The ups and downs of listening to others !

[davec2]

Quite recently, a few self proclaimed experts have been sniping at the prices being asked for badges being sold on ebay and SMM, unrealistic, too expensive and so on.

I sell on ebay, SMM and occasionally on the forum, I always ask for what I consider to be a fair price and yes, I can be expensive some times but I do sell some nice gear.

I read what is being written and although the odd remark does get through, I do try to ignore most of what is said, I do appreciate that people have to let off steam, I certainly do and having a moan on the forum is a good way as any to do such.

Every now and then, I take something that has been written on the forum to heart, I know I'm old enough not to but I still do, I recently offered something for sale to the forum members which was snapped up immediately and I don't for one minute blame the buyer.

I had absolutely no idea of the value of said items so I went in low, at the time I felt I had under valued them but because I literally did not have a clue it was a case of going low would mean a sale, it certainly did.

I had done what several forum members want dealers and sellers to do, I had practically given away some nice badges because this morning I received a PM from a good friend telling me that the badges I had sold were sold for less than half their true value.

I think now would be a good time for those members who continually moan about, ebay, prices, SMM etc to bite their tongues, by all means highlight the crooks and baddies on sites like ebay but just for once leave the ordinary bloke alone !!

Dave.

[Frank Kelley]

This has certainly stopped being a schoolboy hobby, for me, at least, for quite a number of years now, prices have continued ever upwards, but, quite frankly, an awful lot of people still seem to want everything for as little as possible, quality comes with a price tag!

[Peter Brydon]

The problem as a collector is, once you have acquired good original items, how, when you come to let those items go, do you get a fair price for them ?

P.B.

[davec2]

When I was courting my wife back in the day, I could go out on my own, buy 9 pints of Brown and Mild, a packet of Park Drive and still have change out of a pound, a gallon of petrol cost 5 Shillings ??

My eldest son plays ' five a side ' on Thursday nights, he goes for a couple of pints afterwards and he says that three pints for just over a tenner is cheap !!

A nice badge that cost me £15.00 - £20.00p when I started collecting 12 years ago now costs £25.00p - £30.00p, is it me ??

Dave.

[davec2]

Originally Posted by Peter Brydon

The problem as a collector is, once you have acquired good original items, how, when you come to let those items go, do you get a fair price for them ?

P.B.

Peter,

You have to stick to your guns and take no notice of the " bully boys " and " head in sand " members who refuse to believe that time has moved on.

I have quite a few badges in the £300.00p - £350.00p range, when I try to sell them, particularly on the forum no-one is interested because everyone ( myself included ), wants a bargain.

Because I am determined to get at least the price I paid for them I don't let them go for less, this begs the question, how many forum members have gone after a specific badge, for example, through Bosleys' and although they paid more than they hoped to pay, they were chuffed to have acquired it ??

Dave.

[magpie]

Xxxx

[ianh67military]

I suspect we've all got items on our Wants lists that, if we were to see them available for sale, we would without hesitation pay whatever it took. That's usually OK if you collect common or garden items, but once you start looking at higher end stuff it can get really expensive.
I have a collection of WW2 infantry regiment cap (ORs and Off's) collar (ditto) metal titles and cloth titles, both embroidered and printed. With 65 basic Regt's one can pick up items for just a few quid, and if it's "expensive" just leave it and pick it up later. BUT those last few elusive bits, I've put bids in when I've seen one on eBay that would be considered "silly", but if it completes a "set" I don't care. I can then move on to the next collection.
I bet we've all done it, even if we started with a very strict "NOT MORE THAN £5" remit.
On the other hand I'm sure we all remember fondly when we picked up some items from a seller who was saying "the big badges are 7 quid, the medium ones 5 and the little ones 2.50". And duly walked away with hundreds of pounds of officers silver or bronze cap and collars. It's happened to me and it was great.
It's one of the reasons I collect, the finding, identifying and acquiring things for my collection.

Ian H

[btns]

As a long time collector I remember pre-internet prices as being rather flat. There were lots of collectors and there was always demand for common and good items. Sourcing items was not easy and it was hard to find out if an item was scarce.

