Ebay watch purchase opinion

[mclark3617]

Ok, i just won a watch on ebay and since I am new at this im interested you opinions,,,did i do good?

Its a Hampden 16s 105 grade model 5 21 jewel. Paid 127 for it. Hope its ok to discuss price.

[chris mabbott]

The main thing is, are you happy with it? At the end of the day, that is all that matters and it also depends on your reasons for purchasing it, pleasure or profit.

Usually on other collector/knowledge sites the “norm” is not to discuss or disclose the financial details of ones purchase, I suppose so that it doesn’t become about money & some people can become intimidated by it. I’m not sure how the other members feel about that aspect but personally I choose not to discuss price, but I’m sure if it is verboten then Bob or Paul will chime in
On the other hand, a general discussion regarding the price of objects that we have NOT purchased, is usually an acceptable practice.
Just my two cents.

But I do like your watch, very nice pick up, I am very partial to Hampdens which tend to get lost in the Hamilton spotlight, but are, in my opinion, on equal footing with their more popular cousins.

I think the history of the Hampden humble beginnings and its subsequent acquisition by John C Dueber shows how he was a very shrewd businessman, ruthless, a survivor who absolutely loved himself, you can tell the extent of his narcissism by the twin identical factories he built and also by naming a line of movements after himself, RR grade of course He was the definition of the micro manager and according to accounts he was involved in every facet of the manufacturing process, down to the inscriptions on the movements. He was also one of the first that utilized the trend of publicly slagging off his competition to better his own business. He survived an anti trust court ruling made by his competitors within the case making industry by purchasing controlling shares in the Hampden watch Co, He prospered during the war and during the depression, subsequently selling the company to a person who went bankrupt 2 years later, a real fighter and true character.

I think this is what Hampden watches embody, at least for me, JCD’s gregarious nature.

[mclark3617]

Thank for your opinion,,,i got it strictly cause i liked it, it was shiny and you can see all the gears in action, with all the broken ones i have i think i needed a running one for insperation. As far as price i just put it down so i had an idea,,,ive seen alot of the same watches go from 50 to 1500 and alot of the time i an see little differance. I think theres alot of get rich quick scoundrels out there, not to mention the gold miners. Its like going to the dog pound, you just want to rescue them all but you cant.
Again, thanks for your opinion, i bout it cause i liked it and was just wondering if it was a fair price.

[Bob Tascione]

Hey Chris I thought you might jump in on this one when you saw the Hampdon name .
Good looking watch Mclark!
I’m not really up on prices now so my input wouldn’t be helpful. Seems like a reasonable price though. Also, I personally have no problem with asking about prices up here. Haven’t given it much thought before but I think I agree with Chris about talking prices when it comes to collectors forums though. The person that did the selling could also be a member of the forum. Probably not a good idea on that type of forum. My feeling for our forum though is many of us are just starting out up here and are trying to get an idea of what to spend on tools and starter clocks & watches. So it seems appropriate here to bring up the subject of price. It seems like it’s been pretty helpful in the past when we all jump up to ebay to check an item and price that a member might have a question about or may have just purchased. I guess as long as we don’t start ragging on a particular seller too much then everything’s cool. Can be a tricky subject though so I’ll leave it up to all members to decide what they feel is the best route to take.
What say you members?

Bob

[mclark3617]

Thanks Bob, also a question about pics,,,i post img links and get half my pic cut off, and i notice othere posts say attachment and let you scroll around the pic. Whats the difference?

[Bob Tascione]

Yeah I’ve been trying to figure that one out too.
I’ve noticed this happening for a while now. There may be something I can do in the admin section. Maybe resetting size limit or something. I do know that if you right click on the image and open in another browser or tab that the entire pic comes up. Strange. I’ll dig around tonight to see if I can come up with a fix somewhere. Chris is really up on photo stuff so maybe he can add to this.
Bob

[ewinrow]

Mclark, are u satisfied with it 1st? Second, it’s intension is satisfied and 3rd, what’s in it for you if profit is wanted? I love Hamilton’s and Elgin’s. Nice piece you have their. Learn-it, work-it and get the experience to repair it. Also, be prepared that whatever you have in it no ones going to want to pay for your time and effort you put into it. Best wish’s, Ed….. Anyway, work it slow and satisfy yourself, strive to make it as close to new as you can. (Working and keeping time.) After all, isn’t that the goal?

[mclark3617]

Thanks everyone, and profit has never been my motivation, maybe thats why i never have any money..lol

[Bob Tascione]

Mclark,
I just read your question again and noticed that you mentioned attachments. I think the problem is that you are using photobucket rather than actually uploading the image to the forum. If you use the upload function and go with an image size of around 760 by whatever then your image should fit nicely. If the image that you upload is a little too large then the scroll bar will appear. Doesn’t look like the scroll function is available for images hosted on a different server.
Bob

[mclark3617]

I havent seen the upload function,,,ill have to look for that?

I see now,,,my Ipad wont let me upload i pick that way, it wont let your program access to my ipad to get the pic. I have to do it on a laptop

[Author]

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