Pricing logic

[jlb]

A little background to the question I'll pose. I was curious about Martin flattop mandolins, thinking they'd be a good value in the flattop market. I don't know anyone who has one, anyone who wants one, and whenever they are brought up on this board, the consensus opinion seems to be that they're OK, but not by any means sought after, and often dismissed as good options.

I was thinking they'd be listed in the 300-400 dollar range based on the above, and I was quite surprised to see that basic mahogany-body examples, even with cracks and such, are advertised at relatively high prices where available (usually 800+ by my limited research, sometimes seen as low as 650), and certainly compared to the current flattop market (Mid-Mo, Parsons, Freshwater, to name a few).

I'm not blaming anyone for their pricing or anything, I'm just curious as to what the logic and reasoning is behind determining a price for a vintage mandolin that has a relatively low demand.

(Martins just used as an example here...I could totally be off about the demand for these mandos.)

[grsnovi]

Logic? You're looking for logic?

First, I would suspect part of the price is based on the name alone. Martin still exists as an entity - and a rather respected one at that (albeit in the acoustic guitar world).

Second, I suspect that part of it stems from the mindset that: "anything old must be an antique and antiques are of value to antique collectors"...

[Brookside]

If they are selling in that range, people are buying in that range. The demand must be supporting that price range.

[BigJoe]

They are not an adequate mandolin for modern music in most cases. That does not mean they are not interesting instruments and sought after by some. I have worked on many of them and sold many. While they are not what I would want, they are quite nice and the price is not bad for a piece of history tied to one of the greats in instrument history.

[Walter Newton]

If the price is "high" the demand must not be so "low", no?