Rare vs. Expensive

[LandZack2013]

Fellow Forum members,


I have wondered for a while... what is the difference between a rare item and one that is just expensive?

Example : Ground Rohm SS Dagger

Cost on dealer site: $2895 USD

To me, this is expensive. But, if you went to a big show, say MAX or SOS, you would find pleanty of these. Is this item rare or just expensive? If it is not rare, but expensive, why? Is it just supply and demand. The examples go on. Even SAs are expensive, but they are very easy to find. Why?

Call me crazy, but it is just what I see.

[Dan P]

Ok, you're crazy


I'll take a STAB at it...haha! Seriously though, I don't collect daggers but I'm sure it all comes down to condition, not unlike a coin where condition is generally the name of the game.

[Tim K.]

Zack,

I pondered essentially the same question while driving home from this year's MAX show, and have quickly come to realize that there is a difference between 'rare' and 'desirable'. For example, according to the old saying, 'hen's teeth' are rare, but are they really 'desirable' (and therefore, expensive)?

Tim

[Mr.Jerry D]

The supply & demand curve is a fluid crosspoint. rarity affect the supply side, not always the demand side. DAF marked shoes are rare, but no one cares.

While you may find many SA's at a show, lets just say most of them will be over $500, if one of them strays fare enough below that point, it is quickly picked up as a bargain. If some guy has one for sale at $2500 it won't move. So somewhere between these end points is where the buyer sees it as attractive and the seller is happy with the price.

All of this stuff is 'rare' in the real world. Yes at militray shows you will find piles & piles of it, but it is getting harder & harder to find. Sellers are now more eductated than ever before, so dealers have to pay more to get things. ( I offered a 96 year old lady $2,000 on a ss dagger and didn't get it!)

If things don't sell at a given point, or if the market is suddenly filled with them, the prices will go down. We are experincing a bit of that with the current economic downturn.

(also 2800 for an SS dagger seems like pretty decent price)

[Dennis S]

SS items are always expensive, but not always rare. They are though very desirable so hence the supply and demand factor. Original SS items have been sucked into private collections , so they may be just rarer in the market place.

[Jeff V]

You have missed the point I'm afraid. EVERYTHING these days is expensive. Some things are truly rare and these items are usually even more expensive!
best wishes,
jeff

[AFF96]

You have missed the point I'm afraid. EVERYTHING these days is expensive. Some things are truly rare and these items are usually even more expensive!
best wishes,
jeff

Like most passions/obsessions/addictions this is very expensive! But is it ever fun!

[Jack D.]

I agree,
Demand by technology enabled collectors, and market supply.
Some items are "gotta haves" and there is only a finite number of these original items to be had.
I would think once they get caught up in our collections, some never get resold or traded.

The collector car market has an "SS" line of Chevrolet cars which are very popular ($)

Jack

[TonyS]

That question has been asked quite a few times over the years I've been looking at the forums.

I believe that collectible items are not necessarily affected by the supply and demand forces.

Just because a collectible is plentiful on the market does not always mean it will be sold cheaper. If it is perceived as being rare, and twenty of them are currently for sale, the sellers are not likely to drop the price.


A couple of examples of rare, desirable and expensive but fairly plentiful items:

I can go to one movie poster dealer and see 4 identical copies of the poster for the old Sci-Fi movie "Forbidden Planet" for sale at $15,000 each. A few have sold at that price.

There are at least 5 SS Panzer wraps for sale at the moment, all over $20,000 - but those prices are not coming down - yet.


It doesn't mean you can't play the sellers off against each other to get a better price though.

[Military]

to me, rare means that a particular item is scarce and rarely seen. but not necessarily they need to be expensive.

It could be a simple black wound badge with a unique pin fitting. that would make it rare. but wound badges being wound badges, they are not necessarily expensive to the thousands.

Expensive is also subjective. if you're loaded, a few thousand bucks is nothing compared to a poor student who'll find a hundred dollars already expensive.

Everything is relative in its context.

Just my opinions,
Mil

[MG-Freak]

[QUOTE= Mr.Jerry D;3530209]The supply & demand curve is a fluid crosspoint. rarity affect the supply side, not always the demand side. DAF marked shoes are rare, but no one cares.[QUOTE]

Wow....Hold your horses.....I care