mory Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Yet another win by Chris Algar You have to admire the man http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jeffries-31-button-Concertina-Restoration-/130628000433?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Keyboard_RL&hash=item1e6a091ab1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete Dunk Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I don't understand. How do you know the winning bidder is Chris Algar? I know his user name on ebay but that isn't shown in the auction. Have you followed him so long that the number of winning bids in his history gives him away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Holder Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 Yet another win by Chris Algar You have to admire the man http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Jeffries-31-button-Concertina-Restoration-/130628000433?pt=UK_MusicalInstr_Keyboard_RL&hash=item1e6a091ab1 I went up to two and a half, thought that would be enough Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Holder Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 I don't understand. How do you know the winning bidder is Chris Algar? I know his user name on ebay but that isn't shown in the auction. Have you followed him so long that the number of winning bids in his history gives him away? Ebay aren't that clever. Chris's name is cocoa11 so they use the second last character, star star star, then last character - 1***1 Mine would be 2***0 but I've never bothered to look. Andy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex West Posted January 15, 2012 Share Posted January 15, 2012 It looks to me as though your moniker is a***0, Andy. £2,500 was never going to be enough. If you reckon that a fully restored 32 bone-button C/G C Jeffries is worth somewhere between £5,000 and £6,000 (if you have the contacts to get that kind of price), then deduct the price of a new set of bellows, retuning, finding or making a couple of new end bolts, cleaning up the woodwork, sorting any issues with the action, renewing valves, pads, bushing etc and allow a bit of profit, then Chris looks to have paid about the right price. Someone who didn't need a profit and could get some of the work done properly but non-professionally could have paid more and gotten a good concertina for less than the "market" price. But I'm sure a fair number of people would have been concerned by the obvious defects and worried that there's more trouble ahead when you look closely at the action and the reeds. Maybe he got a little bit of a bargain - but he's also taking the risk it won't be a top drawer instrument even when all the work is done! I'm quite sure Chris knows his market Alex West Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Holder Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 You're right Alex. I checked too. I guess they must take a random 2 characters from the username and put 3 stars in between. It seems to stay the same each time though. I didn't really expect to get it for 2.5 I tried for a couple of Jeffries' in auction houses down here. One went for 4,200 and the other for 3,100, plus 18% commission of course. I think Chris got those. He must have a very scary cash flow! (and good insurance!) He undoubtedly knows his market very well, although his ECs on ebay haven't been selling recently, there's a lot of re-listing. The sad thing for me is that I feel I'm ready to take on a refurb of that sort, but I can't get a look in, don't have the spare cash! So I end up doing the lower end instruments, which are great, but not quite as challenging. Cheers. a***0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mory Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 (edited) When I say you have to admire Chris I mean it, his talent for buying, restoring, and selling, and every thing that intails, thus entering back into the playing world instruments otherwise lost is legendary. I wouldn't imagine if he is putting lots of work out to the various highly skilled restorers he uses that he would pay quite the same as a one off member of the public, but regardless the market drives the price and they are what they are. Andy why don't you take some of your work to Chris and see if he has anything for you. We all need patrons if we are any sort of artisan or craftsman, lets face it we have to go with things how they are. All the Best mory By the way I felt I had seen that one before with the mark over the name anyone else? Edited January 16, 2012 by mory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex West Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 The sad thing for me is that I feel I'm ready to take on a refurb of that sort, but I can't get a look in, don't have the spare cash! So I end up doing the lower end instruments, which are great, but not quite as challenging. Andy, From experience - some bitter but some pleasant as well - you may find that the lower end instruments are much more challenging to repair or restore than one of the "better" names. The quality of materials used in the lower end instruments can result in a real struggle to achieve a halfway decent end result. It's probably also common that in your restoration, you've spent more time on the instrument than the original maker spent in its initial construction! Alex West Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Yet another win by Chris Algar You have to admire the man http://www.ebay.co.u...=item1e6a091ab1 Chris provides an invaluable resource to the concertina community by buying old concertinas, sorting out the wheat from the chaff, getting expert restoration and repair work done and reselling them at market price. Yes, we pay a premium to buy from him, but the value we get from that higher price is quality we can rely on. I couldn't be happier with the concertina I bought from him and don't begrudge him his profit in the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mory Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 (edited) Yet another win by Chris Algar You have to admire the man http://www.ebay.co.u...