1930 Martin 5K on eBay ....

It is beautiful, but the price is twice what it should be. There's also a Style 1, with cracks that's only $2,800.00...4 or 5 times what it should be.
 
Aloha,
Was an Honor to play one that my friend has and it was okay............................BO..........................
 
Yeah I thought a high ball was 15,000 on Antique Roadshow....it has major scuff in the back of the headstock and
it looks like it wasn't cleaned for a while and not played,..
 
I know that The Denver Folklore Center sold one for $18,000, but I don't know how long ago. It's on their website under "archive of instruments sold" (or something like that). It seems high until you compare it with a Lloyd Loar-signed Gibson F4 mandolin. They have one of those for $225,000, and one was appraised at $275,000 a while back on Antiques Roadshow.
 
I really wanted to (and very nearly DID) send the seller of the Style 1 a message to tell them that they had WAAAAY overpriced it, and to wish them luck. And also to tell them that it was a Style 1, since all their web searches seemed unable to turn up that fairly simple piece of information.
 
20K for a 5K? $2800 for a style 1???
Crack is whack folks.
Currently selling my 40's 3M for $10,000 :)
 
Nothing to do with the thread, but a big bunch of +Rep to Mr TCK for reminding me about [FONT=arial, sans-serif]Pokey LaFarge. Saw him/them on Jools Holland and thought they were incredible.[/FONT]​
 
Where is my stinking like button? So glad you (re) discovered Mr. LaFarge, as he would never pay that price for an old Martin Uke, and is a national treasure
The Big Kahuna said:
Nothing to do with the thread, but a big bunch of +Rep to Mr TCK for reminding me about [FONT=arial, sans-serif]Pokey LaFarge. Saw him/them on Jools Holland and thought they were incredible.[/FONT]​
Click to expand...
 
Chris Tarman said:
I really wanted to (and very nearly DID) send the seller of the Style 1 a message to tell them that they had WAAAAY overpriced it, and to wish them luck. And also to tell them that it was a Style 1, since all their web searches seemed unable to turn up that fairly simple piece of information.
Click to expand...

I did send the seller a note with a link to a 50s Style 1 at Elderly for $700.00, Chris.
 
Ebay is so much fun these days, since I got scammed by a guy who listed and sold the same item 5 times. The guy with the $2,800.00 1950's Style 1 responded to my message described above. He told me I should buy the the one at Elderly. I wrote back and told him I was just trying to helpful since he stated he was confused as to what type of ukulele he has. I sent him a link to one like it that sold on Ebay last week for $550.00. He responded by telling me that "mine" was ugly, maybe something to give to the kids; then wrote "condition, man." I told him he is funny, that it wasn't my listing, and that I think the cracks on the back of his are beautiful.

Maybe I'm becoming cynical, but I now think most of these people who say they don't know what they have or describe what they have as something it is not, often know exactly what it is but are trying to scam a buyer. In fact, that was my original thinking about these kinds of listings. Then, I started to message folks with info, they would thank me and amend their listings. Well, at least I think this seller is playing a game.
 
$20,000 to a multi millionaire looking to buy his kid a Birthday present is nothing! That would be a nice payday for E-Bay too! I gotta watch and see if anyone buys it. That's a pretty Ukulele for sure. Too bad the seller is so greedy!
 
hmgberg said:
Ebay is so much fun these days, since I got scammed by a guy who listed and sold the same item 5 times. The guy with the $2,800.00 1950's Style 1 responded to my message described above. He told me I should buy the the one at Elderly. I wrote back and told him I was just trying to helpful since he stated he was confused as to what type of ukulele he has. I sent him a link to one like it that sold on Ebay last week for $550.00. He responded by telling me that "mine" was ugly, maybe something to give to the kids; then wrote "condition, man." I told him he is funny, that it wasn't my listing, and that I think the cracks on the back of his are beautiful.

Maybe I'm becoming cynical, but I now think most of these people who say they don't know what they have or describe what they have as something it is not, often know exactly what it is but are trying to scam a buyer. In fact, that was my original thinking about these kinds of listings. Then, I started to message folks with info, they would thank me and amend their listings. Well, at least I think this seller is playing a game.
Click to expand...

he he...wise words Howard
:eek:ld:
 
I honestly don't think that $20K is insanely high for a vintage 5K. It's high, yes. It's maybe higher than any have sold for before. A few years ago, you could get one for 10-12K on eBay, sure. You might get lucky and find one for a lot less. I know of someone who DID, recently. Maybe no one will pay 20 grand for one. But maybe someone will. As I said, a store in Denver sold one a few years ago for 18 grand. Here's the link:
http://www.denverfolklore.com/older_vintage_instruments_archive_2.htm#ukuleles. Scroll down and click on it to see pics.

Could I ever pay that much? No. WOULD I ever pay that much if I could? I don't know... I wish I was in a position to find out! There are a couple of things to remember about instruments of that caliber and rarity. First of all, there are only a limited number of them in existence, and that number isn't going anywhere but DOWN. Secondly, even when they were new, they were out of reach of most normal people, and the people who could afford them were willing and able to pay a premium to have something that not many other people had. No one ever imagined that they'd be worth anything like $10-20,000. But then again, in 1959, no one imagined that a brand new Les Paul was going to be worth more than a new house someday, either.

But $2800 for a cracked '50s Style 1? That's just nuts!
 
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