OK, so who’s the lucky sot with the cash to have scored a Murray at under market price?!!! Good luck with it-should be a fine flute, and was a great buy-congrats! Enjoy!
Barry
C’est moi. 
Ummm, what is market price these days?
he foolishly asks after the fact.
Clinton
More, that’s for sure, with…a very anticipatory wait sometimes. Congrats, Clinton, you scored a big one, and you should have lots of fun in store!
My personal thanks to Clinton. My trigger finger has been itching the last couple of days over that flute, but my partner would have killed me. You not only got a great flute, you probably saved a marriage. Good on ya.
Any time! 
Clinton
Congrats to the winner. But I have a question for the more advanced wheelers and dealers. What was the advantage of selling it for a certain price “or best offer” over the usual ebay way of putting an item up for sale with a reserve on it? I think the method chosen may have actually discouraged potential bidders because it seemed kind of weird and was therefore something of a turn off. But maybe I’m missing something here. Also, was I the only one who thought the picture of the embouchure made the edge look a little nicked or grainy? No accusations here as it was probably just the lighting. But I wonder if that gave anyone else pause. Just curious.
M31’s method of listing the Murray on Ebay should have been a turn-on instead of a turn-off, as he was listing it as a buy it now for less than market price. I personally don’t think the best offer feature was really needed with a nice Murray, but I suppose he did that to insure a sale in this economy-still, it’s not likely that it would have gone for less than the buy it now, even in these times. He also certainly couldn’t be accused of being greedy-as is done when sellers list a reserve and then see what the market will bear with the bidding, and many times very desirable flutes like this Murray have sold for well over market value and the reserve, only because of supply and demand.
I enlarged the embouchure and it looked fine to me-many times you will have grain lines in Blackwood that look like cracks in enlargements, but in reality, most grain lines are not that noticable in the real thing. Sam’s embouchures are a little eccentrically cut, with a somewhat flatter face on the blowing edge.
The seller has been around this forum for a long enough time and his Ebay feedback couldn’t be better, so it was more or less a no-brainer for a good deal, that you could resell in a very short time if you just listed it on Chiff-no Ebay needed! The only thing non-standard was the corking of the joints, but that’s a minor thing-as he said, easily reversed if you really wanted to do so.
And, the buyer was very lucky that his lesser offer was even considered, or that a bidder didn’t buy it for a paltry $50 more before it was accepted. Seems like a very good deal to me, that is, if you want a Murray with no anxious wait involved, as it often turns out for a buyer of his flutes, especially across continents. Maybe next time.
Barry
Hi Greenspiderweb. Appreciated your comments, but they confuse me a bit. You seem pretty insistent that this flute went for below the market price. I think you are probably right and was wondering if there may have been any reasons for that other than the obvious “the economy is bad” one. One question I had was of the picture of the embouchure. You say you blew up the picture of the embouchure hole and it was fine. I believe you, but am not sure if you are saying you had also wondered about that edge before doing so. That aside, I think that you go way too far in suggesting putting up a flute for auction to see what the market will bear is “greedy.” I think its expected and when someone departs from the usual practice, people wonder why. I do agree that putting it up for a fixed price without the “or best offer” might have gotten the seller a few dollars more and a little quicker, too. Anyway, thanks for informing me that the seller is well known and respected. I’ve spent a lot of time in Ottawa–even lived there a short time. Great town, great people.
Well “greedy” is certainly in the eye of the beholder and certainly one should strive to get the best price the market will bear however, we’ve seen certain flutes go well beyond what might be considered reasonable.
That drives up prices over all to the point where they price your average player out of the market.
Flutes should be played and collected a secondary consideration… IMHO.
Yes, well, I meant to put that “greedy” in quotes-I don’t think it’s greedy really-except as Aanvil said it tends to drive prices up. I was just trying to illustrate my point of this one in contrast was being offered for below it’s normal value. They have been going for a couple hundred more recently in general, and some probably even more in times past because of how hard they can be to acquire. I don’t know what motivated the seller to use the price he did-possibly for the reason that when he bought it a few years back, it wasn’t even this much, but the price was adequate for him.
