$6500 figure Skates on eBay

[FigureSpins]

Exactly - some do appraisals, others guesstimate.  You have to know what you want/need when you buy from a pawn shop; even if they do have expertise, they're there to sell what they either have in stock or might be able to acquire for a customer. 

I think the misplaced decimal is a likely explanation for these skates' prices.

[AgnesNitt]

I think the misplaced decimal is a likely explanation for these skates' prices.

I disagree. I poked around the ebay posting and there was an estimated value of $10,000. Nobody would pay that for Brian Boitano's olympic gold winning boots.

If they were my size and about 300 I'd buy them.

[icedancer]

Nobody would pay that for Brian Boitano's olympic gold winning boots.

Just as an aside I held Brian Boitano's Olympic gold winning boots in my hands once...

(and no I did not pay for that privelege!)
!)

[AgnesNitt]

Just as an aside I held Brian Boitano's Olympic gold winning boots in my hands once...

(and no I did not pay for that privelege!)
!)

Details Details!

[jjane45]

If they were my size and about 300 I'd buy them.

Wouldn't the leather be too old and lose proper support?

[karne]

This whole thread reminds me of an episode I watched of an American TV series about a pawn shop.

This guy came in with an "authentic Indiana Jones whip!" that he bought off ebay. (He didn't mention how much he paid for it.) He said he knew it was authentic because the seller had worked on the movie set and the guy had gone and found the seller's name in the credits.

The guy wanted about $12,000 for this whip!

They brought in a movie set expert, who verified that it was indeed a whip in the style used by the Indiana Jones movies. He asked if there was any documentation with the whip.

The guy said no.

The expert said, well here's the thing. We don't know what this whip has done.

If it was just a prop that never got used, we'd give you maybe $50 for it.

If it was used by an extra, maybe $700 max.

If it was used by Indiana Jones himself, $10,000.

But you can't prove it. So we can't buy it.

The guy was steaming. It was really very funny. Bigger fool you, mate!

[Query]

Not that I'm in the market, but how do eBay buyers confirm prior ownership?

Would it matter if Tai tried on the skates, hated them, and never used them again? E.g., would having such a story make them even more valuable?  

the sax is actually one made in the 1960s!

If it's a Selmer Mark VI, especially if it has the original finish, you might want to insure it. Will hold its value better if your son doesn't play it. But it probably isn't - would be worth more than a new sax.

I've got a Mark VI alto, one of the last made. (My music teacher pushed my parents to buy me one, cuz he hated the Mark VII's.) Not nearly as valuable as the older ones. Last I checked, Selmer's current records say they had stopped making Mark VI's, so a collector would say mine was a fake, but my parents bought it new from a reputable store, at the overlap time that Selmer sold both. Don't play it much. For starters, that original lacquer has started to wear off when I do play it. BTW, the newer models have easier to play mechanisms; the value lies purely in the fact they stopped making it, the pretty engraving, and a slightly idiosyncratic sound. The old mouthpieces and had a different sound too. When I chipped my mouthpiece, they didn't fit my old reeds, and so I paid extra to find another old one.

[Sk8tmum]

If it's a Mark VI, especially if it has the original finish, you might want to insure it. Will hold its value better if your son doesn't play it. But it probably isn't - would be worth more than a new sax.

Ummm ... no.   Not a Mark IV.  There are a lot of tenor saxes from the 1960s that are not Mark IVs.  Quality has it's value, and for a sax - it's in the music it produces, of course.  Not that I'd ever pay the 14 odd thou for the new Selmer he was eyeing. 

[Query]

14K? OMG.

It's just a chunk of brass.

And the skates are likely just a couple chunks of worn out leather.

We don't even having human cloning technology, so you can't grow another Tai from the DNA traces in the boots.

Not yet... Would that be fair?

[Skittl1321]

14K? OMG.

It's just a chunk of brass.

Yeah, and the Mona Lisa is just a canvas with some blobs of paint.

