wow! marketing 101

[Jeff Hess]

Note: I am NOT flaming this guy. No, I am in "AWE". http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...item=888752636

300 bucks for a 100 dollar (tops) longines...

Ya gotta love the guy....

Jeff Hess

[Jeff Hess]

Note: I am NOT flaming this guy. No, I am in "AWE". http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...item=888752636

300 bucks for a 100 dollar (tops) longines...

Ya gotta love the guy....

Jeff Hess

[Jeff Hess]

Don't know.

There is speculation that there is a small cadre of very wealthy collectos and speculators (some say wealthy industrialists and some say Arab oil tycoons) that are drving teh PAtek market in the millions. Art & Auction magazine called me a few weeks ago to ask the same question you are asking. Told them the same I am telling you. "Dunno".

As to the EBAY, guy, well, I am going to start running ads looking for "beat up old low grade Longines. Top dollar paid"

(Ok, maybe not...) Jeff Hess

[Jeff Hess]

Then again, look at this. One of the girls in the office put this up. Not as elaborate as the Longines guy but same result. I guess she messed up using the word "miniature". Guess I should give the winners dough back. weird huh?

JPH

Actually, Jeff, I'm not sure why you would consider this watch to be worth "100 dollar (tops)" in the first place. Shugart's doesn't have a listing for these early keywind Longines (except for one made for the Turkish Market ca. 1900), and the few I have seen on ebay do tend to command premium prices due to their age.

I've sold two of these in the past, and each time they ended up selling in the $400-500 range (which was well above my reserve). It helps immensely that Longines has detailed sales records and is willing to look up who the original purchaser was if you e-mail them with a serial number. One of the Longines that I had was actually a private label with the name of an American jeweler. It was not marked Longines anywhere, but the movement was pretty clearly a Longines. I e-mailed the company with the serial number, and they confirmed that the watch had been sold to the jeweler whose name was on the movement. The serial number was in the low 5 digits and dated to the company's first year, and I mentioned all of these factors in my description.

These are not necessarily high grade watches, but I do think they have some historical significance. And the fact that Shugart doesn't list them means that the price really is determined by what somebody is willing to pay. I agree that the one in the auction is a bit beat up, but I still don't think the current price is particularly outrageous or even unusual. Unlike that 12-size Elgin currently selling for $1800 that was discussed in another thread...



Barry

------------------
My Online Pocket Watch Collection



[This message has been edited by Barry G (edited 06-30-2002).]