Sellers on Ebay do occasionally use this-it’s not all that unusual, but yes, most would rather set a reserve and see how high it will go. I’d much rather have it the other way, with a reasonable price up front with a buy it now option. I don’t much care for the auction process.
I get your and Aanvil’s points. From now on I’ll look on the “reasonable price or best offer” method of selling in a more positive light. Thanks.
“Ummm, what is market price these days?” Clinton.
I don’t know, but I purchased my Murray in June 2008 for 1.033 USD. It was 8 months old. A great flute - a crack appeared in the barrel a few weeks ago, the Swedish winter is hard on flutes, but the flute is still playing great.
The most recent price list I have is 2007, in which Sam was charging 775 Euro for a keyless blackwood flute; an 8-key would run you 1975 Euro; boxwood was more.
I paid $750 USD for a used one in late 2006. Sam has never purported to make the most expensive flutes out there – he makes everyman flutes that historically have given GREAT value for what you pay (what people pay Sam, at least). IMO, they give better value than what Sam charges, but if Sam thinks that’s what they’re worth, I figure he knows more than I do.
I get a bit cranky when I see the prices driven up into the “exotic” range because I fear that creates a false impression/set of expectations. They’re not Olwells or Wilkses or Noys with lovely flourishes.
(Although I guess their being hard to get over here can lend exclusivity.)
Don’t get me wrong – you would have to pay me a LOT to get either of my Murrays out of my clutches. Then again, I really like my Subaru and wouldn’t trade it for a Ferrari. I even prefer driving my Subaru! I guess it’s capitalism, but it bugs me when I see people market these flutes as top-ticket items.
It’s unfair to the flute and the maker because it sets up unrealistic expectations about a whole lot of things, including customer service. But that’s just my bassackward way of thinking.
Note: I’m NOT saying all this about the flute in this thread – under $1200 seems fair, with $1200 being the very top end of what I’d pay for a used one and it’d have to be pretty special … maybe signed by Harry Bradley or Michael Clarkson or John Wynne or something.
Honestly it seems reasonable to me. A new Olwell is only $250 or so more.
I spent 1400 to get one of these used. It cost another 100 to get it in tune.
Wish it had amounted to less but I’m not sorry.
Hi all,
shoot me if I am wrong, but the last time I checked with Sam, the new price for a murray keyless in Blackwood was around 780 Euros, if you are after one in a hurry Powells music shop in Galway usually always have one in at the much higher price of 1150 Euros, you pay the extra for no waiting time, of course if your are in the USA you have to factor in shipping, so I would say the ebay one was bang on price
sponge
Don’t want to be a butt-in-ski, but does Sam Murray sell both tuning-slide and non-tuning-slide versions of his keyless flutes? That could cause the discrepancy…
Pat
Don’t want to be a butt-in-ski, but does Sam Murray sell both tuning-slide and non-tuning-slide versions of his keyless flutes? That could cause the discrepancy…
no, all muray’s flutes are with tuning slide…
marin
I missed the part about Jim’s flute needing a $100 fix on the tuneing, I very seldom play my flute with other musicians, apart from my daughter who plays Violin, I have introduced her to some trad mainly slower tunes so we can play along together, I can tune up or down by pulling out the slide, so my question is, if the tuneing slide doesn’t work, how does a $100 repair on an out of tune flute work??? and what did they do, I am guessing you didn’t send it back to Sam when you discovered it was out of tune Jim, I would of thought it would have been a free fix, as I am sure Sam would not want an out of tune flute floating around, I am very surprised that Sam would have let any of his instruments leave with a fault, or can flutes go out of tume through natural ageing, I have heard that the bore can get a bit fluffy and require a re-polish, but does this cause tuneing issues, I have a delrin Hammy so no worries for me.
sponge