This is the highest amount I've seen on Ebay in many years. Includes a Coquille and many Artist Proofs.
Bob

It's been like that for more than a week. I guess it's a collector's nightmare but a bargain hunter's dream. Cheap prices devalues everyone's collection, but I guess it's a way of life on eBay. Sometimes you pay more for shipping than you pay for the piece itself.

I often wonder where it all started. We know a dealer had to buy the piece originally. I believe their cost is half of retail. So you take a piece that retails for $80, the dealer bought it for $40 plus some shipping charges, and it ends up on eBay for $15-$20.

Chaulk it up to dealers closing down and going out of business? There has to be an end to that somewhere.

Could it be old-time collectors just trying to get rid of their collections no matter what the loss? Yes, this is happening too. Pieces were purchased at retail or more, stayed in a curio or storage for years, and now they must go. The seller is usually downsizing and just doesn't have the time and space to hold on to his or her treasures.

I also notice that damaged or repaired pieces, no matter how small the damage is and "you can't hardly notice the repair", aren't getting the bids. If they do it's pennies on a dollar of the original value. It's not even worth the effort of putting the piece on eBay and going through the packaging and shipping process.

Where will it all end? Will we ever reach a point where most all HL's will be in the hands of collectors who want to keep them? Will their worth ever increase across the board? With 300+ HL's in my collection, I certainly hope so.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Bob & Bob are correct with their observations relative to Ebay. It appears that some folks are just "dumping" their collection and others look to be stores going out of business.

Some of the folks selling Harbour Lights have hundreds of posts.

But what I noticed today is the fact that instead of 5, 7, or 9 days, there are many posts indicating 20, 21, and 22 days. The highest number of days is 82.

I believe Ebay might have dropped some of their quality control. There used to be a limit of days.

bobo

I have been getting some bargains on Ebay. I got a bunch of ornaments and other things in a box including a thumbnail for about 25.00 with ship. I love them. I have also collected a long time ago Hummels. On Ebay they are not what I paid for. Oh well. When you collect you better love them or you might be in for a suprise when you look to sell years later.

Bobo - I get that a lot when I use eBay to work on my Olympic pin collection (where right now, the usual during-the-games price increase across the pin board is not present like it was after Athens). I think that a lot of them are from those Power Sellers, the ones that actually have "stores" on eBay. They get to keep them on there longer, becuase it's more a store item than a regular eBay auction.

So they're more "keeping it in stock" than running out of QC.

I think that's how it works...not 100% sure...

I have also noticed the low prices on ebay. Part of it may be dealers going down for the count. My daughter, recently unemployed for the above reason, seems to think it may also be the change in ownership. She mentioned David Winters as an example of ownership change followed by massive production effort effecting prices. It's something that only time will tell.

Chuck

Your 100% right on that Fran. We had a buch of Hummels many, many years ago and when we went to sell they wanted to "steal" them. We eventually did get a much better price but it still didn't compare to the value of what we paid for them. The only saving grace was we did get them at a discounted price.

I bought 7 Hummels at a PX in Germany in the late 1960s for about $10 each. Sold them in the 1990s for over $100 each. With inflation, I probably didn't make anything on them.

Time to renew your interest in Collecting?

Never collect if you are out to make a profit.
This rarely happens. You must love what you collect or forget it!

The bad news is that what we paid for most of our collectables has greatly reduced in value.

The good news is:

1. Now many of those hard to find pieces are now affordable.
2. Most of the racketeers and dealers that were trying to make a fast buck on HL are out of the picture.
3. The collectors that are now left are those that are the true collectors. They are not expecting to make any money. They are just collecting for the enjoyment of them.
4. We have ebay were we can review the many Harbour light variations and can see before we buy. All in the comfort of our homes.
5. It is now cheaper to collect the secondary market.

So, Daniel, do you think that eventually I will be able to get Southeast Block at an affordable price? That one has eluded me forever - I have all the GLOW's, Spyglass, ornament, etc., etc., but not the original.

I have not been around for a couple of weeks, but I have seen the large increase in the number of Harbour Lights items offered on ebay. My take on the subject is that there used to be a site where the dealers post there offerings that could be accessed by clicking on the link at the bottom of any of the ebay pages. That link has now been incorporated into the auctions but kept separate at the end of the active auctions. There are really no more lighthouses being offered, but by including the large number of dealer offerings that did not automatically show before, it has to have a certain negative effect on the market prices, great for buyers and not so great for sellers.

Scott

Scott
You hit the nail on the head.

Last year I tracked the Southeast Block at $141 to $161 on my top ten on ebay. That doesn't mean there weren’t any cheaper ones on ebay. I don't think it would be too hard to find one at $120 or even lower exspecially without a box. I remember tracking a Portland Head as low as $101 so I don’t think it impossible to find a SouthEast Block in that range. There are deals out there for those that search and follow up on every opportunity.

Never a truer word was said!
While I appreciate that some people collect some things as an investment, it seems to me that is a little back to front.
I thought collecting things has more to do with the interest and love for a particular item. Like we collect lighthouses because Stan comes from a lighthouse keeper familiy and so the topic is "in the blood" so to speak.
But while our stamp collection for example cost a lot to accumulate, it will never realise it's true value if put on the market.
But that is not why we collect them!!! We collect for the love of it!