=item1e6a091ab1 Chris provides an invaluable resource to the concertina community by buying old concertinas, sorting out the wheat from the chaff, getting expert restoration and repair work done and reselling them at market price. Yes, we pay a premium to buy from him, but the value we get from that higher price is quality we can rely on. I couldn't be happier with the concertina I bought from him and don't begrudge him his profit in the least. seems we are in agreement then Jim if you read above a few replies, mory Edited January 16, 2012 by mory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Besser Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 Yet another win by Chris Algar You have to admire the man http://www.ebay.co.u...=item1e6a091ab1 Chris provides an invaluable resource to the concertina community by buying old concertinas, sorting out the wheat from the chaff, getting expert restoration and repair work done and reselling them at market price. Yes, we pay a premium to buy from him, but the value we get from that higher price is quality we can rely on. I couldn't be happier with the concertina I bought from him and don't begrudge him his profit in the least. seems we are in agreement then Jim if you read above a few replies, mory Just adding my two shillings, not arguing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mory Posted January 16, 2012 Author Share Posted January 16, 2012 Just thought you'd missed it Jim. no worries mate Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Holder Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 The sad thing for me is that I feel I'm ready to take on a refurb of that sort, but I can't get a look in, don't have the spare cash! So I end up doing the lower end instruments, which are great, but not quite as challenging. Andy, From experience - some bitter but some pleasant as well - you may find that the lower end instruments are much more challenging to repair or restore than one of the "better" names. The quality of materials used in the lower end instruments can result in a real struggle to achieve a halfway decent end result. It's probably also common that in your restoration, you've spent more time on the instrument than the original maker spent in its initial construction! Alex West That's certainly true Alex, although it's a very steep learning curve and you soon get to know the shortcuts. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjcjones Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Yet another win by Chris Algar You have to admire the man http://www.ebay.co.u...=item1e6a091ab1 Chris provides an invaluable resource to the concertina community by buying old concertinas, sorting out the wheat from the chaff, getting expert restoration and repair work done and reselling them at market price. Yes, we pay a premium to buy from him, but the value we get from that higher price is quality we can rely on. I couldn't be happier with the concertina I bought from him and don't begrudge him his profit in the least. Chris has pointed out to me that he not only has to factor in his profit, but also tax and VAT. The fact that he's able to compete successfully against private bidders who have none of these considerations does indeed suggest that he knows the market well. I've both bought from him and sold to him and I believe I got a fair deal both ways, which is why I'm always happy to recommend him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I don't understand. How do you know the winning bidder is Chris Algar? I know his user name on ebay but that isn't shown in the auction. Have you followed him so long that the number of winning bids in his history gives him away? Well, on that amboyna TT aeola I decided that Chris was the winner by comparing the feedback numbers with an auction where he was selling. Not absolutely certain, of course, but what's the likelihood of two individuals bidding on such a specialized item having the exact same relatively high feedback? Although that only worked because I already suspected who it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael sam wild Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 I have had 2 from Chris and found him fair and open. After buying a number of bummers when I set out on eBay I think you need to go to a reputable seller. That's not to say you shouldn't risk a punt and then find a good restorer but all the big boys trawl the auction houses and the web so last minute bidnappers seemt to win out most of the time. Anyway the prices seem to go up so much it is worth the outlay if you get what you want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimLucas Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Chris has pointed out to me that he not only has to factor in his profit, but also tax and VAT. The fact that he's able to compete successfully against private bidders who have none of these considerations does indeed suggest that he knows the market well. I would say that there's another very important factor: volume. The volume of Chris' sales doesn't come close to that of Walmart, Tesco, or probably even your average guitar shop, but he does buy many instruments per year (even per month?) at auction, and if a few turn out to be worth somewhat less than he expected, they will likely be balanced by a few that are worth more. That tradeoff simply isn't available to someone who intends to buy only one concertina in a lifetime... or even one per year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ceemonster Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 i suspect the winning purchaser found a way to check the concertina out. where i live, one in the business could probly take the expense as a tax write-off..... meanwhile, OMG, look at that big maccann..... http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/WHEATSTONE-81-BUTTON-MCCANN-DUET-CONCERTINA-1929-INCL-CASE-/190630051935?_trksid=p4340.m185&_trkparms=algo%3DDLSL%252BSIC.NPJS%26its%3DI%26itu%3DUCI%252BUA%26otn%3D10%26pmod%3D130628000433%252B130628000433%26po%3D%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D5763353386871813160 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now