Gibson a prices

[Jonathan Peck]

Has anbody else noticed that the prices of teens and twenties Gibsons have been down below the 2k mark lately with the exception of snakes and the A2Z?

[Chris Biorkman]

Maybe it's a sign of the times. The economy is tanking so I would expect prices to soften up a bit.

[Dave Reiner]

As stocks and bonds and houses go down, and as the euro and yen go up against the dollar, I'd expect people to invest in something of real value -- mandolins! http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif # So mandolin prices should go up. #http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

Dave

[Bill Snyder]

Maybe it's a sign of the times. The economy is tanking so I would expect prices to soften up a bit.
Really? The last numbers I saw on the economy (this morning) showed it to still be growing, albiet slowly.

[f5loar]

With gas and milk both at $4 a gallon the economy has to be booming. When one compares prices on vintage instruments one must compare like examples not just model numbers. A minty all orignal will always bring much more then restored with repo parts of same model. And if it goes cheap on ebay does not mean it will be cheap much longer. Many dealers buy off ebay, fix them up and sell them for 20 to 80% profit in less than a months time.

[MikeEdgerton]

I'd just like to jump in before this goes the wrong way. Feel free to discuss the prices of mandolins and even what they will do in an up or down economy but let's refrain from discussing the economy as such as that becomes too much of a hot button issue. Thanks.

[JEStanek]

We also have only 34 days until April 15th... Each year around this time mandolin prices seem to come up...
http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/coffee.gif

Jamie

[Chris Biorkman]

Just stating the obvious from the perspective of someone involved in the construction industry in California. Not trying to start an argument or trying to make a political statement in any way. Just an observation.

[acousticphd]

They've been going nothing but up for as long as I've been interested in them and shop for them (5-6 yrs). I think they're now signficantly overpriced. Yes, that's in part because I'd like another one (I have two).

[mrmando]

We also have only 34 days until April 15th...
Er, Jamie, that's 44 days. You scared me.

Doing your own taxes?

[atetone]

Yes, this is the best time of year to find a good deal on a mando allright but it always seems to be the time that I don't have the funds also.
There is always next year http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif

[jjboone101]

You can always find deals here on the Cafe this time of year with mentions in the ad copy about the "tax man cometh"...

[AlanN]

Hey, with the ($600/single filer-$1200/joint filer) Bush gift coming, why not buy an A? It won't lose value - unlike AlcatelLucent http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif

[MikeEdgerton]

Er, Jamie, that's 44 days. You scared me.

Doing your own taxes?

Jamie has people.

[Jonathan Peck]

And if it goes cheap on ebay does not mean it will be cheap much longer. Many dealers buy off ebay, fix them up and sell them for 20 to 80% profit in less than a months time.
Sorry, I should clarify. I haven't been watching ebay. I've been trying to hunt down a certain instrument and in the process I've been to every on-line dealer that I've heard of, any many that I haven't known of before. In that process, I keep come upon A's in good player condition priced from 1,200-1,800. Last time I bought (and sold) a good player it was 2,800-. Seemed like a big enough difference to take note that there are some good A's out there for the taking.

[JEStanek]

D'oh. Sorry for the math mistake, guys. I'm a microbiologists. Two numbers within 1/2 an order of magnitude of each other are the same http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif . My wife does the taxes, she has a degree in small business management. Mike, I may have to change the green square to prison blaze orange if people use me for their taxes!

Jamie

[Michael Gowell]

The only constant is change, they say. #I thought the average (decent) A price was less. #In 1987 I bought a mint 1919 A-2 from Fretted Instruments in Amherst Mass. #When I took it back to trade a half-dozen years later the shop owner insisted on crediting me $900 and couldn't believe he'd sold it before for $600. #A really honorable guy, but it's an indication of how prices change quickly.

[JeffD]

Word of the incredible prices for Loars has percolated into the general public. People think any old mandolin is worth $100,000 or more. Quite a few times recently I have been asked to look at someone's mandolin (always found in an attic, or owned by great grandma, never, as could be surmized by the condition of most of them, purchased in a rummage sale). The folks are always visably disappointed the thing isn't worth a fortune. My reminder that it has sentimental value as great grandmas mandolin provides no consolation.

The prices go up and down, but a good instrument seems to go up in value over the long haul. Never seems to go up as much as even a mediocre mutual fund over the same time period though. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[atetone]

I have been watching and buying the old As for quite a while now and what I see is that the lower model examples (A, A1) are available for very good prices and haven't varied very much in price in the last 3 years. When you step back and look at getting a teens A in decent shape for in the $1000 to $1200 range, that is cheap. Sure you might have to put a couple of hundred into some repairs and setup but look what you have when you are done.
I think they are a screaming deal at that price level.
Once you get up into the A4s well then things get quite a bit more pricey. Maybe they are not so much of a screaming deal once you start paying $2000 or more but I don't think that they will lose any value over time so it is all relative.
Now the snakeheads have changed a lot over the past few years! Large price increases.
If you want one you have to pay the money and if you want one bad enough you will hand #over the cash.
I have no crystal ball to tell me which way the prices are going to go on them but somehow I don't think they will be taking a big dive down.

[JeffD]

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Mine is priceless, because I ain't a gonna sell it. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[atetone]

JeffD, if you are talking about the one in your avatar, I believe you!