Can you purchase replacement boxes for harbour lights?

Thanks
Rob

No. However, if you know what specific box or what size you need you may be able to obtain one from another collector. I know that I have managed to somehow acquire some extra boxes, and I know others probably also have.

Boxes, boxes, who's got the boxes? One would think that some dealers must have a few lying around. Isn't it Harbour Lights' policy that if they receive a damaged HL that they break out the flag area and send it back for a replacement? I'm sure they don't send the box back with it.

I think I have two spare boxes, a Sanibel Island and a Jeffreys Hook. That's all I've accummulated since I started collecting. I know I have many HL's without boxes because that's the way I purchased them on eBay.

Speaking of eBay reminds me of one seller's description of selling a HL without a box. "You can go to any Harbour Lights Dealer and purchase a replacement box..." Hmmmm? Nay not so young lady!

Bob

When I first started collecting Harbour Lights I recycled the boxes and styrofoam packaging since I displayed my Harbour Lights and the boxes just took up room in storage . But for about 90% of my collection I still have the boxes and the boxes take up so much storage space. If you are going to display your collection is it really that much more valuable if you have the boxes if you never intend to sell the HLs (Never say never I know). I know when I am looking on ebay for older pieces , I will not hesitate to get one if it doesn't come without the original box as long as the seller states it will be packed well. Most of the purchases I have made came with the original box and packaging materials but I have had no issues with the ones that did not come in the original packaging. I have seen no significant savings on ebay if the HL came with the box or not. Sometimes I have seen with the box/ without the box over time for about the same price.

Good Monday Morning!
Ok I do not want to start a "RUN" on boxes but we do have a modest supply at Harbour Lights - of boxes not the foam inserts - we would need a warehouse the size of six football fields to store them!

Re secondary market value - yes the original packaging is key to selling at the best price; remember packaging helps tell the story!

AJC

If these boxes are the same when I got mine, about three years ago.
They are not the original box that the lighthouse came in, but a generic foldable box thats only difference to the other generic boxes is the nametag.

But they are certainly better than nothing.

When I started collecting, I kept the boxes intact with inserts. However, I have no storage space other than a closet. Well, that got full pretty quickly. I met an autoship collector at the dealer's one day and he told me to discard the foam and fold the boxes. (That's what he did.) In order to store more compactly, I've had to put an extra fold in most of the boxes - in other words, they now have a big crease in them. Would diehard, must-buy-in-box collectors bypass a piece with such a box? Any thoughts?

It's been repeatedly stated at the CF that most everyone doesn't know of anybody who displays the boxes. Would diehard collectors pass over a somewhat rare HL because the original box didn't come with it? Maybe yes, but I know I wouldn't walk away from a deal on a special piece because of "no box".

I have many pieces without boxes that I bought for a deal. I also purchased pieces with boxes that probably should have been tossed because of water damage, holes punched through them, etc. Hey, they came with the HL and it is an original box. I've reached the point where "no box" doesn't prevent me from purchasing a particular HL.

Bob

Bob you said the key reason of buying a lighthouse without a box. A deal. In other words cheaper than the same lighthouse with a box. Not just cheaper but a deal.

The general collecting rule of all collectables is that closer to original with all its packaging the better its resell value.

However:
To quote the bible of ebay. Anything on ebay is possible.

All I care about is the condition of the lighthouse. I could care less about a box. If your worried about resale your worries set sail with Harbour Ligts a long time ago. By them because you love lighthouses and you love Harbour Lights.

Of course I buy them because I love them. I have never purchased them as an investment - I rarely buy more than one of the same model. However, I'm not going to be around forever and will have to sell eventually or let my kids deal with them. I don't expect that anyone will pay top dollar for anything I have, but I have always felt that they will be easier to dispose of if I have the boxes. Thus, the question about the condition of the boxes. I know we have discussed this over and over in the CF's and we always say the same things. However, I wondered if there were any new ideas out there. I guess there aren't.

I have boxes that the HL identification sticker has came unglued and fallen off. I have boxes where the original flag# has been replaced with a small white piece of tape with a new flag# written on it. I have boxes where the flag# on the box is a couple of numbers away from the flag# on the HL itself.

Many of the dealers may have been a little "lax" in the early days and didn't double-check the box flag# against the HL flag#. One mistake and you need to improvise by making adjustments to the box number. They have "an" original box for that particular HL, but it wasn't the original box it came in.

What would stop a seller from utilizing the box from a ready available cheap HL and putting a sticker from a more expensive rare HL and the often seen little white tape trick?

If you follow the auctions at eBay, you read descriptions like, "Only removed from the box for this photo", or "Brand new mint in the box, never displayed" even though the HL is over 10 years old. Can that person swear on a stack of bibles that that piece had never seen the light of day before the famous "Only removed from the box for this photo" routine? I would say, "No!".

You win the auction, you buy the light, it's shipped to you, then reality sets in. The piece has a few microchips. The piece has slight paint flaking or rub-off. Sometimes there is damage which wasn't described but cleverly hidden in the photo. None of which were described as such in the original auction description.

