Gee, folks, think maybe the economy is getting a bit better? It wasn’t so long ago we were talking about flutes and whistles getting lower prices than a year or so ago because people didn’t have the money to spend. Then along came this little baby: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2572062166&category=47102&rd=1
Three people were willing to go over $1000, and two of them were willing to pay over $5000! Wow.
If it really is what it says, an original Stanesby in what looks like good condition, I can understand this (and would have been tempted if I had the money). I’m just baffled that this is sold on ebay, where any idiot could grab it.
Hell, to be even allowed to play an 18th century original is a dream, I didn’t know there were still flutes from these times floating around in the open market. I can only look at them in the museum.
This flute has been discussed in the earlyflute Yahoo group. It’s almost certainly not a real Stanesby. I think the original date he had (1850) is more probable than 1750. Could still be a good flute, of course.
Yes, it seems we’re getting back to irrational bidding on flutes on eBay. It figures that it would start happening again 1 month after i sold a flute.
:roll:
The seller of the flute in question is dishonest. I bought a flute on eBay from him that he said had no cracks. He also said it was in perfect playing order. I got it and it had 4 old cracks, one of them a bad one. It was not in playing order and needed to be completely overhauled (for a cost of half of the buying price of the flute). When I wrote to the seller about the cracks, he offered a refund but no admission of inaccuracy. I didn’t blame the flute for his lies, so I wanted to keep it, but I gave him a negative feedback. He responded by lying in his feedback profile and giving me a negative feedback, saying I was not allowed to bid on his future auctions. I wrote to him that he should be ashamed of himself, that all I wanted was an apology, and he refused, instead remaining hostile. Good luck to any buyer of his items.
That’s a serious problem with the way eBay works. You’re supposed to be able to rely on the feedback record, but you really have to read between the lines, because if you give someone a negative, you’re going to be getting a negative too! Just recently i gave someone a positive even though i had to start a complaint with PayPal to get the guy to ship the thing i’d bought.
I rarely give feedback on Ebay OR Amazon. Few vendors there deserve feedback. When I do give feedback it is always AFTER the product has been received and thoroughly checked out.
That goes (almost) without saying. Definitely inspect the product first. But if you have a low feedback number, you may feel like you have to give feedback in hopes of getting some back.
BTW, the flute: it doesn’t look like any Stanesby i’ve seen (they’re usually much more ornate, for example). While it’s possible that this was a cheaper model, this already raises a flag. Also, the maker’s mark in the flute says “Stanesby Junior”, not “Stanesby Iunior” as it should. It’s not uncommon for forgers to put a small “misteak” like that so they can wiggle out of a lawsuit, saying it’s not really a copy.
The white plastic Aulos (A=415) is copied from a Stanesby (albeit an ivory model).
Alas, Stacy, when you die, the assembly line will be taken over by a zealous tribe of cybernetic robots. Production will be increased tenfold, and the residual value will go way down.
Yeah, but hasn’t your luck been a little quieter lately? I’m sorta counting on your luck being to get it just into the same state, which of course would bring it to MY HOUSE, since I’m the only other one in PA in the running.
you will be paying more than that fer yer Alba. All I gotta do is die 
When Lucky Kathy is around, you can never count on winning anything. 
