Mosaics on eBay

[Dave James]

Has anyone perused the current Mosaic listings on eBay?  I thought I'd fallen through a time portal when I saw the prices that are being asked not only for OOP vinyl boxes, but for other sets as well.  Someone must not be paying much attention to the old adage, "Charge what the market will bear."

[felser]

Yeah, I see that one seller.  And the fish ain't bitin'.   I sold a few sets on ebay earlier in the year, and got less than half of what they are hoping for (and was not unhappy with what I got for them).

[J.A.W.]

They're offering the Mobley 63-70 set for over $200, apparently unaware of the fact that it's not OOP (yet), or hoping for ignorance on the buyer's side...

Edited July 20, 2020 by J.A.W.

[Teasing the Korean]

So the prices on these are dropping?  I've never bought a Mosaic set for a variety of reasons.  That might change if the prices are decreasing.

[T.D.]

3 hours ago, Dave James said:

Has anyone perused the current Mosaic listings on eBay?  I thought I'd fallen through a time portal when I saw the prices that are being asked not only for OOP vinyl boxes, but for other sets as well.  Someone must not be paying much attention to the old adage, "Charge what the market will bear."

I rarely check Mosaic listings on eBay. There are so many absurdly high offerings that the signal/noise ratio is too low. I don't generally have time to sort through pages upon pages of crap. I fail to understand the economics of laughably high offerings: does eBay no longer charge listing fees? I'm out of touch, but years ago when I sold there I had to pay listing fees.

Edited July 21, 2020 by T.D.

[Dave Garrett]

32 minutes ago, T.D. said:

I rarely check Mosaic listings on eBay. There are so many absurdly high offerings that the signal/noise ratio is too low. I don't generally have time to sort through pages upon pages of crap. I fail to understand the economics of laughably high offerings: does eBay no longer charge listing fees? I'm out of touch, but years ago when I sold there I had to pay listing fees.

eBay charges both insertion (listing) fees and final value fees. The final value fee is based on a percentage of the total sale price (including shipping but not including sales tax).

I've found occasional Mosaic bargains on eBay. I picked up the Illinois Jacquet box for $45 toward the end of last year. Not sure what the going rate for that one typically is but it seemed like a pretty good deal at the time. I suspect that at least part of the reason there wasn't much in the way of bidding competition is that the seller had it listed as "The Complete Illinois Jacket Sessions".  

[T.D.]

I agree there are occasional bargains on eBay, but finding them takes more effort and sleuthing than I'm willing to expend these days. I bought the Tristano/Konitz/Marsh Mosaic and came close on several bids in the not-too-distant past, but lately I've shopped and purchased from Discogs more often.

[Teasing the Korean]

So the prices on these are dropping?  I've never bought a Mosaic set for a variety of reasons. That might change if the prices are decreasing.

[Rooster_Ties]

Occasionally I’ll search for “Mosaic” specify under jazz, and sort by lowest opening bid, and it’s amazing what occasionally shows up. Usually not “buy it now” so you have to just keep an eye out for how an auction is progressing, and/or set up an automatic auction snipe, and then forget about it.

[Dave James]

 

1 hour ago, Teasing the Korean said:

So the prices on these are dropping?  I've never bought a Mosaic set for a variety of reasons. That might change if the prices are decreasing.

TTK,

Just the opposite.  I was referring to a German seller who is asking $999.00 apiece for a bunch of OOP  Mosaic vinyl box sets.  

 

Edited July 21, 2020 by Dave James

[Teasing the Korean]

8 hours ago, Dave James said:

TTK,

Just the opposite.  I was referring to a German seller who is asking $999.00 apiece for a bunch of OOP  Mosaic vinyl box sets.  

Yes, I get that, but then others were saying that things have sold for less than the original retail prices.  Setting aside delusional sellers, who always haunt various corners of eBay, I'm just curious if the prices on these sets in general have been dropping. 

[Dave James]

2 hours ago, Teasing the Korean said:

Yes, I get that, but then others were saying that things have sold for less than the original retail prices.  Setting aside delusional sellers, who always haunt various corners of eBay, I'm just curious if the prices on these sets in general have been dropping. 

My sense is (based on nothing at all analytical) is that prices bottomed out awhile back.  That's not to say OOP sets will ever get back to the prices sellers were asking in the early 2000's, but higher than the give away prices we were seeing a few years ago.

[pglbook]

I check eBay all the time and have bought a lot of Mosaics at good prices on there the past few years. Of course there are sellers on there who post crazy prices (sights4sound) but one can find bargains if one is patient, knows the value of an item, and knows what one is willing to pay.

For example, a few minutes ago I bought the Mosaic Stanley Turrentine box set for $75. It was just listed an hour or two ago. That is a title that shows up on eBay for an average of around $125. It is a set I wanted to get but, because I had prioritized getting other Mosaics before that one, I decided I did not want to pay $125 or more for it at present and told myself I'd get it when I found a good deal on it, which I just did.

It is a matter of constantly checking eBay, being patient, and sticking to your target price because, with a few exceptions, eventually you will find the Mosaic you are looking for within your price range on eBay..

Edited July 21, 2020 by pglbook

[T.D.]

I've periodically seen the Turrentine Mosaic at $75, both on eBay and discogs. Considered it at that price, but it'd be a marginal purchase and I always passed. Never seen it any cheaper, though.

The Tristano/Konitz/Marsh is another Mosaic whose price is kinda soft. I did buy that a few years ago. I guess it varies: some Mosaics have maintained high prices and others get cheap from time to time. I agree that currently prices seem to be "off the lows".

I tried for a long time to find the Andrew Hill Blue Note  at a reasonable price (in hindsight, I narrowly missed on eBay a couple of times near relative lows), but gave up and cobbled together the individual discs for less. That took a little over a year (the last CD was stubborn).

Once missed on the Beehive on eBay at an attractive price, took over 2 years to find it at that level again (on discogs).

Edited July 22, 2020 by T.D.

[sgcim]

I got the Johnny Smith Mosaic for only $32 on ebay, but of course it was minus the booklet, and one CD (which I have on vinyl).