pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
Van, I'm thinking the seller is remembering the time in this country, that bought pet rocks, so I guess Americans will buy anything, and he figures he can do the same thing with the kustom organ. The silver one on the east coast with cover didn't sell at 600.00 I wish them the best of luck, but at 3K it's way out of my budget.
pleat
rodak Messages: 511 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia
Senior Member
It's a little steep. He is in So Cal, so the local market is good (shipping is so often the killer for Kombos on eBay), but I'll be surprised if he gets that price. I've been watching combo organs on eBay for over 10 years, and the highest price I've ever seen a Kombo go for was a red one for $2,675 - most go for much less.
Actually, now that I look at my database, I see that this particular organ (since both sellers were kind enough to include the serial numbers) sold on eBay a year and a half ago for $2,500 from a seller in South Carolina, so maybe he's not out of line with that asking price.
pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
Rodak, do you remember the charcoal Kombo 1 on ebay a couple of years ago in Detroit? It started out at 3K, several weeks later the seller reduced the price to 2200.00 and it never sold. That organ was about 140 miles from me. Really great condition with cover, and the economy was not as bad as it is now. If that cascade organ sold for 2500.00 I guess at 3K he would be covering his shipping cost, and I can understand him wanting to at least break even. Maybe he thought the west coast would have more potential buyers than in SC. Sitting here in Michigan, I see a lot of great kustoms for sale in Washington state, and I think too bad it's not closer and I forget that there are musicians out there also. We need to find some collectors in that area that would like to make the trip to Chanute and bring some of those amps.
pleat
rodak Messages: 511 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia
Senior Member
yep, I have that one in my database. It was in December of '08. First time up, he listed it at $1,900. It ended with no bids. So what do you do when that happens? Right, you RAISE the price and list it again! It went unsold at $2,000 2nd time around, so he RAISED the price again to $2,500 and it again ended with no bids (why am I not surprised!)
According to my database, the median price for a Kombo, on or off eBay, is about $550(which, curiously enough, is exactly what I paid for mine!) That's based on about 35 specimens in the last 10 years.
Wonderful, beautiful instruments, but for most of the vintage collectors market, they just don't seem to have enough attraction to warrant very high prices.
rodak Messages: 511 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia
Senior Member
Sorry, I had the dates on those auctions mixed up, and it wasn't quite as goofy as I'd portrayed it. The start prices, in order, were $2,000, $2,500, and $1,900.
pleat Messages: 1452 Registered: June 2004 Location: Belding, Mi
Senior Member
Rodak, as far as I know the seller must still have it. I agree they are a wonderful instrument, but there are not that many keyboard players vs. guitar and bass players, so the demand wouldn't be as great and especially at a 2K price. Moving a 225 pound keyboard is another issue with keyboard players who are in their 50's or 60's. I've owned both model one and model two organs, and they look great on stage, getting them to the stage is difficult and not really being a keyboard player, I ended up selling both of them. Took the money and bought kustom amps I can move and use on stage. I agree that a 500.00 price is average. Of course there are keyboard players like yourself who love them, but I'm sure most don't move them very often.
pleat.
rodak Messages: 511 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia
Senior Member
Right on both counts. I don't really consider myself a keyboard player - bass is my instrument - but I can pound out a few of the old 60s hits (except for the Doors - Ray is way to accomplished for me to mimic).
And yes, I don't play it (or any of my organs) very often, but I do love just having it there, just for looks, and knowing it's fully repaired and restored and well-cared for.
rodak Messages: 511 Registered: October 2001 Location: Georgia
Senior Member
I asked the seller if he'd be willing to sell me scans or photocopies of the paperwork, and he replied that he was selling it for someone else, and that person was not interested in doing either. He did, however, say he would pass my info on to the buyer (if there ever is one!)