How much is a Grafton worth

[BrianSmith]

My daughter is currently learning the saxophone using a hired instrument. A relative from the UK sent her an old saxophone that he had picked up many years ago and never learnt to play.

When the sax arrived we took it to a dealer to see how much it would cost to be repaired and serviced and he told us that it was a Grafton sax and not suitable for use by a learner. He also said that it may have some collectable value and that we should look to sell it if we don't want to keep it - he offered us NZ$1000 for it saying that it required about NZ$500 worth of repairs and servicing. (a couple of small plastic bits have broken of the sax in transit from UK and the strap is broken - it will aslo require cleaning and servicing). The dealer also suggested that we may want to sell it on ebay to reach a larger market.

The UK relative says he is happy to sell the sax in order that my daughter can buy herself a suitable one for learning.

Can anybody give me an idea of how much a Grafton is worth ?

[King Bee]

I can't give you a figure or a price range for your horn, but I do know that with the Graftons condition is extremely important, especially if any parts are missing. One "guard", in particular, is often absent and devalues the instrument.

One thing you can do is to put it on eBay with a high reserve (say, $3,000US) and see what happens. You will get e-mails from bidders asking about details of the condition and whether anything is missing, so post excellent images beforehand. You can always offer the instrument to the highest bidder afterwards.

[mostly alto guy]

Placing a value on a sax like your Grafton is much more art than science. Your best bet to sell it at a "fair" price is a multi-faceted approach. Place a notice in the Marketplace on this BB. Also try netinstruments.com and similar sites.

And of course you can post an auction on ebay. I agree with King Bee; use a high reserve and see what happens. One thing I would avoid doing is what so many sellers seem to do, and that is post a way-too-high minimum bid. When sellers do this, they often get no action at all. I fail to see any value in using a minimum bid anyway if you have set a reserve. All it does is put bidders off. (If somebody can tell me why using a high min bid is a good idea, please do.) Remember, every bidder is a potential buyer, even if your auction ends without anyone making the reserve.

Include lots of clear pictures that show the horn's condition, especially any areas of damage and areas where prospective buyers of this particular horn are wary of damage. That takes some research, of course, but it demonstrates that you know what you've got and you're not going to let the horn out the door for peanuts, even w/o setting a min bid. Auctions with quality photos, detailed, knowledgeable descriptions, and a reasonable or no minimum bid nearly always get bids, and that is what you want in this case.

As with anything used (or new for that matter), to the current owner it's worth exactly what someone will pay for it at the precise moment at which you offer it for sale. Never a dime more. The key is finding the right buyer. Remember also that your buyer may be tomorrow's seller. Try to avoid selling to someone who's just going to sell it on to the real interested party, at a profit, of course. That money could be yours.

[john]

$4. Send me your address I'll get the check out immediately.
:D

Seriously, MAG is right (not unusual). You are holding an important piece of musical and saxophone history. Treat it well. Sell it cautiously. See the posts in the Grafton section elsewhere- http://saxontheweb.myforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=780 . It's not a beginners instrument though.

just my $0.02

john

[johnc]

my suggestion is keep it. Its probably a better financial option than tech stocks. Put it in a fish tank so it doesnt get damaged. Place the fish tank on your mantle piece with the photo of Charlie Parker playing one. Three things will happen. First you will have a talking piece when friends come around. Second it will gain more in value than probably most horns you will buy. Thirdly A horn like a Grafton you will regret selling. They will become rarer and rarer. No wonder the repairer offered you money there and then. He probably wont see another one walk into his shop in the next thirty years. To add a little weight to my suggestion. I own a Grafton. And have done all of the above. includng losing my shirt on tech stocks. Beware. A grafton is basically a piece of glass hiding all sorts of potential problems. If you put it on Ebay the sharks are out there. It more than likely would get damaged in transit. When this happens. it goes from being put in a fish tank to being put in the bin.

[Randall]

Mostly Alto Guy, email me...just left Stephan in Nauheim...quite a time there...!

[Alabama_jazz]

:D
If u were going to sell that horn i would give u at least a 900$ for it. or more.

I have many contacs so anytime just im or email me ok .

[mostly alto guy]

Randall, I don't have your email address, or I can't find it in any case.

