How are secondary sales of HL's doing? I just checked the New Marketplace, here at the CF, and there has been only six listings in June. In May, there were 15 listings, and in April there were 17. I couldn't get any info beyond that because the rest of the year wouldn't come up.

I've done a lot of "wheelin' and dealing" and have sold some of my extras. I haven't been purchasing any older pieces lately but I still receive my autoship.

If you deal with buying and selling on the secondary market, how are you doing? Business good? Business slow? No business whatsoever?

Bob

I don't deal in the secondary market, but I watch some on Ebay. Seems like there are a lot of pieces going dirt cheap. A great time to get into collecting without spending a lot of money. Quite a few sell for much less than retail. Yesterday Cape Neddick LE sold for $112. Another Cape Neddick sold today for $89.88.

I've about given up on selling the extra lights that I still have. I won't sell them for less then I paid so I guess my kids will have to get rid of them as part of my estate. That's one way to get back at them for their teenage years.

Could eBay be the ruin of HL future values? It seems anyone and everyone is trying to unload surplus HL's for cash on eBay. Where were those people when I was scratching and clawing to fill all the gaps in my collection?

I still check eBay most every day but not like I used to. I was caught up in buying cheap with the hopes of making a couple of bucks on my purchases and still give a buyer a great deal. Right now, that isn't happening.

If you watch eBay carefully, you will notice many very reasonably priced HL's aren't even getting a bid. There also seems to be numerous defective older pieces being offered. At least most every seller is honest about it.

:rolleyes: Bob :rolleyes:

Rich,

Wanna sell your St. Augustine -- the one with the building next to the tower with the red roof? Bet you could get a good price for that piece.

Bob,

Would eBay be the ruin of HL future values or an accurate reflection of HL current values? If the value of an item is boosted by a perception of scarcity , and eBay destroys that perception by exposing an actual surplus of the item, then I guess it could be called the ruin. But if value is based on false perception, then any free-market exposure is going to do that.

But maybe such thoughts are more appropriate to the Fog Signal Building . . .


Bruce

Bob,

I don’t know anything about Bruce’s analysis of EBay and its possible devastating effect on collectables. But I can tell you about the damage it has done to the mom and pop antique stores.

A friend of mine in Minnesota used to be in the antique business. But he and his wife got out of it a few years ago because of the devastating impart that EBay had on their business. There were some great pieces on EBay according to him, but there was an awful lot of junk. Then people would come to him to ask about something they had purchased on EBay and he had to tell them that it was basically merchandise with little or no value. Then they’d get upset at him – so he just quit. And according to him, a lot of other antique dealers did also.

How sad. But I don’t collect Harbour Lights in order to re-sell, but rather to keep and admire. I just might have them buried with me, because I don’t want any of my relatives to sell them either.

:p Bob

Hey Bob - You can will them to me and you won't have to worry about them being sold (especially a "green water" Michigan City). On a more serious note, I've told my kids to do what they want with my collection and that this will be my chance to pay them back for their teenage years.

I'm finding this to be an interesting topic. I basically collect those LE's that I've been to or like for some reason. Since I've been on the CF's I've thought more about obtaining some of the older lights that I missed.
I've watched the Marketplace and e-bay and have noticed a big price descrepancy in both places and between both places. This leads me to the question: What is a fair price? Like most people I'd like to find a "steal"! On the other hand I don't want to get ripped off.
I know any item is only as valuable as what a buyer is willing to pay, but I'm left with the question above. For example: the Cape Neddick's Lighthousekeeper mentioned, $112.00 and $89.98.
Are these fair prices, steals, or ripoffs.
I count on the collective knowledge and experience of the CF's and the WACKO nation to enlighten me on this one. Thanks!!
Rick

Hi Rick, ...I purchased my Cape Neddick at the Providence Reunion in 1998, from a secondary market dealer. It was in excellent shape with its original box and paperwork. I paid $150 for it. Obviously, I paid a lot more than the two prices mentioned from your original post.

