This post made me think of a different angle, and I'm not suggesting that this is what Mr Sachs did.
If one needed a good valuation of an item for insurance purposes, what better way than to obtain that valuation than ebay? What would stop someone from putting their cherished pre-1984 bicycle (still on topic) up for sale on ebay with an undisclosed reserve of say $55,000? Let the bidders come and bid, never hit the reserve and set the valuation?
Maybe an interesting way to convince an insurance underwriter the value of something he thinks is worth maybe $500?
Just a thought....
Warren Hall Houston, TX with a Pinarello and Woodrup that I can easily value.
-----Original Message----- From: classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org [mailto:classicrendezvous-bounces@bikelist.org] On Behalf Of Martin Walsh Sent: Wednesday, April 12, 2006 11:07 PM To: CR List Subject: [CR]Masi on ebay
Dear CR listees, I've been following e-Richie's (Richard Sachs) auction of his 1971 Masi on ebay. It has been a really amazing auction in my opinion........ It just ended and DID NOT MAKE RESERVE at $6,191.99. It seems to me that this could be a new market high, at least for 2006 for an early 1970's vintage Masi Prestige.....or for that matter any of the European lightweight vintage road racing bicycles. It is from an era that many of us collect, and from a time when many (the median age of the CR list) started riding or racing on lightweight bicycles. I would put the "Rene Herse" and "Singer" bicycle auctions in a different class by themselves of randonneur or constructeur bicycles.
The ebay auction number for the 1971 Masi was ITEM # : 6619151970 This would have to be one of the top dollar bids for a 1970's vintage Italian racer, that we've seen in a while.
The only other comparable bicycle that I could find was a "Mario Confente" ebay auction back in 2002, ebay ITEM # : 1153541926 that DID NOT MAKE RESERVE AT $8300.00 (according to the CR website "Market Highs for 2002" section).
Are we seeing escalating vintage bicycle prices or is this just a BLIP in the marketplace, we call ebay? Yours truly, Marty Walsh in Vienna,Va. with my first e-bay auction "going on"......