[Boatanchors] INFLATION

[Todd Bigelow - PS]

"Duane Fischer, W8DBF" wrote:
<snip>

> The down side is, that sellers believe that these outrageous prices accurately
> reflect what the market value of a given item is, and then try to sell theirs
> for the same amount. The losers are the 'real' collectors who do not have that
> type of cash to throw around. Hence, the 'real' collectors many times are denied
> a piece of history that in their hands would survive and prosper.

Now you've hit the nail right on the head here, Duane. This is what I see as the
only true potential problem with a high selling price on an item, particularly so
visibly. For many years collectors have bought automobiles and any other number of
things and been willing to pay a high price. Most of the time this takes place in
private with little or no fanfare (like the KW-1 bought by a fellow in Japan for
$46K+ and air freighted over), so it has little if any impact on the rest of the
market. When you have high visibility like a public auction, then it suddenly
changes. The recent Barrett/Jackson auto auction in AZ is a good example as it is
considered as the benchmark for prices the remainder of the year.

The good part of the $10K SX-88 is that it will likely bring a few more out into the
light of day to be restored, enjoyed, and used (this is when you find out exactly
what certain people prefer more - radios or money). Bad side of this is that as you
pointed out, the sellers will expect similar prices simply because one or two people
were willing to pay a very high price for a very clean example. Some will be foolish
enough to bite and gobble up what they can get fearing prices will go higher (the
Collins feeding frenzy a few years back comes to mind, and now you see it for sale
constantly) instead of seeing this for what it is: a person who appreciates old
gear, wanted this radio and could afford to pay whatever it required to have it.
However, I tend to believe as I said before that someone willing to pay that much
for a fairly scarce (but very clean) example of a radio does so because they want it
to enjoy and not to turn a profit on. We have to know that this radio will likely
survive longer than many others out there. It's clean, it's cool, and it's owned by
someone who's estate will draw great focus and attention one day (not trying to rush
anything here!).

I'm so glad I'm in the 'user' category and relatively poor in comparison....I don't
ever have to worry about such issues. Makes enjoying radio so much simpler.

de Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