Why??

[FrederickH]

Why would someone pay $88.00 for this???

http://www.ebay.com/itm/260836508305?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

[wrduffield]

It's the Schwarz Effect.

http://www.popularwoodworking.com/woodworking-blogs/chris-schwarz-blog/millers-falls-no-42-coping-saw

OTOH, you could spend a lot more on the titanium coping saw from Knew Concepts. Chris likes that one, too.

http://www.inthewoodshop.com/ToolReviews/KnewConceptsFretsaw.html

[rchampagne]

Wow, now those dusty old coping saws I have lying around in corners in my shop look like total junk compared to the Millers Fall #42.  How have I been able to get along before now??

[David Conley]

And if you got one, put it out there.  The loser is willing to pay $87 for it. 

 

[klkirkman]

Why, indeed.

Putting aside the answer that  the buyer paid that amount because otherwise it would have gone to **1 for $87, I can offer two explanations as to why a buyer would pay a figure which your question seemingly postulates is excessive:

1. Some people like to collect old tools simply for the pride of ownership and with no realistic expectation that they will ever us them, but because thay have the money and it gives them enjoyment to spend it this way. In that circumstance what one pays is driven by the market, and bears no resemblance to the economic value of the tool , say as a resource on which one may recover the investment by charging for its use.  After all, you could as easiuly ask: what "sense"  does it make to pay $1M for a used car.

2. Others ( including the writer) hold a belief that some of the older tools are simply superior to what can be bought that is made today. As a way of an example I was "raised" in vocational public education on Buck Brothers chisels that were probably early 20th Century product.  Later, when I matured enough in my skills to be able to tell that  father's Stanleys with plastic handles - and that had been used to open paint cans -  limited what I could accomplish, I took to buying a few Buck Brothers of that day, ca 1960.  As I recall they were about $25 in 1965 dollars;  1/100 of a new Mustang convertible. The steel in them was a disappointment, and this was confirmed when I would occassionally borrow a "real" Buck Brothers chisel from someone in the shop who apprenticed before the War and as a result had a set of the real McCoy; but I still could not afford to have my own. Now the time has come when I can afford an antique Buck Brothers chisel, and I buy them from time to time to build up a set. I choose to believe they give me an ability to do woodwork superior to the newest products. I expect that there are others that simply value the qualities of older tools.

Karl

[Ty G]

Reading Karl's post really made me realize something.    I see lots of things on the web go for crazy prices.  Most of the time I just shake my head; unless of course I am the seller.  

I, for the last three years, have been making period reproduction cameras (1860's).  I am slowly dipping my toes into the period furniture market.  My cheapest camera sells for over $1000.  My most expensive, over $6000.  Why on God's geen earth would someone pay that for a stinkin' wooden camera?  Why on earth would someone pay $3500 for a custom handmade chest of drawers?  And, not to mention buying a secretary desk.  

For everything sold, the majority of the population would not pay the price it sold for.  When collector-type things start heading up again in price; that is really GOOD!!!!  That means those 2% or less of the population with disposable income that I am aiming toward are feeling comfortable spending.  

I know it doesn't do much to compare an old tool to large stuff; but it is somehow all related. 

Just another viewpoint; carry on..... unless you are in the VA or DC area, then resume picking your chisels up off the floor from the earthquake.

[albreed]

I used to scoff at people who paid a lot of money for tools just as collectors, thinking they were somehow misrepresenting themselves as wood workers. I got over that and realized it's a hobby like anything else, and if they wanted to spend crazy money on tools...........why not?
The only real downside is that it puts some good tools out of the reach of us who could actually make chips with them, but I can't say I'm deprived- useful old tools are still available for pretty cheap.
Keep an eye on the yard sales- you still never know what will show up.-Al

[Johnny D]

The handle has a partial original sticker.  I know nothing about Miller's Falls collectors' wants, but a sticker makes an old Stanley more valuable.

JD

[millcrek]

I agree with wrduffield it's the Schwarz Effect. I think the buyer may be disapointed, there is a piece of the saw missing.

[FrederickH]

I will be going to my favorite tool vendor tomorrow, at the local flea market, and will be looking for any of this type of coping saw. If I remember correctly, he has stacks of coping saws!!!

[msiemsen]

It reminds me of a Ty Cobb story. When asked how he spent his salary he said, "I spent 90 percent of it on whiskey and women, the rest I wasted." Who's to say what anyone else's "whiskey and women" is?

[ttalma]

I love people like the buyer! I buy and sell on eBay, auctions, and garage sales. Last week I had three 7/8" skew rabbet planes for sale. The one in the worst shape sold for the most because the stamp on the back was put on sideways on a tuesday.

I bought a box of planes for $200, I kept the side rounds, and sold the rest for close to $500. A good day. Every tool in my shop, all of my lumber and the building itself were paid for by collectors.

Once a co-worker called me crazy for spending $600 on a bandsaw and thought it was a waste of money. That night he and his wife rode off on his $5000 (not an exageration!) custom built tandem Cannondale bike.

I never shake my head at a hobby, because others look at our hobby as a waste of time and money.

For example, I'll never understand golf.