I can’t resist. How many times have you quietly and hopefully tracked a whistle, flute or related item on E-Bay, with the feeble hope that this perhaps rusty, maybe dented, but one-of-a-kind old gem escape the argus-eyed membership of C&F, only to have this hope dashed on the grim rocks of reality when a well intentioned member of this great fellowship “spills the beans” and thereby creates a bidding frenzy, forever removing the item from your economic grasp? (Wow–that may be the longest sentence ever on C&F!)
Sound familiar? Well, as a test to see how voracious our collective whistle acquisition appetite really is, I hereby ‘blow the whistle’ on and offer up to the die-hard collectors out there the following:
Has anyone ever seen anything like it? Will you ever have a chance to acquire an item like this again? What will it finally go for? Is a world record likely to be set on this item?
For the record–I have no interest in the item or knowledge of the seller.
I would like to suggest that there be a voluntary database made of people’s C&F and ebay names, so the situation described above can be averted (except by particularly cutthroat people). For example, I am a bidder on a tuffbaggs on ebay right now and would rather like to win it!
I thought you guys were serious until I looked at the picture. HA! That’s too funny. No doubt the seller has no idea that these sell for about $4.95 at the Whistle Shop–is he planning to make a killing on this rarity?!?
I believe the seller knows exactly what he is doing. As P.T. Barnum said “There is a sucker born every minute.” Some people just don’t bother to check around for themselves as far as prices and availablilty.
On 2002-03-27 00:01, Cees wrote:
I thought you guys were serious until I looked at the picture. HA! That’s too funny. No doubt the seller has no idea that these sell for about $4.95 at the Whistle Shop–is he planning to make a killing on this rarity?!?
ebay (and auctions in general) can be pretty unpredictable. I check ebay once a week or so and regularly see Clarkes going for 20 dollars or more and other ridiculous prices. There is occasionally that one really good deal, though.
I think the item is posted in good faith by someone who does not necessarily have our particlular sensibilities about whistle lineages. The point of my original C&F message was to poke a little good-natured fun at myself (and anyone else on whom the shoe might fit)and my/our ongoing desire to find that ‘special whistle.’
I will also admit that it is a bit of a letdown when the auction of a genuinely nice old whistle gets publicized on C&F. The result is a bidding frenzy that is probably much appreciated by the sellers. There are times when one might prefer that the real gems stay off the communal radar screen. When I posted the message at 11:00 p.m. (New York Time) last night, the auction had been visited 148 times. It is now about 10 hours later and the auction has received 241 hits. It is not unlikely that the 100+ viewings of the C&F posting are connected to the approximately 100 more hits on the auction posting.
Way back when, I bought my set of three susatos on ebay. Turned out to be an actual whistle shop listing it (not Thom’s whistle shop), and they linked back to their website, so I knew how much the set normally went for. =)
I’ve done my share of selling and buying on e-bay for over two years now. It’s like a “swap meet” or “flea market” (depending on your US geography)-that is, sometimes things are very high and sometimes you chance upon a good value. Sometime you see people who are so caught up in the auction process they overpay for the ability to win. In going back to the Ben Franklin adage, hopefully we all don’t pay too much for our whistle!
Sorry for the edit but I had to remark that I really liked Tom’s post!
[ This Message was edited by: Glengary on 2002-03-27 11:53 ]
Ha- I had to laugh at this because I had just cracked the red plastic head of an F Generation trying to get it unglued during the hot water bath treatment when I checked the Board and saw the photo. Its the second one I wrecked in the last two weeks, the first being a nice Bb.Sorta sad about it but I have another F I can wreck, I mean, tweak. I crazy glue em and they seem to work okay but its kind of sad because that whistle was on a cd I particpated in and I used it onstage at a lot of school assemblies.
If its an F, maybe I’ll put in a bid.It MUST be special, its on TV (CRT that is).
This is off of this thread, but part of tweaking for me involved cleaning out the inside of the tube while the head is off. Have any of you noticed that Generations have the inside of their Brass whistles lacquered? They do, I know. It comes off when I swab it through and since I had alcohol on hand anyway, I finished the job and it comes off like cellophane plastic. What long-term effect is has, I don;t know..The whistles always sound weaker after the process and I wonder if its an airleak or what…
I have a friend who actually makes fair money on EBAY. Its a lifestyle really to buy and sell that way but its ubiquitous and here to stay I think.
