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Thread: Flood of Bessons

  1. #1

  2. #2

    Flood of Bessons

    Kind of amazing they all showed up at once, but the seller seems real based on the tiny bit of knowledge I have about eBay. Am I missing something?

    I will say that these are not in the ultra-bargain category. It looks like the starting price on most of them is almost where you would want to end up for a final price, but maybe that will be the case. I wouldn't feel bad about spending that much for any of them, assuming they are in the condition described, but on eBay sometimes the bidding gets out of hand.

    If it were me I might consider waiting until close to the ending time to bid so the momentum doesn't build too much. Or if you are really in need of a horn right now the Buy Now price is only a little higher than the starting price, and especially on the lacquer horns might be a good price.

    Any other perspectives?
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  3. Flood of Bessons

    The seller(quinntheeskimo) is in the Seattle area and has had these kinds of instruments on sale frequently over the last years. His prices always start at "what the market will bear" and his horns are usually not the absolute best examples, though they seem to be fairly represented. This seller often also lists Willson, Yamaha, and even an occasional Hirsbrunner.

    Doug
    Adams E3 0.60 Sterling bell - Prototype top sprung valves
    Concord Band
    Winchendon Winds
    Townsend Military Band

  4. #4

    Flood of Bessons

    Originally posted by: dwerden

    Kind of amazing they all showed up at once, but the seller seems real based on the tiny bit of knowledge I have about eBay. Am I missing something?
    First the satin silver Besson, then all these shiny, silver ones; next, it'll be a 2051 or a Stirling Virtuoso, then a Hirsbrunner Stealth ... It's a conspiracy to get me to go broke by saving money buying used euphs, I tell ya!

    I will say that these are not in the ultra-bargain category. It looks like the starting price on most of them is almost where you would want to end up for a final price, but maybe that will be the case.
    Originally posted by: daruby
    The seller(quinntheeskimo) is in the Seattle area and has had these kinds of instruments on sale frequently over the last years. His prices always start at "what the market will bear"
    I've seen this seller's name alot in the past month or so that I've been watching ebay. Never been tempted to bid on his auctions because his starting prices have always seemed high to me. Good to know others who are much more knowlegable on such matter share that perception.

    I haven't specifically tracked his listings, but my impression is that less than half of his euph and t-bone listings pull in a bid. I do know that the 967 has been listed at least twice previously with the same starting bid and Buy It Now price and didn't get any bids either time.

    OTOH, when he does get someone to bite on an item, it usually goes for more than his "Buy It Now" price. Case in point: just today, the silver Willson 2900 he listed with a starting bid of $3200 and a Buy it Now price of $3400 that ended up going for $3650.

  5. #5

    Flood of Bessons

    Looks like all the ebay items listed in mcLaugh's original post were pulled from eBay. That makes me think that they could have been scam listings that got reported. Note that there are several scammers out there who copy previously posted legitimate euph listings and add a message to contact them directly via email, and post the horn with a ridiculously low starting bid. I have seen the same scammers pop up under different names, and every time I see one I send a takedown report to eBay. Typically the bogus listings disappear within 30 minutes.

    As far as the eBay seller "quinntheeskimo", mentioned by Doug Ruby. he is a legitimate, reputable dealer. Quinn is an eBay "Power Seller" with a 99.5% feedback score over an eleven-year period with almost 7,000 transactions. He usually lists with about a 10% markup between his starting bid and Buy It Now. He is not running a discount auction house. He is a quality vintage horn dealer, and seems to be running a good business.

    I recently bought a 1979 B&H Imperial (Globe stamp), 4-valve compensating euph in silver from Quinn. Price was $1,800 plus shipping. The euph was in better condition than I expected, with silver plate at almost 95%. Good intonation and valve compression. There were a few pin dings, but really not many dents of any significance for my repair tech to roll out.

    You can decide for yourself whether $1,800 was too much for this horn, but I could not be more pleased. I now need to find a home for my Miraphone 1258.
    Bruce H Ward
    Houston TX

    Besson BE2056-2 4-Valve Compensating Baritone
    1946 Conn 30-I Wonderphone 5-Valve Double-bell

  6. #6

    Flood of Bessons

    Originally posted by: dukachop

    Looks like all the ebay items listed in mcLaugh's original post were pulled from eBay.
    Note that the original post is dated 11/03/2007. It would be highly unusual for an auction to run for more than a year, so, in this instance, I'm inclined to think that the listing in the original post no longer appear because they're stale dated, rather than that they were pulled as potentially fraudulent .

    The warning about scammers is always timeless, though.

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