Hi,
Thanks Steve and I've no intention of "joining the herd" so to speak but I know exactly what you mean. It is very difficult indeed knowing what to do when you want to sell a set that you've years ago perhaps paid £40 for only for it to make a couple of quid now. I've done something though Steve that will cheer you up and hopefully restore your faith in me as a wayward vandal.
What sense you make Gary; who indeed wants to hump big radio sets around the country for absolutely nothing; I for one don't and can employ my time better. I've only ever attended the excellent Golborne meetings and to be honest I find it somewhat depressing watching the people who have driven many miles and taken a table only to not sell their sets having to take them back home. The sets are usually dirt cheap and still don't sell. I paid £20 for a delightful Mullard set at Golborne and this actually now appears to be expensive but I've just sold the Mullard for the same amount I paid for it to a fellow enthusiast who is going to restore it so no harm done and a set out of my way.
Now for a lovely story of something actually going right for a change in my life and hopefully put me in Steve's good books.
I hope you are all sitting down as I have some surprising news. As you know I posted the PYE P76 for sale onto two forums and it also spent a week on eBay; it didn’t sell at the £25 asking price on the forums and didn’t even attract a bid of 99p on eBay so I broke it up and have since listed some of the parts on eBay which have already attracted a bid of 99p with until the weekend until auction end.
A week ago I listed my McMichael 372 onto eBay with a starting price of 99p; this was a very good set and quite rare and yesterday at auction end it sold for less than £10. I’ve never been in this hobby to make money but when I see sets I paid £40 for only reach under a tenner it makes me wonder what has happened. Anyway I rang Andy who lives nearby to arrange for him to collect the McMichael and whilst speaking to him on the phone I asked if he would be interested in buying other sets as I was just about to list a lot of them on eBay; he said he was interested and would collect the set in an hour.
Andy arrived with his wife Kate and we had a good natter; Andy owns his own electrical company at Aspley in Huddersfield (Nearby) and he and his children are very keen on playing with crystal sets so radio runs in the family. I showed them into my workshop and they were amazed as they gazed at the shelves loaded with vintage radios. There must have been 14 sets on display and I thought I‘ve had enough of playing around for a few quid on eBay so I said you can have the lot for £150. Half were loaded into the van and the rest will be collected tomorrow; Andy said I’m sorry but I don’t have all the cash on me so I said no problem bring it when you are ready. As I carried the sets to his van he said what a great wife he had as she had just enough to make up the balance and he handed over £160 cash. His plan is to restore the non workers and then display all the sets around his works for customers to switch on and play with. What a lovely result; it couldn’t have worked out better. Of course I lost quite a lot of money but I think I actually got a good deal under the circumstances and Andy was delighted as he did exceptionally well.
Whilst talking to Andy I asked what he would charge me to deliver and collect both my Myford engineering lathe beds to Halifax as I was considering getting the beds re-ground but I still had to make enquiries as to price and if the company was still in business. Andy said it would cost me absolutely nothing as I’ve been more than fair with him and that his father lives in Halifax so he could fit it in easy without going out of his way.
This morning I phoned the company in Halifax who Alan Beckett tipped me off about and explained about my lathe beds enquiring how much it would cost to do the re-grind. After a bit of thinking and making me sweat for a bit Robert who owns the company said I can do them both for £400. I haggled and said that I may as well put another £300 to the money and upgrade the lathe to a Colchester offering him £300 cash in his hand; the offer was accepted and fair to both of us so now I have a big job on stripping both lathes. When Andy is going to take them I’ll also drive over and hand over the cash up front as this is how I like to do business. My plan now is to turn the restoration of both lathes into a unique project as there are only three known survivors of these lathes and I own two; hopefully if I’m successful I will then sell one making the other totally free to me apart from labour which will be more of a pleasure to me than a chore. At last my lifetime’s bad luck has finally turned round. Apart from marrying a wonderful lass I’ve always had poor luck and had to graft for everything I’ve achieved.
Bron and I have made two more friends in Andy and Kate and hopefully we will help each other out in the future. With a bit of give and take life can be truly wonderful.
Tomorrow not only is Andy collecting the sets but Amanda who was winning bidder on the Hegner scroll saw at £360 is collecting it and paying cash. The Hegner will pay for the lathe re-grinding job. On Wednesday Richard who was winning bidder on the Wadkin chop saw at £103 is collecting it; all this action is making my head spin and it’s only the start as it opens up a lot of work in both the workshop and garage as I can have a good swap around of everything. The workshop looks like a tip now because I've already removed a lot of the shelving. Boy I'm in for some work once the warmer weather arrives; if not I'll get stuck in anyway as I'm fed up of the weather dictating what I do in life.
I've just had the best weekend for ages and there is no stopping me now.
The picture of the GEC table top gram below demonstrates only too well just how bad things are when it comes to selling radios. This gram was on sale at Golborne to anyone interested in it; I looked at it a number of times but although I tried my best to resist buying it I eventually gave in. It's terrible when such a set is shown at £1 with it being ignored. I handed over a fiver and think it well worth it; this is one I will be keeping.
Sorry Rob for hi-jacking your thread.
Kind regards, Col.
