Seiko 7A38 - by the numbers
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| Forum Home > eBay, LeBonCoin, Mercado Libre, Yahoo Japan, etc. > THE CRAZIEST eBay / Yahoo Japan 7Axx prices to date ? | ||
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Yes - I know what the topic title (originally) said: THE CRAZIEST eBay 7Axx prices to date ? - but I've just amended it slightly. If you look on Yahoo Japan auctions, you'll see some pretty 'opportunistic' prices asked on there, too - all too regularly, in fact. Have you also noticed that appearances of certain 7Axx models seem to come in intermittent runs - like the proverbial London buses ? It's almost as if the subsequent seller(s) had cottoned on to the fact that one sold online recently for a very good price and so puts his similar model up for sale. That may indeed be their motive - the canny seller trying to pick up a 'consolation prize' sale to one of the disappointed losing bidders on a previous auction. So, hot on the heels of that 7A38-6020 in nice condition which sold on eBay in Italy for $876.66 (approx. £555), two weeks ago .... Listed on Yahoo Japan auctions yesterday, was this one - in not quite such a good condition: http://page13.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/r87009078 SEIKO 7A38-6020 SPORTS100 クロノグラフ 希少
Whereas the Italian seller, Miano, started the bidding on his eBay auction at a sensible $350 (bearing in mind what it achieved), this Japanese seller 'Piran' (perhaps an abbreviation for Piranha), has set an opening bid price of ¥50,000 Yen - equivalent to $629 or £397. But this example is not pristine - merely 'average'. Not only is it suffering from the usual maladies of the model - faded bezel and dial lettering, and worn silver anodized coating, but it looks like someone has 'refinished' the case-back with an angle-grinder. In fact (my case-back apart), I wouldn't say this 7A38-6020 is in any better condition than the very similar example which I was lucky enough to pick up on eBay in the UK last April for the princely sum of £90 including postage - that's $142 to our colonial cousins ! I suspect that unless the seller drops his price sharply, this Yahoo Japan auction is going to be re-listed for some considerable time. Edit: The seller did lower his opening bid price - to ¥49,000, but also added a Buy-it-Now price of ¥75,000. Naturally, it went unsold. | |
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 Member Posts: 168 |
WOW! Good price for a Seiko Chronograph SPORTS 100 7A28 - 7000 Alien, Item no: 120860445910 | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120860445910 - sold for 606 Euros (approx £503) after 25 bids - a strong price indeed, as not only it wasn't in exactly pristine condition, but also fitted with the wrong colour remote pusher buttons (yellow instead of the correct black).
This isn't the actual side-by-side comparison photo of silver Ripley and black 7A28-7000 Aliens I was looking for, but it suffices ....
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Subtitled: How much is an old bit of paper worth ? As you may know, apart from Seiko 7A38s and their derivatives (Yema, etc.) I also collect period advertising material. Catalogues and brochures are always nice to have, but magazine adverts also come up on eBay fairly regularly. I was gobsmacked by this one, which turned up as newly listed when I ran a search on eBay on Yema this afternoon: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/260965177118 Yema Watch Company Besancon France Vintage 1960 Swiss Ad Horlogerie Horology
Yours for a mere $39.99 (£25.50) + postage. Not only a crazy price for a page from an old magazine (no matter how carefully it was removed) .... But the illustration doesn't even appear to be of the real Yema factory - but an architects model of it. | |
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 Member Posts: 169 |
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270922076399 More from our friend in Italy | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Nice 7A28-7010 Speedmaster - I've often fancied one of those myself - but at $2000, I think I'll pass. | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Yes - I know what the topic title (originally) said: THE CRAZIEST eBay 7Axx prices to date ? - but I've just amended it slightly. If you look on Yahoo Japan auctions, you'll see some pretty 'opportunistic' prices asked on there, too - all too regularly, in fact. The craziest asking price for a 7A on Yahoo Japan this year so far ? http://page4.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/d128960729 SEIKO CHRONOGRAPH 7A38-6030 セイコー 時計 ジャンク 希少
Not only is the black chrome coating badly worn - but (the way I read it) the seller seems unsure whether it actually works ! The opening bid price ? ¥ 100,000 Yen Post edited: 24 hours later it had dropped to an opening bid price of ¥ 60,000 with a Buy-it-Now of ¥ 80,000 Yen - still no chance ! Edited again: 48 hours later, the opening bid price had been reduced to ¥ 40,000; the Buy-it-Now option completely disappeared ! Edited yet again: Next time I checked, on Sunday 18th, the bidding option had now gone, replaced by just a Buy-it-Now of ¥ 30,000. Edited once again: By Friday 30th March, the Buy-it-Now option had disappeared, this time replaced by an opening bid of ¥ 20,000. Edited for the nth time: By Sunday 8th April, the opening bid price had dropped to ¥ 15,000 - and still no bids have been placed. | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Getting back to eBay again .... and O.K., maybe I could be accused of suffering from a bout of Ferrari Formula Fever .... but I have mentioned before some of the ridiculous prices that eBay sellers ask for these 'dressed-up Seiko 7A38's. Here's another that came up in my eBay searches this morning (previously listed in November 2011): http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270932937631 FERRARI FORMULA by Cartier Uhr Chronograph Tachymeter Armbanduhr
