Jeffries Prices

[Daniel Hersh]

Chris Algar just paid GBP 4,157.00 (about US $8,160 US) for this 45-button Jeffries. He presumably bought it for re-sale...so if that's wholesale these days, what's retail?

 

Daniel

[dpmccabe]

Chris Algar just paid GBP 4,157.00 (about US $8,160 US) for this 45-button Jeffries. He presumably bought it for re-sale...so if that's wholesale these days, what's retail?

 

Daniel

My feeling is that Chris's main concern is getting these great instruments off to Ireland and elsewhere to the people who really need them, not so much profit margins. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't make a huge profit off this buy.

[Chris Timson]

My feeling is that Chris's main concern is getting these great instruments off to Ireland and elsewhere to the people who really need them, not so much profit margins. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't make a huge profit off this buy.

I think that's probably right (though a 45 button instrument would seem a bit untypical for the Irish market - maybe he has an English buyer in mind). Remember also that he won't need to have anything done to it at all.

 

Chris

[malcolm clapp]

Radial reed chambers.

 

Unusual?

 

MC

[Paul Read]

Chris Algar just paid GBP 4,157.00 (about US $8,160 US) for this 45-button Jeffries. He presumably bought it for re-sale...so if that's wholesale these days, what's retail?

 

Daniel

 

Buying on Ebay, there appears to be a bit of a tug-of-war between Chris and another dealer that is pushing the price of Jeffries up. Most Jeffries that have been on ebay in recent months were bought by one person who also deals in violins etc.

[Chris Timson]

Buying on Ebay, there appears to be a bit of a tug-of-war between Chris and another dealer that is pushing the price of Jeffries up. Most Jeffries that have been on ebay in recent months were bought by one person who also deals in violins etc.

And I've been in a real-life auction when Chris (bidding by phone) lost to the same individual (bidding by proxy). Mostly, I believe Chris isn't willing to go as high as this dealer for Jeffries boxes.

 

Chris

 

Edited to change cHRIS to Chris. Funny things, computer keyboards. Much prefer the ones on anglos.

Edited March 27, 2007 by Chris Timson

[Bruce McCaskey]

I saw a 31-button C/G Jefferies (C. Jeffries maker) sell for $7,500 US in a private transaction a couple of weeks ago. It was in excellent condition and I'd have bought it myself if someone else wasn't ahead of me in the matter. Collin Dipper had gone over it about 15 years ago (repadded, tuned, etc.) and it'd been played very little since. The owner pointed out where Colin had reinforced the bottom of the bellows, but the result looked so good I'd not have noticed it had it not been pointed out. I spent a few minute playing it and found it evenly responsive and clear voiced - a real pleasure to play.

 

I also tried a Bb/F and a B/F#, both were in excellent shape and the owner commented that they might consider selling me the Bb/F but would never part with the B/F#. All three Jeffries were quite good, but I had to agree that the B/F# was the best of the bunch from a sound and action standpoint. No discussion of price on the Bb/F as yet, the owner said they'd need some time to get over parting with the C/G first.

[Daniel Hersh]

Do we know that this other person is a dealer, or is he/she perhaps a collector or speculator? I see feedback from lots of purchases on their eBay ID, but none from sales.

 

Daniel

Buying on Ebay, there appears to be a bit of a tug-of-war between Chris and another dealer that is pushing the price of Jeffries up. Most Jeffries that have been on ebay in recent months were bought by one person who also deals in violins etc.

And I've been in a real-life auction when Chris (bidding by phone) lost to the same individual (bidding by proxy). Mostly, I believe Chris isn't willing to go as high as this dealer for Jeffries boxes.

 

cHRIS

Edited March 26, 2007 by Daniel Hersh

[Erik Murray]

I wouldn't know about the desire on anyone's part to shift concertinas to desirable locations but it makes perfect sense for well known dealers to pay top dollar for rare items. Maybe there won't be much actual profit on any given thing but the dealer remains the known source and price levels remain high. If the money isn't tied up too long it all looks good to me and who could resist a chance to have something new pass through his hands?

We potential buyers are stuck with the consolation that the instrument will be treated right but it sure is no fun to know that the big guys are always going to get everything that comes up.

I wonder if anyone has a program that sets off alarms or a cell phone if a Jeffries with "Buy it Now" shows up on Ebay.

 

EM

[Paul Read]

I wonder if anyone has a program that sets off alarms or a cell phone if a Jeffries with "Buy it Now" shows up on Ebay.

 

EM

 

I wish they did, the only Jeffries I won on ebay was a scam

[dpmccabe]

Do we know that this other person is a dealer, or is he/she perhaps a collector or speculator?

I sent him a message via eBay asking the same thing, but did not receive a response.

[Paul Read]

Do we know that this other person is a dealer, or is he/she perhaps a collector or speculator? I see feedback from lots of purchases on their eBay ID, but none from sales.

 

Daniel

Buying on Ebay, there appears to be a bit of a tug-of-war between Chris and another dealer that is pushing the price of Jeffries up. Most Jeffries that have been on ebay in recent months were bought by one person who also deals in violins etc.

And I've been in a real-life auction when Chris (bidding by phone) lost to the same individual (bidding by proxy). Mostly, I believe Chris isn't willing to go as high as this dealer for Jeffries boxes.