Thanks Steve and I've no intention of "joining the herd" so to speak but I know exactly what you mean. It is very difficult indeed knowing what to do when you want to sell a set that you've years ago perhaps paid £40 for only for it to make a couple of quid now. I've done something though Steve that will cheer you up and hopefully restore your faith in me as a wayward vandal.
What sense you make Gary; who indeed wants to hump big radio sets around the country for absolutely nothing; I for one don't and can employ my time better. I've only ever attended the excellent Golborne meetings and to be honest I find it somewhat depressing watching the people who have driven many miles and taken a table only to not sell their sets having to take them back home. The sets are usually dirt cheap and still don't sell. I paid £20 for a delightful Mullard set at Golborne and this actually now appears to be expensive but I've just sold the Mullard for the same amount I paid for it to a fellow enthusiast who is going to restore it so no harm done and a set out of my way.
Now for a lovely story of something actually going right for a change in my life and hopefully put me in Steve's good books.
I hope you are all sitting down as I have some surprising news. As you know I posted the PYE P76 for sale onto two forums and it also spent a week on eBay; it didn’t sell at the £25 asking price on the forums and didn’t even attract a bid of 99p on eBay so I broke it up and have since listed some of the parts on eBay which have already attracted a bid of 99p with until the weekend until auction end.
A week ago I listed my McMichael 372 onto eBay with a starting price of 99p; this was a very good set and quite rare and yesterday at auction end it sold for less than £10. I’ve never been in this hobby to make money but when I see sets I paid £40 for only reach under a tenner it makes me wonder what has happened. Anyway I rang Andy who lives nearby to arrange for him to collect the McMichael and whilst speaking to him on the phone I asked if he would be interested in buying other sets as I was just about to list a lot of them on eBay; he said he was interested and would collect the set in an hour.
Andy arrived with his wife Kate and we had a good natter; Andy owns his own electrical company at Aspley in Huddersfield (Nearby) and he and his children are very keen on playing with crystal sets so radio runs in the family. I showed them into my workshop and they were amazed as they gazed at the shelves loaded with vintage radios. There must have been 14 sets on display and I thought I‘ve had enough of playing around for a few quid on eBay so I said you can have the lot for £150. Half were loaded into the van and the rest will be collected tomorrow; Andy said I’m sorry but I don’t have all the cash on me so I said no problem bring it when you are ready. As I carried the sets to his van he said what a great wife he had as she had just enough to make up the balance and he handed over £160 cash. His plan is to restore the non workers and then display all the sets around his works for customers to switch on and play with. What a lovely result; it couldn’t have worked out better. Of course I lost quite a lot of money but I think I actually got a good deal under the circumstances and Andy was delighted as he did exceptionally well.
Whilst talking to Andy I asked what he would charge me to deliver and collect both my Myford engineering lathe beds to Halifax as I was considering getting the beds re-ground but I still had to make enquiries as to price and if the company was still in business. Andy said it would cost me absolutely nothing as I’ve been more than fair with him and that his father lives in Halifax so he could fit it in easy without going out of his way.
This morning I phoned the company in Halifax who Alan Beckett tipped me off about and explained about my lathe beds enquiring how much it would cost to do the re-grind. After a bit of thinking and making me sweat for a bit Robert who owns the company said I can do them both for £400. I haggled and said that I may as well put another £300 to the money and upgrade the lathe to a Colchester offering him £300 cash in his hand; the offer was accepted and fair to both of us so now I have a big job on stripping both lathes. When Andy is going to take them I’ll also drive over and hand over the cash up front as this is how I like to do business. My plan now is to turn the restoration of both lathes into a unique project as there are only three known survivors of these lathes and I own two; hopefully if I’m successful I will then sell one making the other totally free to me apart from labour which will be more of a pleasure to me than a chore. At last my lifetime’s bad luck has finally turned round. Apart from marrying a wonderful lass I’ve always had poor luck and had to graft for everything I’ve achieved.
Bron and I have made two more friends in Andy and Kate and hopefully we will help each other out in the future. With a bit of give and take life can be truly wonderful.
Tomorrow not only is Andy collecting the sets but Amanda who was winning bidder on the Hegner scroll saw at £360 is collecting it and paying cash. The Hegner will pay for the lathe re-grinding job. On Wednesday Richard who was winning bidder on the Wadkin chop saw at £103 is collecting it; all this action is making my head spin and it’s only the start as it opens up a lot of work in both the workshop and garage as I can have a good swap around of everything. The workshop looks like a tip now because I've already removed a lot of the shelving. Boy I'm in for some work once the warmer weather arrives; if not I'll get stuck in anyway as I'm fed up of the weather dictating what I do in life.
I've just had the best weekend for ages and there is no stopping me now.
The picture of the GEC table top gram below demonstrates only too well just how bad things are when it comes to selling radios. This gram was on sale at Golborne to anyone interested in it; I looked at it a number of times but although I tried my best to resist buying it I eventually gave in. It's terrible when such a set is shown at £1 with it being ignored. I handed over a fiver and think it well worth it; this is one I will be keeping.
Sorry Rob for hi-jacking your thread.
Kind regards, Col.
Happiness is a wreck of a cabinet to restore.
