Disposing of vintage radios.

[Retired]

Hi,

During my peak vintage radio restoration period I had gathered around 70 assorted sets which started to take over.

Due to my change of hobby I've been disposing of a lot of these sets and sold a job lot of 16 to one guy just to clear them out of the way. I've never done any of my hobbies with a view to making profit but how depressing it is now trying to sell decent sets for a fair price.

I've just sold three nice sets through eBay starting each off at 99p on auction and all three auctions ended last night with all sets being sold. During my collecting period I would have gladly paid £50 for the three so I was surprised to see the three go for under £29 which really is an insult considering what money is worth these days.

I'm not complaining because this is the way the market is these days and the sets were sold only making what they are currently worth.

I'm now faced with arranging for three separate buyers to visit to pay and collect the sets which quite honestly to me is pure hassle considering the amounts involved; it's only a few weeks ago I gave a set to a buyer because it made so little on eBay.

Take away eBay fees and the amount of time I've spent in taking pictures and posting these sets onto eBay then now having to arrange for collection; a short trip to the local tip would have been a better option.

Yes I've tried to give items away before again ending up with lots of unwanted hassle and if I do dispose of sets at the tip I attract criticism from people who wouldn't pay for the sets but would be happy to put me out both in my time and at expense to me?

There is something drastically wrong when I can post a nice PYE P76 onto eBay with a starting price of 99p only for the set not to attract a single bid but when I then broke the set and posted the parts for sale on eBay the parts sold for around £8?

I'm delighted I never paid over £600 for a round Ekco given what sets are selling for these days. As I say I'm not complaining but just generating a bit of interest and hopefully discussion on the subject. The money isn't really important to me but had it been so I think I would be slimmer of the year?

I'm rained off today regarding going into the garage so thought I'd post this story.

Kind regards, Col.

           

[pwdrive]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, those kind of radios will never be worth a lot, not in the short term future anyways, and I doubt much in the long term, factories churned them out by the millions, few of them are what I would call milestones in engineering, most are mainly bland both in asthetics and technical merit, there are the odd exceptions I'm sure.
The problem with restoration is that it will never be original, refurbishing a woodie cabinet is like removing the patina off a bronze statue, it's just a testament to ones skills, as is servicing the electronics, if that's the crack then fine but they will never be original or worth a lot unless the receiver is comparatively rare or particularly sought after.

Lawrence.

[camallison]

I echo your comments Col - maybe ebay has lowered people's expectations somewhat and they expect **cheap** every time. The more specialist fora, such as this one, could attract better prices but, as some have alluded to recently, even the meets don't seem to attract good prices. Is it a sign of the times, less disposable income or a sign of the times, greed and thoughtlessness as you yourself have suffered?

**SIGH** - nostalgia ain't what it used to be.

Colin

[AlanBeckett]

Prices paid, on ebay and elsewhere, also tend to fluctuate violently for reasons that are far from clear. A typical example is Super Adept Lathes - http://www.lathes.co.uk/adept/index.html.
I have two and a half - it's a long story - plus all the extra bits. I've never paid more than £10 plus Postage for each one. Currently people are paying silly money, £70 and up, for quite 'bare' examples, and yet there's no shortage of them.
Equally, I have several - too many some would say - AVO MultiMinors of various Mks. I've never paid more than around £6 for each and yet again silly money is being asked, and presumably paid, for quite ordinary examples.
My guess is that the enthusiasm will die away in time and prices for the above will regain some sanity.

As far as Valve Radios are concerned I'm afraid that, apart from a very few 'sought after' sets they aren't currently deemed to be worth much.

Alan

[Joe]

You've got to turn the map 'round and see it from potential Buyers' perspective.

As Lawrence says, two of these sets are common so you're not going to get people willing to travel far to collect them when there are other examples available which the Seller is prepared to send.

It may be worth putting any others you want rid of in a job lot as somebody may feel it's worth the trouble to collect several where they wouldn't bother for just one.