You are totally correct in saying they are only worth what someone is willing to pay. My Cape Neddick may have gotten older but hasn't changed one bit. I doubt that I could sell it for what I paid for it right now. The reason being, why would anyone pay $150 for a piece that they can find on eBay for a third or so less if they are patient.

The cost of living keeps going up so our dollars can't buy as much as they could a few years ago. The products we purchase to survive are still the same except they cost more. Most people earn more than they did in the past and feel good about it, but did those pay raises give them more purchasing power?

If you had ten car dealers all in a row on a highway and one dealer decided he was going to sell every car on his lot for half price, do you think that would have a dramatic effect on the other nine dealers? I would say the half price dealer would sell out while the other nine might just as well go fishing because they won't be selling any cars. Does that mean the cars on the lots of those nine dealers are not worth less than they were before the one dealer discounted his inventory by 50%?

Unfortunately, we have a very unstable collectibles market right now. It is very difficult to predict what will happen to collectibles and their worth in years to come. We all like to think we would be able to recover some of our investment if we needed the money. I know a lot of people say they will never sell their collection and they purchased them for pure enjoyment. If you have all your pieces displayed then that might be true. If you have more than half your collection in their boxes stored wherever, then you're an eventual seller. Why else would anyone purchase something, take it out of the box to inspect it, then put it in storage?

Back to the pricing on Cape Neddick listed in the begining of this message, read all eBay descriptions carefully. Check the positive feedback on the seller. Ask the seller questions like any damage, chips, missing paint, repairs, rub marks, etc. Some sellers may have a different opinion as to the true meaning of "mint" and "excellent". If a piece has the slightest defect it isn't in mint condition. If a piece has an obvious chip, it isn't in excellent condition.

I would say a fair price for a Cape Neddick, truly in excellent condition, would be around $90-$100. Anything less than that is a steal as long as the piece is at least in excellent condition with the original box.

Bob

Hi Bob! Great info and thought! And good points, too. I only have one exception: I have run out of curio cabinet space (4 full ones), therefore, a number of my beautiful lights are still packed :-(! I'm hoping for a new curio! Subtle hints for birthday and C'mas!! At least they're safe "in waiting!" I tend to look at the Harbour Lights pictures of them a lot!! And sigh.

Sheryll :-)

Having recently married another collector, we have decided to sell some of our "extra" LE. You may have seen our posting last month and the response we had was tremendous. The most popular pieces have been Canadian with rods, oddities and Artist Proofs. They all have seemed to hold their value based on the 1998 - 1999 Green Book. Our thanks to all that have participated. We have to wonder, however, at the lack of interest in the original 17. And in particular, Burrows Island, with low output, and Sandy Hook, which were very hard to find, at least here on the West Coast. And the very first one, of course, Admiriality Head. Care to share any thoughts on this?
Thanks,
Jerry and Denise

Hi Jerry and Denise
Welcome to the Forum.

In general there has been a drop in resales of All Harbour Lights. The reason that you couldn’t sell your first 17 as easily as the others is this: The Harbour Light collectors that collect Canadians, AP’s, and varites have been collecting for a long time and have pretty nice collections. They all ready have filled the spots for a Burrows Island, Sandy Hook and Admiralty head and all of the other Harbour lights.
The first 17 that you were selling were Malaysians and Canadians with middle of the road numbers. The ones you were selling that were from 118 to 135 were low numbers, some were even two digits and 103 AP’s . You were also selling Canadian Southern Bells that are hard to find since most of the Canadian Southern Bells had only 200 to 600 made of them. The Sandy hook and Admirity Head had over 2000 Canadian made light houses. The Burrows island was only popular because collectors thought it was rare because of it’s low production. Now that there are less collectors, it isn’t as scarce and it is usually the first one to go when a collector is thinning out his collection. It wasn’t the lighthouse in particular as much as the rarity of the lighthouse that you were selling is why your first 17 didn’t sell as well as some of the others

Now; If the Burrows had a number less than 500 and your Sandy hook and Admiralty Head came with a brown box you would have collectors flocking over them. That would have put them in the extremely rare group.