Cheers to all.
I’ve tried to sell some of my less-expensive whistles on ebay. These guys who sell Clarkes for $20.00 must have a deal with a nefarious power..I’ve never even gotten a bid on my cheapies at under market-price.
On 2002-03-26 22:54, Tom Dowling wrote:
Sound familiar? Well, as a test to see how voracious our collective whistle acquisition appetite really is, I hereby ‘blow the whistle’ on and offer up to the die-hard collectors out there the following:
To the person who cracked the Gen Bb fipple, don’t discard the tube. Go out and get a Clarke Sweetone C if you don’t already have one and put its fipple on the Gen tube. You’ll be really pleased at the result.
As for eBay, on which my wife buys a lot of stuff, the only defense from the unscrupulous seller is a knowledgable buyer.
I bought many of my better whistles on eBay, at better than average prices. Of course, that was back when only Thom and Mack and Lee had found eBay. Thom and Mack were selling and I was a better sniper than Lee (or just willing to spend a wee bit more). I haven’t bought a whistle there in over a year, the last two being a paired Dixon Low D and Silkstone D that everyone seems to have missed because the seller called them ‘plastic flutes’, or some such thing.
Though I must admit that I almost took a last-second shot at the little high G antique sold there last month…
I, for one, have no objection to sharing my eBay name on this board. Its clary.creek. As for whether it’s ‘right’ or not to post eBay whistle listings here, I freely admit I’ve done it myself for whistles I didn’t personally want or when a real oddity showed up and I wanted to get Thomas Hastay’s evaluation of it. It did sorta irk me when one I was tracking was blown by another member, but hey, sauce for the goose and all that.
On 2002-03-27 09:28, LeeMarsh wrote:
I bought 2 of my Overtons on e-bay.
Low-D for 125.
Mezzo-Soprano A for 100.
I sniped a Overton Low D on E-Bay for $107. It was made in 1984 when only Bernard was making them. I sniped it out from under Loren. He was fuming about it on the board, then I had to go and tell him I did it. I don’t think he will ever forgive me for that. I think that is the real reason he is planning to leave the board .
Tom Dowling. 2 pounds got your whistle on e-bay. Probably 40 pounds shipping and handling though (no cost was listed).
P.S. Loren, just checking to see if you still read these. I haven’t had a reasonable flame for a few weeks (except about my playing .)
OK…true confession. I get carried away with auctions AND have snagged TWO whistles out from under people on ebay only later to find that I had gotten into bidding wars with other chiff and fipplers in disguise. I HAVE seen a clarke celtic go for 22 dollars. And a shaw C that went for more than retail…go figure. AND I was very very lucky in the ones that I got one was from a reputable flute restorer and member of the flute forum here and the other was a really nice couple that I still correspond with by email. I shall endeavor to stay off of EBAY. and to the other fipplers from whom i have outbid on whistles…my humbelest apologies. (BUT I LOOOOOOOOOOVE my BURKE!!!)
I think you’re right. If I see something on eBay that might interest some friends of mine, I e-mail my friends privately. I see no sense starting a bidding war for the benefit of some anonymous eBay seller. You’d never see that on the fife and drum message board, thank God. As you know, I got a priceless Civil War era fife for less than $100. on eBay. If someone had posted that it was available, it probably would have gone for 10 times that, or maybe more. So keep a tight lip, people, and e-mail me privately if you see any antique fifes or piccolos out there!
Now that there McCabe boy is talkin’ some sense. He must be one a them well disciplined and clear-headed fife and drum fellers, not to mention a fair to middlin’ whistle player!!
I thank you to, CC, for the Gen Bb fix. I had tweaked mine by sanding, er should I say grinding down the ridge across the top of the fipple–I used a grinding wheel which I believe overheated the plastic, causing it to spontaneously crack a month later. Does using a Sweetone C fipple require any tube length adjustment to maintain the Bb tuning?
Lisa
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