piece but on checking it out, there are ZERO parts available if the mechanism goes kaput - it would instantly become a £1000 doorstop. Quite common with old CD players. This one listed at £5000 new 15 years ago and still sounds competitive with the latest modern kit, but if it breaks, that's it - no lasers, no transports available and it's generally not possible to retro-fit one from another machine: most modern CD players use CD-ROM drives which operate on an entirely different principle. (I don't think the bloke paid anything close to £5000 for it originally BTW, but he has at least had 15 years' use out of it). But it is an interesting piece of kit, in a similar way to an old sports car, flawed but fun, and I emailed him asking if he'd take offers. I was prepared to risk £500 on the player lasting for a few years longer, but not £1000. Anyway, he called me this morning. I offered my £500, and he got mortally offended (in fact I'm sure he swore at them in Welsh!). 'I'D RATHER SET FIRE TO IT THAN SELL IT FOR THAT.' What kind of idiot statement is that? Anyway got me thinking about emotional attachment to money and in particular to the idea of what something is 'worth'. I had a sadly all too common experience looking at a house last summer. Bloke, ex army type, wanted £70k more than he paid for the place in Oct 2007. Why? New curtains, some flooring, lick of paint. WTF? Tracked it for a bit but it was eventually withdrawn from sale before Xmas. Perhaps he MEW'd £70k and forgot that most of it went on credit cards or a round the world cruise. The arrogance that HIS HOUSE was worth £XXX,XXX and not a penny less was staggering though. I guess the only thing that will change this is forced sellers, but somehow this time round we seem to have avoided that scenario altogether. :angry: Edited March 28, 2011 by montesquieu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nationalist Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Anyway, he called me this morning. I offered my £500, and he got mortally offended (in fact I'm sure he swore at them in Welsh!). It's called creating a false market and it's quite a good idea if you can pull it off. Of course you need to be in a monopoly situation, either directly, or in tacit cahoots with other sellers to make it work. If you've got 10 widgets to sell it could easily be worth your while burning five of them so the remaining five more than double in price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Just off the phone to a guy who is selling a piece of vintage hifi. Was on ebay for 10 days, starting price £1000, 83 views, no bids, so not exactly a highly-desirable item. I had called him last week, and got some info. It's an interesting old piece but on checking it out, there are ZERO parts available if the mechanism goes kaput - it would instantly become a £1000 doorstop. Quite common with old CD players. This one listed at £5000 new 15 years ago and still sounds competitive with the latest modern kit, but if it breaks, that's it - no lasers, no transports available and it's generally not possible to retro-fit one from another machine: most modern CD players use CD-ROM drives which operate on an entirely different principle. (I don't think the bloke paid anything close to £5000 for it originally BTW, but he has at least had 15 years' use out of it). But it is an interesting piece of kit, in a similar way to an old sports car, flawed but fun, and I emailed him asking if he'd take offers. I was prepared to risk £500 on the player lasting for a few years longer, but not £1000. Anyway, he called me this morning. I offered my £500, and he got mortally offended (in fact I'm sure he swore at them in Welsh!). 'I'D RATHER SET FIRE TO IT THAN SELL IT FOR THAT.' What kind of idiot statement is that? Anyway got me thinking about emotional attachment to money and in particular to the idea of what something is 'worth'. I had a sadly all too common experience looking at a house last summer. Bloke, ex army type, wanted £70k more than he paid for the place in Oct 2007. Why? New curtains, some flooring, lick of paint. WTF? Tracked it for a bit but it was eventually withdrawn from sale before Xmas. Perhaps he MEW'd £70k and forgot that most of it went on credit cards or a round the world cruise. The arrogance that HIS HOUSE was worth £XXX,XXX and not a penny less was staggering though. I guess the only thing that will change this is forced sellers, but somehow this time round we seem to have avoided that scenario altogether. :angry: What piece of kit, if you don't mind me asking? I've got a similar situation in an 8000T, when the circuit dies/analogue signal is turned off.. that's it. But it sounds bl**dy marvelous! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikthe20 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 He's probably already spent the money on a new piece of kit and selling this one was part of the justification for buying the new one. On a similar note, the landlady of a friend of mine spent lots of money on plastic surgery to celebrate selling her house! Thing is, by this she meant "putting the house on the market" - she assumed she'd sell it straight away. Been on market 6 months now! Not taking reasonable offers - the price is fixed in her head and she's already spending it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil324 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Imagine being an estate agent then, passing on offers 20-30% below asking price. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 He's probably already spent the money on a new piece of kit and selling this one was part of the justification for buying the new one. On a similar note, the landlady of a friend of mine spent lots of money on plastic surgery to celebrate selling her house! Thing is, by this she meant "putting the house on the market" - she assumed she'd sell it straight away. Been on market 6 months now! Not taking reasonable offers - the price is fixed in her head and she's already spending it. That'll wipe the smile off her face.. ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