As you can see, it's very similar to the one I've just bought myself, on the same grey shark leather strap, with a more subdued dial. I paid 306 Euros for mine (as an auction), which was more than I really wanted to pay, but .... This deluded German eBay seller is asking 1450 Euros (approx. £1212) as a Buy-it-Now !! Now these things weren't cheap in their day, and retail prices were in the order of 4 times what you'd pay for a Seiko 7A38 .... but bearing in mind what they've got inside them (albeit re-branded as Cal. 531), isn't this taking the Ferrari cachet a bit too far ? Edit: I'd forgotten - I've got a scanned .pdf copy of the 1991 German Ferrari Formula catalogue. This spec. model was 1375 DM. Anybody like to know the Deutsche Marks to Euros / Sterling conversion ? From Wikipedia: On 31 December 1998, the European Central Bank (ECB) fixed the irrevocable exchange rate, effective 1 January 1999, for German Mark to euros as DM 1.95583 = €1. O.K., forgetting about currency fluctuations, and inflation, converting 1375DM to Euros, this would have cost 700 Euros back in 1991. So, 1450 Euros for a 20 year old used quartz chrono ? Dream on, Herr Pointman. | |
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 Member Posts: 169 |
An old friend:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190641046163 As stated earlier, maximum offer of $250 compared to an asking price of $950 Back at the same price: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190654839925 What a clown.
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Indeed, and an incompetent clown at that. Edit: Did you notice he got the model number wrong in both his listing title AND description - 7A38-7020. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190654839925 SEIKO VINTAGE WATCH 7A38-7020 NOS ULTRA RARE QUARTZ NEW MEGA
Because he still hasn't corrected the incorrect model numbers. | |
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 Member Posts: 169 |
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120882979369
£175 for the insides of a 7A28 Alien? That's a lot of money for that... but if you needed one... Think this was the lazy /expensive solution for someone. Buy a knackered old 7A28 and put it on your alien dial, Hey presto. Dials don't get ruined very often do they? | |
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 Member Posts: 169 |
Interesting one put up by my old acquaintance Goffre 78: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190662301930 VINTAGE SEIKO WATCH 7A28-7100 SPEEDMASTER MEGA RARE NOS NEW OROLOGIO
VINTAGE SEIKO riginale SPEEDMASTER 7A28-7100 NEW ORIGINAL BOX AND TAG MISSING WORKING PERFECTLY! NEW WITH BOX AND TAG MISSING The WATCH NUMBER ONE X collectors SEIKO HISTORY OF EVER MUSEUM WATCH!!!! THE MOVEMENT OF FAMOUS SEIKO ALIEN BEAUTIFUL GOOD LUCK I REPEAT MISSING! SOMETHING IS MISSING! Quite what is hard to ascertain from the translated decription. Maybe the box? Typically with this seller, we're lacking DETAIL. Not enough pictures, bad pictures, garbled description. One wonders particularly what sins the second picture conceals... The price is clearly high ($800 / £500) but when I pondered awhile, I couldn't help but think; 'What is it actually worth?' Weigh up the fact that it's NOS and you just don't see them in that condition... It remains unsold so far, but what would you pay? (I will state, maybe repeat, the only watch I ever bought from this seller was in A1 condition) | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
SOMETHING IS MISSING! Quite what is hard to ascertain from the translated decription. Maybe the box? One wonders particularly what sins the second picture conceals... Well, James .... If it were truly NOS, then I'd be asking where the JWC inspection case-back sticker is for starters. .... and as for: NEW ORIGINAL BOX AND TAG MISSING - then I suspect probably BOTH of them are missing !! Check out the totally incorrect latter-day style tag shown in the first photo. It's for a SWX255P1, which is a V400-6430 ladies quartz watch, like this:
So much for his claims of 'NOS' and (item condition) New with tags. .... but when I pondered awhile, I couldn't help but think; 'What is it actually worth?' Check out the very bottom of the January 2012 Auction News article: http://www.seiko7a38.com/news.htm That'll give you a fair idea of true market value, and quite frankly, I'd say that one on Yahoo Japan looked closer to NOS than Goffre's. (I will state, maybe repeat, the only watch I ever bought from this seller was in A1 condition) Perhaps you got lucky. | |
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 Member Posts: 169 |
Ah, I'd forgotten about that Japanese sold one! Also highlights what else is missing from the listing: a photo of the 'Speedmaster' clasp, should there be one. And that's some sharp practice putting any old tag in the first picture. Tut, tut... | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Interesting one put up by my old acquaintance Goffre 78 .... He continues to churn them out, with increasingly ridiculous asking prices. Here's the latest: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/190663481727 VINTAGE SEIKO WATCH 7A28-7050 GIUGIARO SPEEDMASTER MEGA RARE NOS NEW OROLOGIO
