Internet Auctions, Observations on this Type of Sales

[jmdewey60]

Even if you were to never use something like EBay, yourself,
it may be something worthwhile looking at to get an idea of
what the flute market is like in real everyday terms.
That being said, as an introduction to this thread, I will proceed
to the reason for this particular post.

Here's something I wondered about.
What are the chances of being able to win an auction by
bidding lower than the seller's asking price?
When you have an account there, you have the option of saving
lists on your home page. An important list is a "Watch List".
Normally, you can see items being auctioned but when the time is up,
it just goes away. If you had earlier put it on your watch list, then
you can look at the item later and see what it sold for. I was going
through my list to copy info I thought was important just for a record,
before deleting to shorten my list. The image above was from a flute
that sold almost a month ago. It sold for $300. which is less than what
was being asked for. It could have been that the seller wanted to sell
it, and was not too concerned about holding out for a specific amount.
So, here is at least one example where that "or best offer" worked out
to help the buyer. Not that many are listed that way. Generally what I
have seen for flutes is that most of the time, there will be just a
minimum starting bid. Sometimes that will be a nominal amount and
the seller adds a reserve, which is that they do not have to accept
any bids below that. I find that a little annoying after making a
bunch of bids in small increments trying to find what it is. I have
always quit first. That makes this option I was discussing more
appealing to me, just state what you think you want to pay, and
the seller can decide if he wants to accept it.

Here's a notice I found on my watch list for a flute that went
through the time of its auction without being sold. This is one
that had the "or best offer" option on its listing, so if someone
would have made a offer 14% less than the original asking price,
it would make sense that the person making that offer would
have won the auction. That would have saved the seller the
added expense of re-listing the item.

[jmdewey60]

Just got a flute I bought on EBay that was from a seller in
Spain. It came from a city about halfway between Madrid,
and Leon. It got mailed on the second, and today is the tenth.
So, not bad, and it was sent registered, which meant I had
to sign for it. The tracking for registered is really for the use
of the sender and gives no information to the receiver, other
than it does tell you that something was presented to get
sent, which matches your tracking number.

[jmdewey60]

In the seller's description of the flute on EBay mention was made
that "one of the clasps was broken but the case was still usable".
I suppose to some people, that would be a deterrent to buying it.
When I got it, it seemed a little sad, and I liked the little "pearl"
logo on it. I tried doing a google search for replacement latches.
That did not work, so I went on EBay and searched for cases.
I found a few things but what I wanted was what the flute may
have originally come with. I suppose some people would not want
that so much, and would immediately buy some sort of custom case.
That would leave the stock items available, so I got what I wanted.


Which is nice enough, but with the Pearl logo, which is what you
might want if you have a bottom of the line model but like having
the prestige of the brand name.
In a way, the case is redundant since I already have a custom job
by Pro Tec that has the molded, lined inside for holding the flute
sections in place, making the hard case unnecessary.

But I think each flute should have it's own case in fully functional condition.
The point is to this post is that worrying too much about the case
when considering a flute that otherwise you desire, is a little misplaced,
considering the large array of alternatives available. And, I should add,
sometimes with little money. The pro tec case has a srp of $79.95 and
I payed $10 in like-new condition. The hard case and carry bag combination
for Pearl, I paid $XX for it.
Edit: I think the seller has some other items so I will leave that price off for now.

[jmdewey60]

How Not to Sell a Flute.
Here is the heading someone used to sell a flute on EBay:
SILVER ARTLEY FLUTE 94351
Most people would not apprehend the significance of a serial number
of an Artley flute having only five digits. Better would have been to
have looked it up and find out when it would have been made.
Also anyone wanting to sell any flute will look at it and think, well
it looks like silver so I will list it as "silver". Most flutes for sale on
EBay are plated, a big difference from a true silver flute. This particular
flute was solid silver but he did not trouble himself to make sure
to distinguish it as such. In fact he did not trouble himself to give any
description other than that heading I mentioned above. He did do
something that was half smart, which was to take some close-up
photos. Then he makes the statement, "Let the pictures do the
description." Well he probably lost at least $150 for this lackadaisical
attitude, which is the difference between what it sold for, compared
to what it easily could have sold for if he would have troubled himself
do to a very small amount of research and a little typing.
A better heading may have been:
Very Rare "Super Artist" model Solid Silver Artley, 1962
Seriously, I have been watching Artley's closely and I did not notice this
until late last night though it was a week long auction. I am not too
happy, if I had noticed this earlier, I would have held off on some other
expenditures to where I could have bid on it higher than I was able.
The seller would have benefited quite nicely if he would have pointed
this out as different from the hundreds of the inexpensive student
model Artley's constantly coming up for sale.

[jmdewey60]

Here's a couple posts that I moved from another thread
where they were not, strictly speaking, on topic.

I spent the day today working on this protocol of not
taking flutes apart more than necessary. The latest
piece to the puzzle is a case to hold flutes while still
together. I ran across such a thing on EBay, which is
a big flat case with dividers to hold eight flutes, fully
assembled. I thought that was nice but I do not plan
on having so many flutes. As of now, I have four, so
the concept is right, but something to adjust to my
personal needs. I spent the day, as I mentioned, which
is what it took for me to find something that I felt right
about. Here's the photos:

The shipping was as much as the case. What turns out
to work, in my opinion, is a case for a break-down shot-
gun. That means you have a shorter case than what
you would need for for an assembled shotgun or rifle.
I really like this one, for one thing it is old and used and
affordable, the other is that it has the looks for passing
as some sort of instrument and does not shout out,
"weapon inside", which makes it easier all around to get
along, and not undergo searches or something.

I got that case I bought, today by way of UPS. Here's what it looks like with some flutes in it:

I am guessing It could hold five, but this is all I have available to photograph at the moment.
My Pearl is boarding a plane in Spain right now and my Geme is still in the shop. For anyone who
has not read the other page, this is my idea of a gig bag where you do not have to break down
your flutes to take them along. I decided to find an alternative to this case that was on EBay:

It may have started out as a salesman's prop, but had been used as a gig case in NYC.

[andy957]

Note: eBay will not allow you to bid lower than the starting price unless there is a "Best Offer" button on the listing.