Classroom record player pricing

[radiotvnut]

Back in the '90's, I could get classroom record players (the Califone, Audiotronics, and Newcomb variety) for a few dollars. Most of them needed work; but, parts were cheap back then.

Today, not nearly as many of these turn up on the local scene and when they do turn up, people always want too much money for them. Looking on ebay, most of them are what I consider overpriced and most of them just sit there, getting relisted week after week.

Today, I was at a local flea market and spotted a Califone 1430K. This was one of the newer ones from the mid-to-late '80's (grey case, off white motorboard, black metal tonearm, black plastic platter, and blue writing). My first thought was, "since it's at the flea market, it will be cheap." Well, WRONG! They wanted $45 for it and it had obvious issues. The metal hinges, case screws, and corner protectors had light-to-moderate surface rust on them. The tonearm rest was loose and the tonearm would not stay attached to it's rest (probably why the stylus tip on the 89T cartridge was busted off). Lastly, the paper instructions that are glued inside the lid were dirty, moisture damaged, and looked like a critter had been chewing on them. I didn't attempt to power it up to check it's operating condition.

I asked the flea market people to call the owner to see if they'd take less; but, they were only willing to knock $5 off the price. IMHO, $10-$15 would have been a generous price for something in that condition and I figure whoever owned it probably used ebay as a price reference.

I don't know why these things have suddenly become "valuable"; but, people need to get off of the "it's old and this is what they go for on ebay" way of thinking and come back down to Earth. If I wanted to pay an ebay price for one, I could shop from home and the reason I hit the flea markets is because I'm looking for a fair price.

The sad fact is that some poor unsuspecting soul will buy this record player and then discover that it does not work when they get it home. Then, they'll either be out their money or end up having to pay someone such as me to fix it.