eBay sale that brought $$

[Mark_W]

This auction is now closed, so I can comment on it. Does anyone know why it brought so much?? Not that it's a bad-looking instrument, but I don't think it's very old, and I don't think Geissenhof or any other Austrian of the period had a lot to do with it. For example, it doesn't resemble Thir or similar. Clues? Anyone?

http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?V...indexURL=0&rd=1

[Michael Darnton]

Maybe the seller's money-back guarantee had something to do with it. Since it's not going to cost the buyer anything except shipping, he can afford to have it checked out--sort of an approval with a hefty deposit, if you will.

[Tyler]

No doubt about it, more people are joining the eBay feeding frenzy. Prices paid on many items are approaching retail or more. People like PKNORR have deep pockets and will sweep up the valuable pieces before you can say "E-String." The days of finding deals are just about over folks. Hope you had fun!

Tyler

[ShadowHawk]

I have no idea if it's original but looking at that chinrest and the case, the thing could have dated from the 1800's as advertised. Has anyone seen a chinrest like this? Those rosewood pegs are replacements but I'm not so sure about the tailpiece. It looks quite old. Perhaps someone knew what they were getting here.

[Michael Darnton]

The case is 1880s or so, at the earliest, the chinrest looks to be about 1920, and you can still buy the tailpiece. The setup and box isn't different from what people bringing in 1900 German Strads often come in with, but this violin is better than that. If this had been a Geissenhof, it wasn't much of a feeding frenzy, given what it should have gone for.

I've been watching the high bid items for a while, and often half or more of them aren't what they're described or implied to be, so it's unclear to me who's the feeder and who's the feedee in the circumstances you're mentioning. :-)

[Marsden]

I was in Vienne for a week about a year ago, and I must have seen at least five Giessenhof violins in the museums there, and I can tell you .....??? I can't remember what they looked like! I couldn't tell if this looked like one of those Giessenhofs to save my soul.

I do agree with Micheal though (amazes me too) that the chin rest, tailpiece, and case do not look the age that the violin is supposed to be (if you turn that chinrest over, I am sure you will see a little circle with the word Becker pressed in it.) However,as I am sure Micheal would agree, all of that is purely circumstantial to the issue of if this is a Giessenhof.

Micheal, what brings you to e-bay? If you hate it so, what draws you back? Could you beeeeeee...Buyyyying something????? Best wishes,

Marsden

[Michael Darnton]

Yes, I've bought one camera and three lenses on ebay. They're the cheapest of the cheap--stuff that was almost guaranteed to be non-functional on arrival, and I went into it with no expectations--you can read all about it under my user name, undoubtedly. I have never bid on a violin.

I like to keep up with whatever people are interested in, and ebay is a hot topic here, so I follow it. I have my browser set to give me "violin" in descending order of price, as I've explained here bofore, to turn the turkeys up to the top. Usually I never get past looking at the first two pages, which means, today, that I'm not going to look at 2204 items with the word "violin" in them, because, contrary to popular opinion, I do have a life :-)

[Randy Gardner]

Perhaps the person who purchased this violin visited the seller and looked at the violin and played it. That could explain why someone who knew the quality of instruments and their real value(based on the combination of their sound and workmanship) would be willing to invest that sort of money.

[Ray Weaver]

I would hope that Randy is correct. I purchased an American violin (Andrew Hyde, 1887) that drove three hours to see and play on (the seller drovw 2 hours in my direction). I wouldn't have been willing to go near as high as I did without playing and seeing it up close first. I don't spend as much time on eBay now as I did a few months ago so I use Michael's method and just turn up the more expensive items which are not often very enticing. I do think, Michael, that the best deals would pass under your radar though. There have been a goodly number of violins , usually American or German but an occasional French, which have a low initial reserve (or none) and which attract only a few bids prior to the last hour or so of sale thus keeping the violin way down in the listings ($100.00-$200.00 range). I will put a watch on the ones that seem solid, hand-made, with a good outline and in good condition. Frequently these instruments will shoot up in the final minutes to $800-1500 dollars. A friend of mine bought a Knute Reindahl on my recommendation in the hopes of turning it around to make a profit - she plays a composite Gagliano - but she enjoyed the fiddle so much she is keeping it to play on in certain venues! Both the Reindahl and the Hyde were lovely very individualistic instruments but would never show up in the first few pages of listings unless one caught them just as the auctions were ending.

[Michael Darnton]

Maybe I will try looking deeper in the future.

[DPalm]

I do much the same as Michael, then I may scroll the next couple pages, not even reading, only looking at those with higher volume of bids.