...The prices in the Greenbook were determined primarily by one buyer and one seller. The buyer had a deep pocket and was investing IRA funds...
Now *that* is a fascinating bit of HL lore!
I was also thinking of the pricing info in the publication from that chap in Georgia. (egad I must be knackered, I cannot remember his name ... Jim... uh Jim something.)
Not sure I get your first point, JC, but I do believe a broader knowledge about popularity, rarity, and relative pricing was an aid to the buyer and a bane to the small group of secondary dealers. While no one knows final auction prices on eBay when they start, the collecting of auction results is something folks began and continue to do - another way to gather data points. How much influence the gathering of pricing info had on the downward price trends I don't know - it was more of an observation than an explanation - but I suspect it had some small leveling effect on the upward march of prices on certain pieces.
Yeah, the reference to 'cartel' was a bit of a tweak. I cannot imagine sinister collusion - these folks were not DeBeers. ;->
Since the "market" is not a thing...but a collection of people with different personalities who buy & sell for their own many varied rationales...then how is it possible to determine exactly what the "market" is at any given point of time?
Shucks Judy - all the real estate people around here tout their 'free market analysis'. Who'd a guessed it was really a Rohrshach test. ;->
Kidding aside, there are many HL collections holding pieces that cost hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars. I'd don't know if you're someone who ever purchased a CH1 or Coquille or even an LE Portland Head or NPL. To me, it is not odd that people *think* about these purchases even though their making brings "happiness". The FSB isn't your typical charm forum. If you think this one was anal, dig into the archives - lotsa hot debate here in times past.
to BillH ... you pretty much nailed it in your first msg. And getting a Key West for $162 today *is* a good deal. (Of course we only know that because of a little market analysis - wink wink.) I felt thrilled almost six years ago today when I got mine for $100. In 1999 a typical secondary price for Key West was $335 - up by ~$155 from the year before. Good luck on finding that St. Auggie.
Obviously this thread was started in response to the
Has the bottom dropped out? series. Nice to see the group is still capable of rattling off a few here in the FSB. I too believe the market will never ever return to its hey day. But I still think those early Westerns are due for a bounce. :-)
Fog finds a home on the edges of land,
T