These days we have world-wide access to items and information. There are not so many collectors left and many beginners expect to build up a top collection within a year or two. It creates a lot of demand for rare items. This makes for a steep curve and lower entry prices.

Note that I do not take the effect of 'fakes' into account. (I collect uniform buttons). I would expect a badge pricing curve to be even steeper, especially if the 'rare items' are from a reliable source. (This is how certain auction houses get 'good' sales results - they do add value)

If Dave's item was in the rare corner of my graph, then the price is hard to predict. "Twice as much" is just a minor increase on the horizontal scale.

Why not start high and step down until it sells? It is one of the ancient types of Dutch auctions. (the other two are bidding up and bidding until a coin in a burning candle drops).

[navyfred]

There seem to be too many people these days who just want to buy to sell and make a lot of money. Unfortunately we are swamped with television programmes based on this philosophy.They are not interested in the article,just the profit.

As a hobby, badge collecting is undoubtedly on the decline. There are therefore going to be fewer people after the rarer badges so I would imagine their market value will decline also in a free,open market. Add to this the copies and alledged copies and the price comes down further.

From my own point of view I am always willing to pay what I concider is a fair price for anything that I like. That said it is my hobby and I'm not in it for profit or making a good investment for the future. I just enjoy it for what it is but I am becoming one of a very small group.

I do sell my spares to fund my collecting but rarely get back what I pay. I can however move things on that I no longer want, for example when a better item comes along.

PS I've had some lovely badges off Davec over the years and I've always been over the moon with them and worth every penny!

[High Wood]

Originally Posted by davec2

When I was courting my wife back in the day, I could go out on my own, buy 9 pints of Brown and Mild, a packet of Park Drive and still have change out of a pound, a gallon of petrol cost 5 Shillings ??
:

Dave,

with 9 pints of Brown & Mild and a packet of ciggies costing just under a £, you should have quit smoking and drunk the petrol as you would have got 32 pints for your money.

Simon.

[davec2]

I quit the fags

I might add that no-one was keener than me when I started collecting and I soon realised that I wanted the best and that it would not be cheap, I didn't start collecting with the intention of buying and selling just to make a lot of money.

About a year ago, for various reasons, some brought up on this forum, I became so disillusioned with the hobby that I decided to just sell the lot, however, when push came to shove, I couldn't part with everything, I dread to think of what I paid for my KRR's and KRRC collection so I'm keeping those

Dave.

[Peter Brydon]

When I was at school I had a weekend job as a petrol pump attendant ( in the days when the attendant went out and physically filled the car ), as can be seen from the photo of the letter attached which is dated 13th September 1966, my pay was 5 shillings per hour ( for the younger members 25p per hour in todays money). Badges then were priced in pence rather than pounds otherwise very few people could have afforded to be collectors.

If I remember correctly, petrol was 3 gallons for £1 at one time during this early career but the point is,that with inflation, never mind a good investment, if the value of any collectable does not keep pace with inflation then you are in effect loosing money but I know few, if any, militaria collectors who see their collections as an investment.

P.B.

[davec2]

Earlier on I googled the price of petrol in 1963, by then I had done two years in the army and had met my wife about a year after my discharge, that being the year I was referring to, unless google is wrong, it flashed up that in 1963, petrol was 5 shillings a gallon.

I have to say that we seem to have gone off course with this debate ( for want of a better word ), my argument started not with the comparison of the prices charged for badges 50 years ago and today but more with some members telling other members what they should and should not charge for a badge.

Dave.

[Sonofacqms]

I put some of my spares on the forum classifieds which sometimes sell although mostly they do not.

I recently put some cloth titles and formation signs on the classifieds and although 226 viewers had a look, knowone was interested.

Were my items overpriced?

Had the 226 viewers got all of these items in their collections?

Admitted none of these items were special forces, but they were all original with a guarantee, what do people want?

Rob

[davec2]

One point of interest that has come out of this discussion has made me ' chuckle '.

People buy furniture, property, land, vehicles, they save cash in high interest bank accounts, they even put money aside, all in the hope of making a better future for themselves, particularly when they retire and have to rely on Pension funds etc.

You know what's coming next ?

The general consensus is that collecting badges should be for fun or love and in no way should some one turn their collections into an asset, what a load of you know what ??

Dave.