[Randall]

hi MAG..it's ranran at gol dot com
(to confound the spammers :lol: )

[Howlin]

Did you resolve your sale? I am in Auckland and would be interested if you still have the instrument. Ph 0256614396 - thanks Richard

[mhoeta]

I have a Grafton saxaphone for sale on Trade me it finishes tommorow at 7.40 pm. bid is at $195 at the moment.

[JimD]

A few years ago Christies auction house sold Parkers Grafton, still playable and well authenticated I suppose. This fetched a fair amount, I've heard it went for £93,500 but I don't recall it fetching so much. Anyway it brought forth a rash of Graftons at the next musical instruments sales and they fetched very little, I think the top price was about £600 but others went for about 1/4 of that. After that they dried up. The moral of this story is that people weren't paying loads of money for the Grafton but for the Parker legend. Then again Howarths in London are selling one-sold as seen- for £700 so maybe they are going up. I've noticed that old/vintage horns seem to be suffering from price inflation.

I'd sell it if I could get a reasonable offer, anything around or over £600, about $NZ1500, and put it towards a playable horn, they're not suitable for beginners, they're mainly suited for collectors. They are difficult to repair, especially if bits are snapped off, and if you don't keep them carefully they will just deteriorate. They sure are cute though.

[mhoeta]

they sure r cute, well 2morrow mine will go to a new home for a miserable $200NZ by the looks of it, i didnt know just how much it was worth, if i put it on ebay, i would have got a lot more. oh well such is life.

[SelmerSaksMan]

Jimd i beleive you are speaking of birds 6M, it went for 193500, havent heard aobut his grafton.

[KMR]

Selmersaxman.

I dont know if Parkers Conn sold for that kind of money, However Jim is correct in that It was Parkers GRAFTON which sold at auction in London for that amount of money.

I believe it was Parkers home town of Kansas that bought it .

I have three Graftons. Anyone want to buy??

[mhoeta]

oh boy 3 of them !!!!!

[SelmerSaksMan]

KMR, sorry somehow I got a 1 in there, but in the 1998 guiness world records, it says that birds 6M sold for 93500 at christies, london in 1994.

How about, 200 bucks for your grafton in the best condition?

[SelmerSaksMan]

Well I guess it doesnt specifically say that it was his 6M, that just happens to be the one in the picture.

[SelmerSaksMan]

woops, another mistake, I just checked again, and it was actually his king in the picture.

[KMR]

Selmersaxman.

The sale that Jim mentioned was for a GRAFTON. There was a link on here recently that linked to the auction but I cant find it to refer you to.
The auction was quite a show event and had Pete King, probably the Uks foremost altoist playing the Grafton with a quartet. I cant remember the exact amount, but the kind of money that that you mention is about correct ie £90,000 GB pounds. If I can find the Link to the sale I will post it here.

There may well have been a sale of another of Birds altos. He had many!!!

The Grafton came from Chan Parker and could be authenticated. Im fairly sure that Birds home town bought it.

Im sure that you are joking about the offer of $200. One in good condition must be worth $250!!!!!!!! . And here was me thinking that I had something rare and worth decent money. Never mind.

[SelmerSaksMan]

I am not aware of the condition of your grafton, I assumed that it was only fair, and offered 200, however, if it is good, how about 300?

[KMR]

Selmersaxsman
You seem to be a very fair and honest person, in fact too much so for your own good.

I would have been prepared to meet you somewhere in between your offer of $200 and my optimistic $250.

I have some bad news Im afraid. Not really wanting to rip you off I took them to a local sax dealer for a valuation. Normally this guy has a bad reputation for not being honest, but today was different. he said that he wanted them for his own collection and was prepared to pay accordingly.

He offered $800 for all three and I gladly accepted. How lucky was that.

if I hear of any others around your price range I will get in touch.

[mhoeta]

I just sold one grafton for $610 NZ, it wasn't playable but it was in fairly good nick. so i spose that translates to about the same was yours $US?

[SelmerSaksMan]

Well I guess you cant win them all.

[SelmerSaksMan]

KMR, could you send me the email address of the guy you sold your graftons to? perhaps I get one of them from him, I hope he isnt parting them to make one good sax,