Breaking up complete sets to sale

[John T. Meredith]

Sadly, there are two Scott Imperials on Ebay that have been broken apart and listed as components.  So what is the deal with this?  I always thought you could get more for a complete radio than one broken up?  Anyone else bothered by this practice?

 

 

[Norman S Braithwaite]

Yes, I and others here are frustrated by this practice.  In general, unless equipped with tweeters, the Allwave models complete and in decent condition are worth about the same as the sum of the parts.  If in poor condition or if poorly restored (especially the cabinet), the value of the parts may exceed the value of the receiver as a whole.  But, if selling time and costs are factored in, parting out these less than premium sets is still not really worthwhile.  Any Allwave model in a rare or very nice original cabinet is worth more complete than as parts but some sellers either don't know this, don't know a rare cabinet, they don't believe it, or they don't know a rare cabinet from shoe shine.  In any case if they have the optional tweeters, that is another story.  Until local buyers are willing to step up to the plate and pay the appropriate cost to keep the tweeters stateside, they will continue to emigrate.

Case in point - I have purchased the George Barrett Quaranta piece by piece in four distinctly separate purchases over a period of 30-years and, as such, it was a really good bargain!

[John T. Meredith]

I agree.  I think many of these broken up Scotts are worth more complete.  Even if the cabinet is not a "rare" cabinet such as the more common Tasman or Warrington being featured. 

 

Large part of this problem is the ignorance of the seller; and I think, wanting to make a quick dollar on something they probably got cheap at an estate sell.

 

 

 

[Scott Seickel]

I am going to disagree. 

I think the parts will sell for more, but we will see when the auction ends. 

Selling a complete console really cuts down your prospective clients due to shipping concerns, and you need to factor in that the audiofools like Scott speakers and amps. 

I don't agree with the practice, but it is their radio. 

[John T. Meredith]

Looks like you are. The final bids for the Tasman are high.

Cheers,

John

[Scott Seickel]

He realized about $2k. 

Maybe double what he would get as a whole working console, depending on the demand in his location. 

Hopefully, new complete Scotts are created from the parts. 

I really need a cabinet for mine....Don't know if I will ever find one that doesn't cost me as much as a whole radio with shipping....

[John T. Meredith]

All good things come to those who wait. There was an Imperial in a Warrington this summer that sold for $935.00 on eBay. Seems this one is going to be over priced the way the bidding went on the Tasman.

Cheers,

John

[Scott Seickel]

The second AW23 worth of parts completed on Monday for over $2000...

[John T. Meredith]

I saw that! The cabinet was less than the Tasman. Well, guess I am wrong. Hope this doesn't happen to often. But, I saw where the same bidder purchased all the pieces.

[Scott Seickel]

John T. Meredith said:

 But, I saw where the same bidder purchased all the pieces.

I think that is part of the psychology of breaking up a set.  It forces a bidder to try to bid high to get all the pieces so they can make a complete set.  Reality is that he just way overpaid. 

[John T. Meredith]

The buyer may not have over paid. That particular radio was, as I recall, in the collection of someone I knew before he sold it about 20 years ago. It was a special order from E H Scott with the larger speaker and keyed power switch. It had the order form and bill of sale with it. I was shown these at the time.

Anyway, it is all about what someone is willing to pay and what the value is to them. Nevertheless, it is sad to see these radios broken apart.

Cheers,

John

[Scott Seickel]

According to the seller, it is not the radio you refer to.   He states that the first set he purchased as a complete working radio but the second set with the larger speaker and key, was assembled by his brother from parts.  

The seller is not a rookie to buying and selling these sets and would recognize the value of a set like you mention provided it had the paperwork to support it being "special". 

[Y2K Bruce]

The Warrington cabinet came from me. It originally had a Philly installed in it when I acquired it.

I changed out the Philly Receiver face board board for an AW23 face board, You can see the bigger speaker opening impression in the grill cloth. I did this to upgrade my other Warrington cabinet for my nice Philly chassis.

It turned out to be very easy to unscrew the boards and swap them out. Interestingly the cabinet had a single tweeter and 15" woofer originally.