OK, so how much is a Parker "51" worth?

Basically I take the view that it is worth whatever another party is prepared to pay you for it. In Dollar terms I reckon that an average "51" for repair is about $50-$60 and a good one is around the $100 area. Extra for special caps, interesting nib or something that makes it special. Dealers get a bit more because they will provide some form of warranty or return policy.

eBay Auction for a MkII "51"

So looking at this example above, the £100 starting price is based on a valuation of £245 for the pen from Penfriend. So if this is the going rate, then I had better up my insurance a bit I think

But what do you think? Would you agree or disagree with that valuation for insurance?

Jim

Jim,

An interesting question that you raise. I think the values depend upon a lot of factors. I agree with you that basically it will sell for what someone is willing to pay. If you buy from a reputable merchant, then you will pay more, because they've put time and effort into making sure its right and they will usually stand behind their product. If you buy on ebay, it will generally be cheaper because you are taking more risk, but even here there are differences.

If you buy from a reputable ebay pen merchant with a couple hundred or more positive ratings from other buyers, then you will usually pay more than if you buy from some guy who usually sells "attic treasures" who is selling it "as is" from a poor photo and poor description. I'm amazed by the inconsistency of prices on ebay, although it is uncommon to get a real bargain, I think. Sometimes, I think someone will go on ebay on a Sunday afternoon and say: "Gee, that looks like a nice pen, and it's half the price of the Waterman in the nice retail store downtown. I think I'll buy it." And they pay twice what the average prices is for that pen on ebay. Their decision is based on very limited information.

I have gotten lucky a few times, but it's always a crapshoot on ebay. Once, I bought a plum colored "51" that was advertised as a burgundy. I think I paid about $30. Another time, I bought an almost perfect one with a gold filled cap for $28. The latter was poorly described with poor photos and from a junk merchant.

Since I've had too much time on my hand recently, I've been studying the prices on ebay for the past month fairly closely. I even did a spreadsheet with over 200 Parker "51" sales listed, with details on color, condition, etc. (I know, I'm a sick person). The variability is quite striking. In my opinion, most good but not perfect aerometric Parker "51"s sell for $30 - $50 on ebay. Blue colors sell for more and cocoa, forest green and plum sell for much more on average. Specials and Demi's sell for less, on average. If it comes with a box or is in a set, it is obviously more. Better pictures result in higher sales prices. Sales on Sunday afternoon and evening tend to get higher prices.

I think that particular sale seems overpriced, but I'm not sure what kind of gold cap that is. Also, it is listed as never used, which tends to result in higher prices in my limited experience. I notice that there are no bids at that price, however. Using my information on ebay sales for the past month or so, the typical Mark I or II gold filled cap "51" in excellent condition sells for $80-90. The box and never used condition would push it up higher, I imagine.

However, I am talking about US only merchants in my experience. I've heard UK sales are higher. I don't know if that is true.

It is an interesting subject that I've also thought about recently.

Ron

I have a feeling that for vintage pens Penfriend might be inordinately expensive. I've bought a few new pens from them myself, many moons ago now, but they have a sale on at the moment on vintage pens so I emailed them to ask for a few prices on Parker 51 Demis. They had a few for sale but the prices ranged from £345 - £495. Rather expensive I thought... this wasn't for anything fancy in terms or nibs or caps - the lower price for the Lustraloy caps and the higher for Gold Filled. I guess they must be in mint condition (I'd certainly hope so), but those prices don't seem very competitive.

The Penfriend shops are nice to visit though

Erm, am I being really thick here? Mrk II, I thought they had the rounded ends to the barrel and it was only the Mrk III that had the flattened end. The pictures definitely look like a flattened end to the barrel on that pen.

According to Richard Binder's site, both the Mark II and Mark III had the squared off look.

Ron

Thanks for the comments folks,

Ron,

Your prices do confirm my belief that the US prices are 20%ish lower than in the UK. I took a typical UK price and did £/$ conversion to arrive at my estimate.

Fafnir,

Took a good look a PenFriend, and their prices are shall we say towards the top end of the market You could certainly get a Demi for a lot less than that, I got one for my niece a while back for around £25 off eBay. Nice Teal Blue with a lustraloy cap, not perfect, but good and with a bit of flushing it works just fine.

Thinking about it, the best bargains on eBay seem to be in the summer months, I guess it is because less people are scouring their computers for bargains.

Jim

Actually, re-checking the figures they sent on the email, the cocoa demi with rolled gold cap had a price of £695 (less 10% for the sale) :ph34r:

What !

That is just way TOOOOOOOO much, I reckon the real price would be the 10% off!!

Jim

I agree. My search continues...

I think we haven't really addressed the second question Jim asks, however - how do we officially value our collection for official purposes like insurance and tax. I think this is especially a problem for pens we pick up off of e-bay and restore ourselves - since the work we have done adds value to the pens above the price we have paid.

I don't think the Ebay price is necessarily the best one to use, since there are so many variables. I am not sure the highest possible retail price is the best either, though I think a reasonable retail price is probably better than others.

Recently I donated 4 pens to a charity auction. For the value, I went with prices from places like PenHero.com and Richard Binder's site. I suspect the values listed were on the high end, but it seemed like people were valueing everything at retail (and of course everything sold for much less than the value). When I listed it as a donation on my taxes, I listed it for the what I valued them at.

John

Who on earth actually pays those prices!! They really are scary. Think I'll just stick to EBay. I've not paid over £25 for a "51" although I do keep promising myself I'll splash out a bit more at some point for a Vacumatic. I've not looked in any great detail, but my impression is that "51"s on EBay are currently going through one of their higher price phases.

No offence. In collecting is all about how powerful your wallet are.

Some fool buy and some fool sell