Things have ridiculous prices because people think there is some value to it.  It isn't just a cost of materials. 

[Sk8tmum]

14K? OMG.

It's just a chunk of brass.

It's actually a work of art aesthetically ... the finishing, detailing, construction, quality of materials are phenomenal.  The sound it produces is - exquisite - in the hands of a top notch player.   It's beautiful ... and for someone who plays at the highest levels, worth the investment.

But, then again, I can't figure out why people spend $35 thou on a car. 

[Sk8Dreams]

The sound it produces is - exquisite - in the hands of a top notch player. 

Which pretty much says it all.  Our DD's violin teacher (Russian master teacher) played her 1/4 size violin for her during lessons sometimes, and it was astonishing the sounds he could get out of it.  Similarly, I've seen gorgeous, huge, axels from elite skaters in rental skates.

[Jon-Ohio]

They've been relisted on Ebay - Big price reduction - Now you can get them for a mere $ 4500 !


http://www.ebay.com/itm/SP-Teri-Custom-Skates-World-Champion-Tai-Babilonia-Authentic-/150735368654?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23188731ce

[Sk8tmum]

Which pretty much says it all.  Our DD's violin teacher (Russian master teacher) played her 1/4 size violin for her during lessons sometimes, and it was astonishing the sounds he could get out of it.  Similarly, I've seen gorgeous, huge, axels from elite skaters in rental skates.

I know, it is something to hear what hte teacher can do with the student's violin ... then again, when the teacher let my DD try HER violin and bow (which is worth the National income of a small developing nation) - what my kid could produce was far better than she could on her student level violin ...

[karne]

They've been relisted on Ebay - Big price reduction - Now you can get them for a mere $ 4500 !


http://www.ebay.com/itm/SP-Teri-Custom-Skates-World-Champion-Tai-Babilonia-Authentic-/150735368654?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23188731ce

I guess this settles it - it wasn't a typo, just someone with big delusions.

[sarahspins]

They've been relisted on Ebay - Big price reduction - Now you can get them for a mere $ 4500 !

Yeah, um, I guess "go lower" wasn't working.. now you can have them for the bargain price of $14,500!  Oh, and $30 for shipping.. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Teri-Custom-Ice-Skates-World-Champion-Tai-Babilonia-w-Signed-Book-/150765021315?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231a4ba883#ht_3594wt_965

[Isk8NYC]

Did it have a book included on the previous auction?  That could be driving up the price.  *snicker*

[Jennymd]

Yeah, um, I guess "go lower" wasn't working.. now you can have them for the bargain price of $14,500!  Oh, and $30 for shipping.. 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Teri-Custom-Ice-Skates-World-Champion-Tai-Babilonia-w-Signed-Book-/150765021315?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item231a4ba883#ht_3594wt_965

LOL! That's even more than their listed "Suggested Retail" of $10,000.00! If they couldn't even get $6500 for them, what makes them think they will now get more than double the price? hehe

[sarahspins]

Did it have a book included on the previous auction?  That could be driving up the price.  *snicker*

Yes, that was always included.... but still not worth anything near what they're asking.

I would think that even at retail price ($900ish?) those boots/blades/book would be a hard sell.

[fsk8r]

I just realised it's a pawn store trying to sell them. I wonder who sold them to the pawn store and how much the manager was conned into paying for them?

[Query]

Most of the pawn shops and thrift stores around here sell many things for more than new price. A lot of people just assume they will sell cheaper.

Whatever the market will bear.

[SK8N]

States "Tai Babilonia will personally autograph any personalized message for the winner of the auction on both the skates and the book".  So the pawn shop owner must know Tai Babilonia if they are to be autographed by her after purchase.  

[ls99]

Similar to the stock market.


The greater fool theory applies.

[karne]

I just realised it's a pawn store trying to sell them. I wonder who sold them to the pawn store and how much the manager was conned into paying for them?

...What, did the person selling them to the store con them into thinking Tai Babilona was like, Dick Button or someone?

Yikes. This is just getting stupid now!