Ebay Puzzler

[MUTT]

This is the second time this one has been on Ebay, this time with a lower reserve.

 

Here

 

The seller, although new-ish, has a few items sold previously that were more expensive than the padding used by your average scammer.

 

The concertina looks pretty decent.

 

The serial number is all wrong; it's for an instrument with amboyna ends. However, assuming a common mis-reading, if the penultimate number is a 6 instead of an 8, then it works, with a manufacture date of 1960, as nearly as I can figure from the Horniman ledgers.

 

My head hurts. Is this a scam, a scam being passed on by an innocent, or is it a very late Wheatstone English? Or am I reading everything wrong?

[Leo]

I guess we'll never know. This says at 2300 EST the auction ended with a buy it now.

 

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie...em=260082579859

 

Thanks

Leo

[Greg Jowaisas]

I think Mutt's detective work is correct: the serial # probably is 36460.

The 3E designation in the ledgers is consistant with the instrument's appearance and description.

 

My first concertina was a similar 1964 Wheatstone. Aluminum reed shoes, shiny ends. It was not a world beater but the reeds were responsive and the construction was solid.

 

If the ebay instrument was in tune and reasonably sound I'd say the buy it now price could be good for the buyer.

 

The seller didn't have a great deal of feedback but what there was seemed appropriate. (Although I seem to remember a forum member complaining a few years back of ebay problems with bogus spinning wheels!)The instrument was listed previously with a buy it now of $1800. The price reduction could be a function of the family illness mentioned in another listing (the sax) and a need to raise cash. I did not notice any other red flags.

 

An email request for a phone chat may have been the way to help resolve doubts.

 

Greg

[Paul Read]

I agree with Greg. I reported it as a possible scam then changed my mind. I considered buying it at the buy-it-now price but decided it wasn't really what I need (read want!) at this time.

I think at $900 and assuming no major work needed, it was a good buy for someone