The asking price ? A mere $1500 (that's approx. £945). | |
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 Member Posts: 169 |
Ha, nice one Paul. He's dangerously close to getting his own thread, i'd say. I REPEAT MISSING! he says. Sold as (partially) seen then. Tsk | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
He's dangerously close to getting his own thread, I'd say. Well, James, he might just have to share it with that other equally deluded would-be Italian eBay seller, 'angeli_65'. Remember the item which I started off this thread with - it was a 'NOS' 7A38-704A (but in an incorrect 'Aliens' box) ? The seller's ridiculous Buy-it-Now price was $2350. He relisted it a couple of times, but needless to say it went unsold: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270925570907 VINTAGE SEIKO CHRONOGRAPH CALIBER 7A38 - 704A "BY GIUGIARO"
You'll notice that this time, I've included all 5 of the seller's eBay listing photos - there is a reason .... bear with me. This morning, at first, I thought he'd re-listed it (yet again) - but without the Lancia Delta model car - and in the correct box: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/270951142676 SEIKO CHRONOGRAPH CALIBER 7A38 - 704A VINTAGE "BY GIUGIARO"
The asking price on this one (with the correct 'Sport Tech' box, this time) is 'only' $2000 (approx. £1263) by the way. But then I noticed it's a different serial number to the first one - 420730 versus 440425. So he's got (at least) two of them ! What's also slightly odd about this new eBay listing, is that it also appears to be offered on eBay Italy classifieds for 'only' 700 Euros. All 4 photos used in the 'Annunci' advert are the same - just slightly larger than the eBay auction listing photos. Here's two of them:
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Oddly enough .... If you google 7A28-7060, the first search result that is returned is a thread I started on the UK RLT watch forum in February 2011: http://www.thewatchforum.co.uk/index.php?showtopic=62728 The Most Expensive 7Axx On Ebay So Far ? Hope nobody falls for this one !
You've sometimes got to marvel at the ridiculous prices asked by some eBay sellers. One must assume they are either suffering from delusion, or a total lack of knowledge of current market values. That, or they've got a lot of cheek. The subject was a black-coated Titanium 7A28-7060, in well worn condition, on a non-original mesh bracelet:
The original over-optimistic opening bid price was $1995 or the 'Buy-it-Now' was a totally ridiculous $2995 !! Well, not quite up there in the stratosphere with that one, but still in the realms of 'silly asking prices' - now there's this on offer: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/140737964205 Vintage SEIKO 7A28-7060 Black TITANIUM Chronograph Watch! Mint
This auction is for a vintage SEIKO QUARTZ TITANIUM SPORTS 100 Series 7A28-7060 Chronograph Watch in very minty cosmetic and working perfect condition. Produced and released in 1983. Case and Band are black PVD coated TITANIUM case. Dial and hands are original and never been touch before. All functions are working properly. Chronograph hands can reset to zero/12O'Clock position exactly! Crystal is very clean. No scratch on it! Movement is very excellent to mint condition. Keep the right time! The SEIKO 7A28 movement is 15 Jewelled with all metal gears (No Plastic) and a calibration pot that allows for simple regulation by the user. Four independents step motors, one provided for each indicating function. There is NO black color PVD worn off place on this watch! Truly pristine condition!
This is a SEIKO's First Generation Chronograph Quartz TITANIUM watch. 100% Made in Japan. Original SEIKO TITANIUM bracelet loaded and maximum 7.8" inches wrist will be fit! Very good for vintage seiko collectors or for your daily use! Very good example of SEIKO's First Generation Quartz Chronograph TITANIUM watch! Comes with original SEIKO box. Really hard to find today in this minty condition. Don't miss it. Thank you! Obviously in much nicer original condition than the one which was offered by that deluded eBay seller in Beverly Hills last year .... But $1,290.00 (approx. £813.42) ??? | |
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
Reference this topic started this evening on SCWF by DaveS: 7A28-7100 sewing (sic) seeds of doubt? http://www.thewatchsite.com/index.php/topic,30693.0.html
What do we reckon Dave ? We reckon you're a week behind the times ! Belated edit to the above. It took me a while to find him, but now we know where he copied the idea for his SCWF topic from.
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 Site Owner Posts: 14428 |
A short footnote to this one, which could be subtitled 'Reality Bites'. Earlier this week, the seller re-listed it yet again, with an opening bid price of ¥ 12,000 Yen. Someone apparently thought that was an acceptable price and placed a single bid not long after. That's what it finally sold for earlier today, equivalent to approx. £93 or $148. | |
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- equivalent to $1,212.50 US or £773.80 GBP !! 
.... Or should that read: GOOD LUKE 
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