 

cHRIS

 

It doesn't really matter - he's vacuuming up all the Jeffries that CA doesn't get. I see he's just bought the 70s Crabb too.

[Daniel Hersh]

The Crabb buyer (eBay ID laktok) is actually not the buyer I had thought you were referring to, though I see that this buyer recently bought a late-model Wheatstone too. The Jeffries buyer that I was thinking of has the eBay ID busmick . But both of them buy on eBay and don't sell there, unless they're using other IDs for their sales.

 

It does matter to me whether these folks are dealers, collectors or speculators. If they're dealers, the instruments will at least be available to others for purchase from them. If they're collectors, that's less likely to happen anytime soon. But if someone's speculating and trying to corner the market in Jeffries concertinas I would find that pretty distressing.

 

Do we know that this other person is a dealer, or is he/she perhaps a collector or speculator? I see feedback from lots of purchases on their eBay ID, but none from sales.

 

Daniel

Buying on Ebay, there appears to be a bit of a tug-of-war between Chris and another dealer that is pushing the price of Jeffries up. Most Jeffries that have been on ebay in recent months were bought by one person who also deals in violins etc.

And I've been in a real-life auction when Chris (bidding by phone) lost to the same individual (bidding by proxy). Mostly, I believe Chris isn't willing to go as high as this dealer for Jeffries boxes.

 

cHRIS

It doesn't really matter - he's vacuuming up all the Jeffries that CA doesn't get. I see he's just bought the 70s Crabb too.

[dpmccabe]

The only other concertina dealer I've heard of in the U.K. who might sell Jeffries is Ian Roome. Maybe "busmick" is him?

[ceemonster]

actually, the 8500 smackers is even more expensive than it seems because this thing is unrestored.

 

the fact is that on the private market, prices for pristine or pristinely restored jeffries are considerably higher than this. in the US in the last year or so, i know of one that was priced at $9k, and that was for a b-flat/f. i know of one purchased at $10k. and i know of another sold for nearly $12k. that is in the US.......in pounds sterling, these items are going for even higher in terms of US dollars. and folks, they are not being donated to the irish. i'm not saying anyone is cheating anyone. any good is worth what the market will bear, asinine though that market has become......it will change only when people wake up, turn down the "privilege" of paying these ridiculous prices for centuries-old mechanical items with hundreds of aging parts, and save their money instead for the very excellent value to be had in kensingtons, carrolls, suttners, plus morses, edgeleys, etc. at these stupid prices, jeffries are better left to those with more money than sense.....

[Daniel Hersh]

Just a correction here: this wasn't an unrestored concertina. The seller said "When we got this one it looked pretty good but we felt it deserved the top treatment so we had a 'no expense spared' overhaul by the concertina experts Wheatstones . Every possible detail has been taken care of and the instrument is now in perfect concert pitch , plays perfectly and is in stunning condition cosmetically ."

 

actually, the 8500 smackers is even more expensive than it seems because this thing is unrestored.

 

the fact is that on the private market, prices for pristine or pristinely restored jeffries are considerably higher than this. in the US in the last year or so, i know of one that was priced at $9k, and that was for a b-flat/f. i know of one purchased at $10k. and i know of another sold for nearly $12k. that is in the US.......in pounds sterling, these items are going for even higher in terms of US dollars. and folks, they are not being donated to the irish. i'm not saying anyone is cheating anyone. any good is worth what the market will bear, asinine though that market has become......it will change only when people wake up, turn down the "privilege" of paying these ridiculous prices for centuries-old mechanical items with hundreds of aging parts, and save their money instead for the very excellent value to be had in kensingtons, carrolls, suttners, plus morses, edgeleys, etc. at these stupid prices, jeffries are better left to those with more money than sense.....

[McIsog]

actually, the 8500 smackers is even more expensive than it seems because this thing is unrestored.

 

the fact is that on the private market, prices for pristine or pristinely restored jeffries are considerably higher than this. in the US in the last year or so, i know of one that was priced at $9k, and that was for a b-flat/f. i know of one purchased at $10k. and i know of another sold for nearly $12k. that is in the US.......in pounds sterling, these items are going for even higher in terms of US dollars. and folks, they are not being donated to the irish. i'm not saying anyone is cheating anyone. any good is worth what the market will bear, asinine though that market has become......it will change only when people wake up, turn down the "privilege" of paying these ridiculous prices for centuries-old mechanical items with hundreds of aging parts, and save their money instead for the very excellent value to be had in kensingtons, carrolls, suttners, plus morses, edgeleys, etc. at these stupid prices, jeffries are better left to those with more money than sense.....

 

Well Said! It would be nice to know whom busmick is and what he is doing with those instruments. Hopefully they are getting played. Just taking them out of circulation is - well annoying. But one feature of sellers getting high prices for them is that they will tell all their friends and relatives how much money they received for that 'old concertina' from the shelf, attic or closet. Hopefully that will spawn more antique sales.

[Robin Harrison]

Ceemonster.................

they are not being donated to the Irish".

Could you explain this ? Are they supposed to be donated to the Irish?

 

 

jeffries are better left to those with more money than sense

Don't even bother trying to explain this one.

Robin