"Value" is a strange notion anyway. A few weeks ago I saw a rather nice Alba console set on sale in a local antiques centre with £80 on it. There was one of the same model on e-Bay with a £20 starting bid which failed to sell yet a week later the local one had disappeared, presumably sold.

You've probably done better on e-Bay than you would at a BVWS auction at least. Oddly these things seem to do quite well in my local auction house; even allowing for their higher charges I bet you'd have got at least as much as you did on e-Bay, with far less humbug.

- Joe

[Radio Fixer]

For old radios too many were kept. Easy to put up in the loft. If most of them had been dumped then the remainder might be worth something.

Restored top of the range sets will fetch enough to cover most parts costs but not time of course. But I expect nothing for that as that's the hobby.

I disagree with the comparison to the roman statue Lawrence and the patina thing. Apart from one radio that I have ever had most were abused and that's not patina. They had been dragged around for years and then to swaps and in and out of vans. All were damaged: missing veneer, gouges, split feet, holes in the side and no worm (I wont buy any with that) so nothing for it but to restore the cabinets. And working well may ensure them a future. Of course its often easier to find a good Bakelite cabinet that needs nothing more than polishing which is why some prefer them as a project. Trouble is most were poor performers even when they left the factory.

The one good wooden radio, and a top performer, did have patina: the odd scratch or finger marks around the knobs but that's all. It was simply polished not that it needed it as someone must have kept it in the parlour and been doing that for years. Maybe from new back in the mid 30's.

Gary

[pwdrive]

Maybe patina was the wrong word for me to use but you can get the general drift, the best we can hope for from old radios is to keep them working by whatever means.

Lawrence.

[Joe]

I quite agree, Gary. Signs of age are one thing; outright damage a completely different kettle of the jolly old sea creatures.

- Joe

[Refugee]

It is the way it is.
You have to keep sets for a long time while keeping an eye on the prices if you are going to sell them if only for what you paid.
I have spotted a mono block amplifier that I have examples of selling for several hundred pounds.
They make such a nice HIFI that I will not part with them now they are restored. It took 30 years for them to gain any value.
With smaller sets I have recently saved a Bush just like the one you are selling as restored for free after being offered for a week or so on another forum. It came with a pile of shop clear out BER transistor portable sets.
As I am a bit more technical these will be enough of a challenge to keep me interested.
For the last week or so I have been tinkering with 1980s video cameras with built in lens motor circuits and these are a hard core challenge and I feel that the thread best be posted in a forum that has an active enough TV section that there will be any interest at all.
The art is in picking a challenge that fits your skills. If you go on collecting sets after you have worked out all the challenges they put before you there interest will begin to fade.

[Retired]

Hi,

Thanks everyone for your interesting and valid replies.

Now here's a turn up: just before dinner time Paul arrived to collect one of these sets I've just sold and whilst here I asked Paul if he was interested in vintage radio in general; no Paul wasn't but he was buying this set for a chum who lives in Ireland.

I asked if he was interested in buying more of my sets so £190 changed hands and we were both happy with the deal as we loaded about a dozen assorted sets into his van all eventually destined to leave our shores. There was a number of Bakelite sets plus some very nice "woodies" so Paul was very happy and of course I was delighted because this now saves endless hassle in trying to sell them. Strange how things can suddenly come right when most unexpected and how fortunate Paul arrived in a decent sized van allowing the lot to be loaded in one go.

At last I can now sort our front bedroom out and finally gain access to the window which I want to re-glaze later this year. I mentioned to Joe that this was my intention of waiting until the buyers arrived of the three sets and ask them if they were interested in my other sets thereby saving my lots of time and trouble in posting the sets on eBay. As Joe has just suggested I had already told Bron if the sets remained with me I would sell them in batches and I had already pulled three Bakelite sets out ready to do this; selling in batches would have cleared the sets with fewer visitors.

Today has turned out very well indeed and Bron has already got a Valentines present from the proceeds so everyone's happy. Life can be so good.

Kind regards, Col.