UBB.threads Forums General Interest Community Center The reduction in price of TR items

Looking at the auction without reserve on an SA dagger with a bid rusty blade and seemed OK the price was under 400 dollars. It is in may opinion was worth 700 or more in 2006. So we have a drop of more than 50%. Is this true for all TR items or just for common items?
Thanks

http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=247814502

that is the actual item.

I think that NR auction such as that is a true representation of the real cost, unlike many other "auctions"

Seams like this is a parts daggers (look at the grip fitting) additionally with sharpened blade and a number of staines what is reflected in the price.

Still a good value for $$ IMO for 400 but 700 would be over the top for this piece.

In 2006 you could buy better SA daggers than that for $450.00. So, your premise is incorrect here. But, if you want to talk about the real value of 2nd lufts. You may have a point.

Who knows if it really 'sold' to a 'real' buyer..Gunbroker is a site with lots of shady characters .

If it sold for too low a price, you will see it again..

for an early SA the (eagle) and (fit) around it is very bad,, dont waste your money

Everything has taken a big hit and anyone that thinks otherwise is deluding themselves.

Look at the for sales section here but particularly over on WAF and nothing is really moving unless the price is way low compared to a couple of years ago. Sure the big dealers and many stupid and greedy collectors still think they can over value what for the most part is junk to me but nobody is buying it.

High time some people lived in the real world. You can say nothing has changed a thousand times but the fact is it has. I have stopped buying anything because if you buy today you can kiss your money goodbye. I didn`t collect to make money but only a fool would buy something knowing they are going to make an immediate loss.

Nobody wants this stuff anymore and is it any wonder when it got humped up so artificially high.

I think you are going to extremes, Landser.
"Nobody wants this stuff anymore" ? Really, that is quite inaccurate.
Market conditions dictate the price in any collectibles field. The value of TR artifacts are intangible, just like artwork.
You buy a Rembrant, and you sure aren't laying out your hard earned $$ for the paper value of the art - And you buy a SS dagger, you don't consider the scrap value of the metal.
As such, value will always undergo fluctuations, largely determined by supply and demand.
The common stuff has indeed taken a hit, while rare & minty are still going strong.
Its a good time to both buy and sell, if realistic pricing is employed.

Doug, most of the stuff out there is common and it just isn`t selling for the very fact that realistic pricing is not being employed by either the traders or private sellers.

I`ve been collecting for 10 years but if the prices then were what they are now I wouldn`t have been able to see any incentive to even start. Without new collectors to buy up collections as people pass on or retire there just isn`t a future. I really do not equate 3rd reich collecting with any widely accepted art form and by it`s very nature is something of a niche market.

I am someone who truly appreciates the intrinsic value of such objects but the fact is that I look at 95% of all that is on offer and think that the items are simply not worth what is being asked for them.

Some items (especially uniforms) are by my standards complete tat and yet collectors are asking absurd money for them. Most have been monkeyed with over time like just about anything else you care to mention and you have to know what to look for. It is a mine field and even the best dealers are not averse to pulling a fast one. Just the reputation that such people have is enough to put anyone off without the absurd prices. I just do not know how these guy`s have stayed in business.

Buy a dagger from any dealer today and you would be lucky to get 60% of your money back tomorrow. That isn`t collecting it is financial suicide. Just my opinion of course but in the last 3 years I have not seen anything that encourages me to believe there is a brighter future.

Here is an example of the insanity I see constantly

18k for a smock

I can say that the majority of stuff I see offered IMO is common low quality items and yes they tend to sit. Having said that I am still willing to pay for the right piece and they don’t come along often. Like Landser I am slowing down and getting very selective. It is sad seeing some of the shysters in the hobby but believe me everyone knows who they are it really is a small group of dedicated collectors. I love the history and the hunt.

All collectibles are niche markets, some of course larger than others.
"Is the hobby dying" threads have been going on for years, I don't think it will die any more than civil war collecting died when those vets passed.
The general economic, world wide downturn is the operative factor here. When and if things turn around, and as people get more expendable income, is when we'll see a rebound. If things get bleaker, as by all appearances they will, then prices will go down further.

You keep saying this and that isn't worth it, way too much, outrageous pricing ect ... That is of course fine. If everyone else thinks the same, either the piece will remain unsold, or the seller will be forced to lower the price. If a single person thinks the high price is worth it, then it will be sold. I don't think its anything to fret about, and average collectors have a real hard time seeing accurate trends.
I by the way have never bought a single thing from any dealer, I tend to agree that they are generally over priced is the reason why. No dig against dealers, we have at least 1 well respected dealer that posts often here, lakeside. His sales speak for themselves, and is perfectly entitled to make as much as he possibly can for his investments.
With that exception, most other dealer sites I browse are only good for comic value ,, And for that matter, I'd rather hunt relics of get them in collectors sales forums than have it drop in my lap like I'm buying a toaster or something.

As far as the 18k smock, you can only read so much into something like that.
Since auction type sales ads aren't allowed, guys figure they'll rattle out a ridiculously high figure [though I'm not up on SS smock pricing], hoping against hope that someone might nibble,,, And then guys will shoot them offers, maybe one he'll accept.
Have you ever put something up for sale, and you get 4 pm's in 3 minutes saying "I'll take it !", and you think damn, maybe I should have asked a bit more ? I have. Somebody got a good deal, fine ,,, But no one wants to lose out too much.
This is a simple hedge against that scenario, no doubt guys do it all the time for the higher ticket items especially.
If we see 12 reductions in the next 2 weeks, you are vindicated, and it was ludicrously high to start with.
If we see "no longer available, remove", then he got an offer he accepted.
If he gets 18K, then we must accept that these things are worth a helluva lot of $$.