Quick profits

[treefrog]

I am always amazed how quickly machines shift from auctions to ebay or even ebay back onto ebay. About 3 months ago I put a proxy bid in for Buckley Criss Cross at an auction in Angelsey, but ended up being the under bidder. I think with commision it would have cost me around £300 if I had won (plus fuel or courier), but was bidding blind and as per the other topic it is a long way away.

Withing hours I saw the same machine on ebay, bought by a local prospector, not sure if they knew their business, but put a starting price in of £650........it was missing the jackpot with a hole that didn't help and had the wrong award car, so no bids. I did email them explaining I was the under bidder, which they were surprised by and suggest it was worth no more than £500 in good nick. So they reduce the price to £550, no bids, £450 no bids....eventually ending up at £350 and still no bids..

Today I had seen a Malcymal (it's not yours is it?) type Roma for sale and a Aristocrat Governor Console at Dukes Auction in Dorchester...Long way away again with low estimates around £50 each....could be bothered as I am finally losing the attraction for driving the world buying more of the same, also the chrome looked poor on the aristocrat.

http://www.dukes-auctions.com/Catalogue ... page5.html

Anyway sure enought they are straight onto ebay but I bet at 8 times the purchase price and of course unrealistic and the usual caveats, untested etc.....
Aristocrat going for £350 and the Roma £400......Well good luck I say, not sure of the success, but you might see these go down over the next few weeks..Having said that maybe not....

ARISTOCRAT
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Vintage-Fruit-Mac ... 4cee3f82f0
ROMA
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Roma-Fruit-Machin ... 4cee3fa01e

[operator bell]

The same guy is offering both of them, and since he's in Dorset the sale was local for him. I know the prices are a joke (particularly for the Roma) but the same tide lifts all ships, so the more he can get for them, the better your own collection looks, and you never know what the idiots out there are going to do. There was a strange situation on US Ebay recently where a couple of electrical items that normally fetch about $50 each ran up smartly to $300 and then in the last five seconds to nearly $600. I have 20 of the suckers in a box under my workbench and I'm in two minds whether to cash out now and put the money towards a trip to Jerry's next auction, or sit on them a while longer and see if they rise enough higher that I can also charter a plane to get my purchases home.

[malcymal]

Its not my Roma, I can't look at the picture as ebay is blocked here at work. The price debate once again as to what something is worth. If you offered me £350 for my Roma I wouldn't sell it to you. I really like the look of my machine and I love playing it. I wouldn't pay a grand for a Jennings, can't see what the fuss is about. So what is the right value for anything? Dunno....... when you think people are paying 3 to 4 hundred pounds for a plastic star wars figure from 1978 and you can buy a machine for the same price, where is the logic in that... It's what moves you. I'm not defending the seller who's out for a quick profit but you can't blame people for trying - 'tis the way of the world.

[pennymachines]

If you offered me £350 for my Roma I wouldn't sell it to you.

Spoken like a true collector!

[malcymal]

Ah there it is, well it looks okay. Rewiring of a roma will require two new chokes for lighting (so youve got 40 quid cost to start with plus tapping up a sparky to put it right). They do look awesome lit up at night, very jukebox looking.

[treefrog]

In they eye of the beholder and all that.....I do not disagree as I have one or two very cheap machines I would not take 5 times what I paid for them, just because I love the look, originality and what effort I have put into them.

Having said that, these machines are already on their way down, 25% and dropping.......

[treefrog]

Well both the machines never made their asking price, but just logged in to ebay and saw them on a but it now for £90 each.....mmmmmmmm

Well I may regret it, but I grabbed them,

Now the slot o holic drive to Dorset

[jingle]

tree frog your nearly half as good
as me at the hunting job lad
well done
that red one i had on the ebay last month sold for 150
at an antique fair
and the guy who bought it sold it for 300
with in half hour,i was sick
knowone wants to pay on ebay
but the buyers for these are defo out there ,they just need to see them
in the flesh ,

[aristomatic]

well the buckley you mentioned is now back on ebay

with a buyitnow of £349.......................................

its moved down the coast somewhat from ist original

location though......................................................!

[treefrog]

well the buckley you mentioned is now back on ebay

with a buyitnow of £349.......................................

Yes I have seen this, I know of and have bought a number of machines from this seller from Helston, also met him at the Coventry Auction. I can only assume he must have put an offer in for it. The original owner must have lost out knowing what they paid at auction.

I am so tempted, this even has free delivery, but I see the casting has also a chunk missing and with award card jackpot etc, I already have way too many projects....I know little about Buckleys and had always assumed the mechanism was the same as Mills, but they do appear to be different and maybe the parts more difficult to obtain....

[malcymal]

Ah you were selling the red roma, it was very nice in my eye. I know you let it go for £150, thats just a bit more than what i paid for mine. I think they are worth £300, they are super looking machines, very reliable and the inners are so simple to maintain.

[treefrog]

Malc,

Picked up my machine and what a joy, even the electrics work.....

What was even more of a bonus after trying to work out why the machine would not payout, I cleared out three smaller coins and to my surprise they were 3 gold sovereigns

What a bonus...............

[badpenny]

"Fall" "Bucket of..." "Up" "Come" "Roses" "Smelling"

All spring to mind.

[pennymachines]

Were you kidding about the gold sovereigns? At present gold rates, three of these are worth a lot more than the machine you bought.

[bryans fan]

Now you wouldn`t be trying to fool us would you what with it being April and all????!!!

[pennymachines]

Aha! The penny drops!

[treefrog]

Aha! The penny drops!

Or Sovereign ........

Sorry guys, someone had to.....

There are loads about today, I love Google's one on their main front page......."Google Animal Translate" Classic

[badpenny]

I bet it was that damn "Google Animal Translate" app that allowed a frog to post that in the first place!

[treefrog]

Well the Buckley is back on it's 4th journey in 6 months (Honest I am not a bandit stalker)......

This machine has moved through over the last 6 months. The story goes.....

In January I bid not enough blind for a Buckley Criss Cross, in Anglesey auction room, ended up the under bidder, the winner was from the other side of the Manai straights....They proceeded to try and make a few bob profit, but ended up selling the machine to a collector from Helston Cornwall in March.......
It then ended up slowly reducing it's value but getting a correct award bib on the way to a new owner

Looks like this new owner is based on Redcat (North East) who has performed a wonderful job in restoring the machine, bib in all to it's current state...

So that is a total of 866 miles, 4 stops, 4 owners and the journey continues,.....

Have you wondered how often this happens with many other machines

I wonder if this machine should now be heading for the South East to cover all four corners of England (wales)