The AM Forum

ALCON,

      I need some help establishing values for old New In Box receivers (NIB).

     I have come into possession of the following equipment listed below.  All are believed to be new in box, never used.  They came from an estate of a ham who would apparently purchase equipment, stored it, and never used it.  I was shocked when I saw it all.  

1)   Hallicrafters SX-62A.  In original box, with original packing material and with the original “oil-paper” wrapping all intact. The box has been opened, and the oil paper is slightly torn on one corner, but by all appearances, the radio has never been used or even taken out of the box

2)   Gonset 3156B Aircraft Band Receiver.  Again, new in box.  The box has been opened, but the radio shows no signs of ever being used.  The cords are still wrapped with the original materials

3)   Hallicrafters  CRX-2 VHF Hi-band (136- 174 MHz) receiver. Box is taped shut.  Never opened.

4)   Lafayette HE-80.  Radio has been removed from box, but cord is still in original wrapping.   Never used.  I believe that this was built by Trio-Kenwood.

     Any help in establishing a value for these radio sets would be appreciated
73,
Gene K1NR

Hi Gene:

I'm not trying to give you a hard time, only offering an opinion in a manner that we in NJ consider tactful.

Your question is almost as old as "What's the meaning of life?" The seller sets the expectation, but it's the buyer who establishes the value. That pretty much goes for anything, doesn't it? The market is a fickle thing. Assuming that there's someone out there who is willing to pay a premium for decades-old equipment whose level of preservation (or deterioration) is unknown you can only know the "value" to a particular person at a particular point in time, and then only after money exchanges hands. Then as soon as the sale is done, the value resets to an open question until the next buyer comes along. Even if you knew recent sale prices of identical equipment in the same NIB condition that would only help you set your expectation, but it would not establish "value" as I've defined it. Answers to "What's it worth?" are meaningless coming from anyone other than a potential buyer.

What do you think it's worth? Choose your selling venue(s), throw some figures out there (or set a reserve), and see what happens. Good luck. I'm confident there are collectors out there who would be very interested in your time capsule goodies.

73,
Jim

Gene...
I think you will find that our own Mr Smith, WA1HLR, is something of an SX-62 aficionado.  Perhaps you two could come to some sort of understanding on that matter.
73 de Norm W1ITT

I appreciate the pointer.  Thank you

73
Gene K1NR

Condition??
Inside and out physically?
Working 100%?

You said, essentially NIB, which will raise the price to the top of the pile...

You can always check epay and selling sites like QRZ.com for sales results...

               _-_-

Bear,

     Not "essentially" new in box.  It REALLY IS s new in box.  Yes, as hard as it is to imagine.   It has never been used or as far as we can tell, even out of the original box.  It still as the original Hallicrafters wrapping paper on it - never removed....    The new owner will be the first to see it since it was packed in the 60's

   We are not going to remove or unpack it....

   We did do the usual due-diligence for values  with only a few comps, and nothing really close. 

    Ultimately, the market will decide.  It will probably go to eBAY next week.   Please feel free to bid

73,

Gene K1NR 

I've been involved in a similar situation, liquidating the estate of K2EE. We discovered a NIB Hallicrafters HT-44 and a nearly NIB (no original box) SX-101. Since all the proceeds will go to K2EE's wife, I wanted to be sure we got her, and the buyer, a fair price. Isn't asking what it's worth the best approach?

Ideally yes, but what will you be able to make of the answers? Ask five people what something is worth and you'll get seven answers. The only meaningful answer you might get is from someone among the five who is a prospective buyer. A serious collector will likely value such things much higher than someone who would like to have a "factory new" piece of gear to use. Will the value of the unopened box decrease as soon as you violate the factory seal? I would think so. Why? The unopened box demonstrates to the buyer that you have a genuine time capsule, but as soon as you open it the value to the next buyer goes down because you can't make the same demonstration. I'm a user, not a collector. I would not pay a premium for the equipment, because before I fire it up I'd need to do a thorough check, possibly replace dried out capacitors and out-of tolerance resistors, and the like. After that, then what? It's been reduced in value from a NIB example to a mint example. Kind of like driving that shiny new Honda off the showroom floor. I would be just as happy with a well-used, bone-stock example. The serious collector who would love to have a true piece of unmolested history might pay dearly for the chance to own a shelf queen, and isn't concerned with resale value.

What's it worth? It's an academic question that only gets answered after you count how much money is in your hand after the sale. Gene did the right thing by his due-diligence effort that unfortunately bore no fruit. He gets it: "Ultimately the market will decide," which was my original point that probably got lost in too many words the first time around. Set your expectation, and don't be afraid to aim high. You can always come down in price if you need to; going the other way can be a bit more difficult ;D.

Interesting discussion all around. 

Thanks for all of the comments

73

Gene K1NR