montesquieu Posted March 28, 2011 Author Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) What piece of kit, if you don't mind me asking? I've got a similar situation in an 8000T, when the circuit dies/analogue signal is turned off.. that's it. But it sounds bl**dy marvelous! An Audion valve CD player from the mid-90s. Uses an old TEAC transport for which spares are sadly long unavailable. Nice DAC chip, TDA 1541, inside. Nice, but not worth £1000 these days (like I said zero bids at that starting price). I'd be taking quite a risk even at £500. Your problem sounds more like a duff component (perhaps an expired capacitor) or even a loose connection, may well be fixable. Edited March 28, 2011 by montesquieu Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikthe20 Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 That'll wipe the smile off her face.. ? From my understanding there's now nothing that'll wipe the smile off her face! Which reminds me of that old plastic surgery joke: "She's had so many facelifts she's now got a beard". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Discopants Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 That'll wipe the smile off her face.. ? Maybe she should have spent the money plastering over the cracks in her house first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScrewsNutsandBolts Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) What piece of kit, if you don't mind me asking? I've got a similar situation in an 8000T, when the circuit dies/analogue signal is turned off.. that's it. But it sounds bl**dy marvelous! Buy mine when yours goes... will be on ebay in the next week or so ! Edited March 28, 2011 by ScrewsNutsandBolts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scappers Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 Talked to an estate agent this weekend. Said he'd valued a property at £350K, seller wanted it listed for £430K. Maybe the same seller had a CD player for sale. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinceBalls Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 (edited) I think this is a really good anecdote that transfers across the board. I am experiencing exactly the same in the housing market. I went to see A 4 bed terrace at the weekend - nice enough property I did some research this time as the street is a typical Victorian terrace with pretty much the same properties give or take the odd loft conversion. The top 2007 price was 295K The top EVER price recorded on the street for one of the terraced houses was 319K in 2009 Prices in the postcode are down 3% since the top priced property sold in 2009 What do you think they are asking? . . . . . 370K! That's 50K MORE than a like-for-like property has ever sold for on the street. And it needed a new kitchen (not that the kitchen was rubbish it just didn't really have one that wasn't being taken by them) and decorating throughout. Am I going mad or does this seem a little strange to anyone? Currently staying in it is a family who have outgrown the place - 5 children! They need to selll and buy somewhere in the same area but with more space. I assume they are fantasising about getting top whack for this place and not having to fork out more for the next because they can't afford to increase their mortgage. I'm sitting this one out and will re-visit the situation after the 'Spring Flop'. As cybernoid pointed out to me last week, at present it just isn't worth putting offers in when asking prices (what vendors have already spent in their minds) are so far away from what I am willing to pay. Edited March 28, 2011 by MinceBalls Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 An Audion valve CD player from the mid-90s. Uses an old TEAC transport for which spares are sadly long unavailable. Nice DAC chip, TDA 1541, inside. Nice, but not worth £1000 these days (like I said zero bids at that starting price). I'd be taking quite a risk even at £500. Your problem sounds more like a duff component (perhaps an expired capacitor) or even a loose connection, may well be fixable. hmm, cheers, not familiar with that player but them VRDS transports were legendary in the nineties. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecrashingisles Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 On a similar note, the landlady of a friend of mine spent lots of money on plastic surgery to celebrate selling her house! Thing is, by this she meant "putting the house on the market" - she assumed she'd sell it straight away. Been on market 6 months now! I can imagine the comments when she invites people round for a viewing. "We can see you've spent money on it but it still needs a lot more. Those jowls will need fixing and the nose needs serious structural work." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cool_hand Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 £500 was a very generous offer. Seller should of ripped your armed off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Executive Sadman Posted March 28, 2011 Share Posted March 28, 2011 When its not a homogenious product thats being offered, i think people pay what they can afford, rather than what something is worth, if there is a geniune market for it. Time and time again ive seen crappy houses go for well in excess of what similar houses have gone for simply because they are unique (not necessarily in a good way!) and people assume the sticker price must be right because some 18 year old illiterate named Daz sitting behind a desk in an estate agent decided thats what its worth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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