A "rare and highly collectible" Point Arena...

I'm not sure if anyone else has seen this...but someone is selling a #156 Point Arena on eBay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1148189262

They acknowledge that the piece has been broken and, for that reason, they listed it with a $9.99 starting price. The funny thing is that, in the description, they actually try to make a case that this piece might actually be MORE RARE than the pieces that are still in tact. Now, still being a NEWBIE (or, at least until that whole thing was changed ) I may not know as much about the value of certain pieces...but the idea that a HL might be rarer (and, hence, MORE valuable) once it has been broken is a bit extreme.

I commend them for being completely honest and up-front...but it's still pretty funny...

--Jeff



[This message has been edited by JCRice (edited 05-23-2001).]

ROFLMAO, they must have a college degree in marketing!!!!!!

I'm not reading in the description that this piece is broken. The seller is saying it's mint. What I do read is a somewhat poorly worded explanation of the rarity of Point Arenas. The seller probably started the bidding so low because he or she knows that these pieces have hardly been bringing retail lately on e-bay. I'm still trying to figure out its drop in value as of late!

Dave

That's a darn good question Dave, it seems to me that it's rarity would cause it's value to appreciate or at least stay strong. Maybe it's the fear of whether the seller knows what a broken Point Arena really looks like. Many buyers and sellers believe that production was haulted because the towers were being broken in shipping. The story actually goes a little further. There is an outcropping of rocks that is easier to break than the tower. So I guess maybe if your buying site unseen maybe buyers are being frugal just in case. Personally if someone tells me it's unbroken and mint I believe them. If I receive it otherwise it's in the mail back to them! Personally I think the prices are all out of sync because there is such a small market for any of them. Theres only a small majority of people that are willing to pay above $200 for even the rarest Harbour Lights and certainly that number is even smaller when you get above $500. It's a buyers market and I don't see prices ever increasing much above where they are today. Many new collectors prefer the better quality of the current lighthouses so why would they want an older one that is not of the same quality and is prone to breakage? The only answer I know is that it's the only Point Arena Harbour Lights has made except for the Little Light. In this case if its the only one you can get then it is telling me that there must not be much of a demand for this light even from the West Coast Collectors. Odd! It is one of my personal favorites long before I had the chance to actually visit it.

imho

The wording is somewhat ambiguous on this eBay description. I love my Point Arena. I bought it for a very fair price from a good friend on the west coast. I was nervous that this great HL might suffer damage traveling from the Pacific to the Atlantic. It arrived just fine...no problems.

I guess the bidders on the current one on eBay have to ask themselves, "Do I feel lucky?" Maybe a quick email to the seller might get you a better description of the actual damage and his or her return policy if it comes through broken. Point Arenas are not a "dime a dozen." They can be hard to find.

Bob

I believe he is not referring to breakage on the piece itself. I think he has this confused with St. George's Reef and is talking about the damage done to the real thing during renovation and that somehow makes the piece more valuable.

Well, it looks like you were right all along, Dave. I contacted the seller and he informed me that the only issue with this piece was the box (a small gouge in it, which he mentions in the description). Other than that, the gentleman stated that it was, indeed, mint.

I apologize for misreading the description originally.

Of course, now that we know that it is OK, the next question would be why he'd start the bidding at only $9.99...?

Because it's $5 more than $4.99?