On eBay: Pearl Harbor Scope

[Edward Nicielnik]

Pearl Harbor Scope not mine

PEARL HARBOR 2001 SCOPE SUPER 8 COLOUR SOUND 400FT 8MM CINE FILM DERANN | eBay

[Barry Attwood]

Wow! As I write this there is 12 hours to go and it's up to £300 already, I wonder what it will actually go for!

[Graham Sinden]

Makes me wish I bought more than one copy when Derann were selling them new for £49.99 .

[Paul Adsett]

Makes me wish I had never sold my copy for $65.00 about 10 years ago. Come to think of it, just about every film print I have sold I have regretted doing so just a few years later. Moral, hang on to your collection!

[Barry Attwood]

It sold for £300, I bet it's winging its way out of the country now!

[Mark Todd]

Not great for the hobby though of course. Sadly.

If it led to more new films bought etc be OK, but unlikely to.

Ebay just over inflates things really.

Its just firming up very few newbies ever coming or staying in.

I know a collector who quite recenetly bought a film off another collector, who just wanted to be sure the buyer would not sell it on, on ebay at a much higher price, the seller knew it would get on there.

He was happy to then sell at a more fair, fairly old school price to a collector.

Very nice.

Nice film too.

Best Mark.

[Osi Osgood]

I totally agree, Mark. Other potential sellers see prices like that and think that they're print will sell for the same and will way over priced they're prints, then they're flabbergasted when it never sells. It makes me awful darned happy that I bought nearly all of my collection 15 or so years ago when you could still buy a Derann feature for 100.00 or so dollars. Of course, this wouldn't happen if people weren't foolish enough to bid it that high.

[Lincoln Thorn]

I totally agree, Mark. Other potential sellers see prices like that and think that they're print will sell for the same and will way over priced they're prints, then they're flabbergasted when it never sells. It makes me awful darned happy that I bought nearly all of my collection 15 or so years ago when you could still buy a Derann feature for 100.00 or so dollars. Of course, this wouldn't happen if people weren't foolish enough to bid it that high.

I agree Osi, which is why I think it's important to make real connections within the community! I own seven films right now in the 2+ years I've been collecting S8/16mm so far, but all of them have been purchased directly through people within the community after becoming friends and gaining trust!

Part of collecting for me has been the wonderful friends I've made with younger and older collectors alike and sharing our experiences and love for film. When that happens, it's often led to my collection growing naturally and at a reasonable price. You've just gotta have patience and want to make an effort to be apart of the community.

At least, that's my view on small format collecting.

[Rob Young]

Well, in defense of the sellers in this case, I've bought a few reasonably priced "buy it now" items from them over the last couple of years and they have always offered a very professional service with accurate descriptions.

And they have eBay and paypal fees to absorb.

I guess they can't be blamed if the bidding goes a bit crazy. To be honest, good luck to them as I only hope the winning bidder pays up. I've seen all manner of excuses from winning bidders as to why they can't pay.

I don't know who they are but I've been delighted with the films I bought from them.

[Lee McCaffrey]

FWIW I got a print of this earlier in the year from Classic for a good price. I am v. happy with it and have no intention of selling it on, if I ever thinned out my collection I would probably start here though before trying elsewhere. I've picked up some good stuff on this forum (the old version) from I. O'Reilly, K. Clark and of course D. Baker, likewise I've been lucky on eBay with a few features and I've also got some great stuff from Phil at Classic, you've got to be quick though when the list goes up.
If collectors want to sell their precious films to friends/fellow collectors that's fantastic, more of that kind of thing please but at the same time if they want to put it on ebay and potentially get way over the odds then who can blame them? Buyers will pay what they think is an acceptable price (to them), plus unfortunately a great many on ebay have no idea of the greater hobby at large, they probably have no idea that small gauge forums like this exist or that new prints are available from the German lab (for not far off what certain second hand prints go for on eBay). Plus there's a certain peace of mind from finally getting hold of something and having to scour the earth no longer (at least for that print lol). But yeah you'd probably feel a little sick if you stumbled upon some recent sales lists which had the same offering for a drastically lower price, so in that instance ignorance is probably bliss

[Mark Todd]

Don`t get me wrong I too know the seller too, a really nice chap.

Its just a shame re the Hobby, with super price`s damaging its longer term future.

I`ve also had some very nice BINs as well.

Best Mark.

[Burton Sundquist]

I agree with Lee and Rob. A desired print might be worth much more to the buyer than the seller could imagine. eBay offers this opportunity. The buyer keeps bidding until he/she reaches
their limit and the seller wins. I do recall the days of Ian O'Reilly's daily offerings. Prices were
very reasonable. You just had to be on the quick to send a PM! As for this auction, it appears one bidder pressed the other's limit. I don't think this will be detrimental to film collecting or pricing.
Once and a while you see a print go for an unimaginable amount. That is up to the buyer. We are soon going to buy $ 30 minute digests
of our cherished favorites .Would or should I
Question that?

[Brian Fretwell]

As with all auctions it depends on whether more than one person really wants it and how much they are prepared to pay.

I think I have been watching too many daytime TV programs featuring auctions during this "Lockdown"!!

[Lee Mannering]

As a film fair trader, supporter and event organizer where the REEL work is done making it happen I could write a book of ebay sellers who negotiate discounts in front of you and by the time you pack your kit up and make for home the films are already on ebay. As a personal view I find it sad and does not encourage people to stay in the hobby which is probably one of the reasons we are seeing more collectors packing it all in.
At my last film fair most of my traders were selling good 400ft colour sound films around the £18 mark and I purchased my Phantom Menace Scope 400 Derann for £31 mint.

The good news is that new 21st Century films are now made available to us at much less than 300 for a 400ft film, on top quality film stock and printed to a level of quality I have not seen in my 50 years as a film collector.

I'll be interested when my Film Fair kick starts the UK conventions off in September as I know some very interesting things will be on those tables.

[Lee McCaffrey]

Things like that will always leave a bad taste in the mouth Lee. I think stuff like that happens in all walks of life, there are people who pretty much make a living buying stuff from recycling centres/charity shops and flipping it online. When I was heavily into collecting vinyl in my 20's there were record fairs pretty regularly in Exeter, Plymouth and occasionally in Torquay and it was always a giddy thrill to find that record you'd been after for ages and then get it for a really good price, sometimes haggle it down! Some of the stuff was rare as hen's teeth. I don't doubt that there were buyers looking to buy rarities from unwitting dealers with a view to selling them on for a profit, although we were all looking for that pressing of Dark Side of the Moon with the Solid Blue Label 😉
I do like the idea of attending some Film Fairs in the future, it's just a case of being free (I'm not that carefree 20something anymore) and the distances involved. Hopefully the stars will align in the not too distant future!