Prices of Radios

[radioman]

It was mentioned in this thread https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...ad.php?t=53769 (post #14) that one member sold sets at auction and the average price realised was only £5.
Why are prices so low?
When I was buying sets a few years ago, the price was between £10 to £30 at the local auction house. (Some cost even more....)
If buyers aren't willing to pay, say at least £15, then from a monetary point of view you would be better of stripping down your sets and selling them for parts
Radio amateurs are always looking for air-spaced variable capacitors for making low-power ATU's etc and their source is usually quoted as "you will find one in an old valve radio"
So I recon if the prices don't increase then more sets will simply be binned by non-collectors (since zero monetary value) or broken up for parts and I'm sure no collector wants this to happen.

Discuss.....


Andy

[AlanBeckett]

Originally Posted by radioman

.... or broken up for parts ...

There's an eBay seller in Norwich who appears to do just that
Alan

[Boom]

I have paid as low as 50p for a set and as high as £580. The price depends on no end of factors. Type of set, condition, how far to collect it etc etc etc. The quoted £5 per set was probably just bad luck on the wrong day or sets that don't have much of a collection value anyway. £5 for an average transistor radio sounds about right to me, maybe even a little generous.

I really can't see sets being scrapped simply because they don't sell. If I get sets that are in too bad a condition to be realistically restored to a display condition I break them and invariably realise far more than if selling a similar set whole and in good condition. A set has to be in a pretty bad way for me to scrap it but spares have to come from somewhere.

Dave

[howard]

I think Ebay has had a huge effect on the prices of old radios, indeed all collectables. Folk who do house clearances no longer dump them or pass them onto to middlemen such as auction houses but sell them direct to buyers via Ebay. The prices once quite high on Ebay matching auction prices have dropped a lot over recent years as so many radios have appeared there and auction house prices have followed suit.

There are trends and to realise a good price for a set is to spot a trend and then to sell. Sets in very good cosmetic condition restored or unrestored will usually sell for good prices so maybe it is time to break the more common models which aren't in good condition for spare parts to support the nicer examples.

Howard

[Lucien Nunes]

It's like having coinage with a metal content worth more than the face value. First of all there is the factor that many collectors enjoy restoring, so they will want spares even when the cost of restoring exceeds the value of the finished set. The difference is offset in the pleasure gained, contrary to normal market forces!

A further 'distortion' of values occurs when breaking sets that yield parts desirable for purposes other than repairing another similar set. E.g. breaking a 4-valve 1950's battery portable gives you mainly parts for a 1950's portable, but without wanting to spell it out we can all identify areas where vintage radio / TV parts cross into other territories with different pricing scales.

On a similar note, a Compton electric organ is more desirable in pieces than it is as a whole, and one of my prize possessions would have been dismantled had I not bought it. Two of the finest examples of the marque, one-of-a-kind instruments that had lasted into the 1990s, were both dismantled to provide hardware for new-build projects. I can't see anybody breaking a green round Ekco to get some spare valveholders but the principle is the same!

Lucien

[Guitarist28]

Hi all,
I'd be more than happy to pay £5 for £10 for a DAC 90 if anyone is willing to sell at this price?

[AlanBeckett]

The other side of the coin is that even here on the Forum Howard had trouble getting anyone to part with £15 for a nicely restored Pye P75A.
I should have beaten him down a bit
Alan

[Boom]

Originally Posted by Guitarist28

Hi all,
I'd be more than happy to pay £5 for £10 for a DAC 90 if anyone is willing to sell at this price?

Join the queue

[FIXITNOW]

this year i have picked up 3 woodys at £2 each from local boots and 1 bakelite every ready for 99p on eBay.
strange

[Steve_P]

The value of any Radio, TV, Record Player or any other antique is not listed in a book. What the books contain is what you can hope to gain for it when the book was published.

Just because a Bush DAC90 got £X today does not mean it will tomorrow. At an auction, be it in a village hall or on line, at a shop or on the street corner, any antique is only worth what you can get for it. No more, no less.

At the moment the market is depressed somewhat. Keep your stuff for a while would be my view, until the market picks up.

Cheers,

Steve P.

[JoshWard]

Originally Posted by AlanBeckett

There's an eBay seller in Norwich who appears to do just that
Alan

Had one of mine broken up by him

From selling several sets recently it seems only restored valve sets do really well as I suspect the general public will buy them. Everything else is either valuable if nice and prewar or very rare and post war. My transistor sets did very poorly, many working and only getting 99p-£6.

Josh.

[HamishBoxer]

Well Steve,you say the market is depressed but i for one have not noticed it on my buys on Ebay.

PS Glad you are back

David

[mark pirate]

I'd be more than happy to pay £5 for £10 for a DAC 90 if anyone is willing to sell at this price?

Dac 90s & also Dac 10s will always sell for good money, in fact they seem to be holding value a lot better than most 50s sets.
People like the look & size of these sets, i too own six!
The latest was a filthy but untouched example from a car boot sale for £15
You will be lucky to find one at this price
I too agree in breaking up some rough old sets, i recently purchased seven tatty but complete 50s woodys for £12, some even work!
But with rough cabinets, they are worth more to me as parts to repair better sets.

Mark

[dave walsh]

A possible crossover with the "Hobby or Obsession" thread here with some people getting rid of large collections [however reluctantly]. Also maybe its age related, as you realise what may never get done! In the past it was perhaps harder to come across items that are now everywhere due to wide hobby interests/car boots and auction sites. It's perhaps just supply and demand in times of belt tightening. The first generation that had time and some spare money might also be losing interest? Hope not. I think Steve is right that hanging on to things might be fruitfull [he will know] but it's a lot of effort. Many people do cannibalise sets for certain parts/valves but I can't see breaking cheaper ones as a general policy, to sell parts, as being time or cost effective. Just more things to sell! It also goes against the restoration ethic ie getting the most impossible looking item back into life. Chas Miller specialises in this judging by his articles. It's like the Art Market or Shares... requiring a perceived value. The top end can be reasonably guaranteed perhaps [like round Ekcos] but even then, there has to be a market!. Dave W

[Sean Williams]

Seeing as we are straying well into the realms of discussing eBay sales I will close this thread