Panama Set - production problems?

I picked up my Oak and Round Island lighthouses today from my dealer in Miami, FL. He told me his rep told him that there were production problems with the Panama Set and he was canceleing his orders. He had to return deposits to several very unhappy people. Ebay is full of these being auctioned off. What is going on?

Also, he said he was only going to get three American Shoal lights. He is more than unhappy about that. He is the closest dealer to the Florida Keys where the light is located. Again, what is going on?

Harry

Panama Set was temporarily oversold by a few hundred; HL had to backtrack to find which orders came in when so that those who had ordered would receive them.

Somewhat similar situation with American Shoal. It is on 'allocation' which means the Reps are assigned a certain quantity and then the Rep determines which dealer will get the allocated pieces.

What's happening with the Panama Set. I just purchased the set at a local dealer, and was checking ebay and they are almost going double the retail.. Is it just because they were limited to 4,000, or what?

On earlier thread, Harry said that there were production problems, and some were not getting their orders?

Rusty

I already have my Panama set, and I'm glad to have it. Will prices appreciate in the near future? I would say that would be a definite, yes! It just goes to show what happens when you offer a piece in a small edition size instead of a large one.

Bob

We got our Panama Canal set when it first came out too. I've been watching the prices on ebay and can't believe what some are selling for. We have seen this set on 4 different dealers shelves within the last month, all at retail. The low edition number must be causing a slight "panic" situation in regards to purchasing this set, at least according to some ebay sellers.

Tom & Diane

The Panama Sets in Central Florida never made it to the shelves. The allocations were all sold out and there weren't any left in five stores that I checked. I found one in the Florida Hospital gift shop last month, and that was it.

Joanne

From Harbour Lights:

The ebay Panama set prices are quite inconsistent. Sure there was one that sold a couple weeks ago for $120 but there was also an auction that ended a couple days ago that had no bids at $60. I think the $120 bid is not a good representation of the secondary market value of this piece. Its probably more in the $75 - $85 range.

Doc John

I tend to agree about the average price. Actually the top auction on that one went for 197.00 which really skews the average because there are no real low ones to offset it. The ones that are starting at 60 with a reserve has been listed 2 or 3 times and people know what the reserve approximately is on them and will stop bidding. I tend to think that every time I list an auction with a reserve and don't sell it, it adds approximately 3.00 to what I have in a piece. If you do this enough times you won't make any money. That is if making a profit is what you set out to do, which you would think someone selling multiple pieces of a new release would have in mind.

I to have been looking closely at the Panama Canal piece. I have 3 dealers within 5 miles of my house and all had at least one a month ago. All have none left. So my next course of action was to call dealers close to family members around the country. I called maybe 12 dealers and still came up empty. I guess Im forced into paying much more then I should have. A lesson learned in Harbour Lights collecting...small edition...buy soon!!!

la2atl

Have you called Harbour Lights (800-365-1219)? The new booklet shows the retired Lighthouses that they can track down for you at retail. Panama canal was one of them.

Daniel

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[This message has been edited by SThompson (edited 10-25-2000).]

And there's always the Retired@Retail service on the HL website!

Your correct, Ebay bids have calmed down greatly on this one. Should be easy to buy for now. Probably will go up as the years go on since the number is so low.. Hope more low numbers coming.

Rusty