THE RAREST Seiko 7A38 re-surfaces Down Under !

[Seiko7A38]

If you've read through the two dozen 7A38 model specific topics on the old archived forum, then you've possibly gleaned that, in terms of sightings, the two-tone 7A38-706A SAA034J is the rarest Seiko 7A38 variant of them all. At the time I started composing that thread, back in June 2013, I'd never actually seen so much as a photograph of one. Eventually, after nearly 7 years of searching, a half decent example finally turned up on eBay in Australia in May 2016. Knowing how scarce these were, I made doubly sure of winning the auction. I hadn't seen another one since - not until this morning !

It was listed by another Australian seller, (based in a suburb of Sydney) as a 7-day auction, with an opening bid price of $139.95 Au with the option to make an offer.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-seik ... 5371543822

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I've only bothered uploading 4 of the seller's 11 photos. Many are similar and frankly a bit lacklustre. The watch appears fairly well worn and the lume looks slightly discoloured. The crystal has been replaced, so presumably the original was badly scratched. The case-back serial serial number 460144 (June 1984) is from the same batch as mine (s/n 460213).

With this being only the second example to turn up in Australia in 15 years of searching, it's possibly a little too early to suggest that this was an Australian market model.

I've contacted the seller and traded a few messages with them this morning. They had already seen the old forum model specific thread. I suggested that they might want to enhance their listing title and offer worldwide shipping, in an effort to attract more bids, but that seems to have fallen on deaf ears. However they do appear to have since tweaked their description slightly.

[Seiko7A38]

That rare two-tone 7A38-706A SAA034J sold in the early hours of this morning, when the seller accepted a best offer.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/305371543822

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Naturally curious, I asked the question. They replied $200 (presumably Australian dollars, equivalent to $132 US dollars).
Seems rather cheap to me. Makes you wonder what it might have fetched had they'd listed it with worldwide shipping and allowed the auction to run the full duration.

[Seiko7A38]

I can't say that I'm entirely surprised. That same well-worn two-tone 7A38-706A SAA034J, s/n 460144 rocked up on eBay again two days later, just 40 Kms away, listed by another Australian seller, tosiess, who apparently saw the opportunity to turn a quick profit. He's asking $399 Au. as a Buy-it-Now, compared to the $200 he paid.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-7A38-7 ... 5429436288

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I suspect this re-seller has also read the old archived forum's 7A38-706A SAA034J model thread, from his description of the dial colour: metallic grey with a hint of bronze. My words exactly.

[Seiko7A38]

Would-be profiteering Australian eBay re-seller tosiess seems to have decided on a different strategy. Late last night he ended his previous Buy-it-Now listing because of an error (presumably in the pricing) and re-listed it as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of $149 Au. The other significant difference is that he's added international postage.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-7A38-7 ... 5431445984

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[Seiko7A38]

That auction failed to attract a bid, despite having 20+ watchers. The Australian eBay re-seller re-listed it immediately as another 7-day auction, with the option for mug punters to Buy-it-Now for $300 Au. Fat chance of that happening.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-7A38-7 ... 5449876587

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[Seiko7A38]

This is rapidly turning into a comedy of errors. At lunchtime today, the Australian eBay re-seller ended the previous (one day old) re-listing, because of another error. He replaced it with this latest Buy-it-Now listing for $220 Au.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Seiko-7A38-7 ... 5453833225

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[Seiko7A38]

That rare two-tone 7A38-706A sold late last night for a reduced Buy-it-Now price of $175 Au. (equivalent approx. $114 USD / £90 GBP). The would-be profiteering re-seller ended up making a loss.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/bin/purchaseHistory/355453833225

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