Let the buyer beware! Let the buyer beware! Let the buyer beware! Purchasing a piece without actually holding it in your hands and checking it out is somewhat of a crap shoot. Do you feel lucky? Well, do you?

Yes, I'm a HL addict! I have sinned by buying many multiples! Yes, I'm hoping to sell them some day for a slight profit! Yes, I buy HL's I don't even like! Yes, I buy HL's without boxes! Yes, I have HL's in my collection that are not MIB! Yes, I have HL's that have been displayed! Yes, I wheel and deal on the secondary market with the hopes of finding deals! But despite all that, I've made numerous people smile with good deals on HL's they couldn't find elsewhere. It's all part of the fun of collecting HL's!

Bob

Bob, I have some ocean front property in Kansas you may be interested in. Never been out of the box!

Does it have a "deep water" dock? If so, I may be interested.

Bob

Is that green water or blue water version?

This is the First time I have ever done this. Below is a copy out of my spreadsheet that I have been gathering over the years. This is a listing of Great Captain Island that was made in Canada. I did not post the numbers, but I did list them in order from triple digit up to four digits. Remember these are not the California or the Malaysian but a listing of those that should have a white castle studious box. All the lighthouses were in excellent condition PER DRISCRIPTION.


BOX TYPE----------------WINNING BID ON EBAY


No box-----------------------59.65
White castle studios--------101.90
White castle studios--------108.50
White castle studios--------158.50
No box-----------------------32.50
No box-----------------------67.95
No box-----------------------52.04
Not original box------------153.49
No box-----------------------76.01
No-box-----------------------56.65
BLUE box--------------------129.00

The Great Captains with a box ranged in the selling price of $101.9 to $158.50 and those without a box sold in the range of $32.50 to $67.95
Even the non-original blue box, brought in just as much as the Castle Studious box.

On the average the list above shows that a lighthouse without a box goes for 70% less than one with a box. This is a lot different than the 30% that the green book states.

There once was a very ambitious collector of Harbour Lights who decided he wanted to create some "new old stock" white Castle Studios boxes.

The collector went to a box maker who quoted him a price for making a box 'exactly' like the size and style of the white CS boxes -- but the manaufacture would NOT recreate the round box seal that indicated it was made in Canada etc. This was a requirement of law that the seal indicate the actual manufacturer.

Thank goodness the manufacturer had some scruples. The collector was, of course, disappointed. Another piece of Little Known Harbour Lights Lore. (LLHLL)

All I see are examples of six good deals. This should not be an indicator of how a box or no box will sell. It's up to the Buyer and the Seller. Each has a price they want to get to. My guess is the low sales weren't looking for much for whatever reason and there probably was no reserve bid. As Dale shows; the second highest sale came without an original box. The third highest sale came in a blue box. I consider this one to be non original as well. Not original means no box.

11 examples will not convince me that they are worth 70% less. It only proves to me that Ebay is not the place to sell them unless you use a reserve bid. You cant know the reasons why these were listed so low. If it said "Oh Darn Theres No Box get It Cheap" in the listing I might bite off on it. My guess is the lighthouse that sold for $32.50 would have sold that cheap had it had a box. It only proves to me it was listed to low and nobody else was looking for it. Perhaps it was listed as a Harbor Light instead of a Harbour Light?

Lots of variables affect Ebay Sales!

My somewhat educated guess of the difference in assumed value between original box versus no box would be roughly as follows:

HL's issued over the last 5 years or so...less than $5;

HL's that came with the original style blue box that began in 1991...less than $10;

HL's that came with the Castle Studio white box...less than $20;

HL's that came with the "way-back-when" brown box...I've never seen one so I can't comment.

Sean is right about what happens on eBay. Many sellers think there will be a bidding war that will generate a fine return on what they are selling, so they don't protect their investment with a reserve. Bingo, shipping costs more than the piece...case closed, your Honor!

Bob

John, think that should be (LKHLL)?

Yep, You're Right (YYR)

0 :>)

John

I have logged many lighthouses on a spreadsheet and I have been noticing something odd lately.
One of the big Secondary market ebayers has been selling lighthouses with perfect condition White castle studios boxes. I already have some of these same lighthouses logged on my spreadsheet from previous bids as being sold with no box. One of the lighthouses he sold with white castle studios was originally bought by him with a brown Castle Studios box. This has been very suspicious to me and since you mentioned about boxes being duplicated I thought I would share this with you.

Great spreadsheet, Daniel. I'm with you and Bob on the value of a box - which does not mean that everyone else will feel the same way. Ebay proves over and over that what will be will be. And thank goodness for the "lighthouse addicts". Because of Bob and others on the CF's, many of us have managed to buy some of those lights which we missed getting along the way. And we know that what we buy really will be in perfect condition. I've had my share of microchips, flaking and/or rubbed off paint - not to mention the one time when I got totally ripped off by a guy of incredibly low scruples (he didn't have any!)

And, John, this "ambitious collector" told you this story? Sounds fishy to me.

Interesting research, Daniel!

Bob