Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

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Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

For longer than I can remember, my collection has included only one example of the gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J. :| Sadly I don't wear it very often. Here's the last time, when I posted it on the last page of the old forum's WRUW thread at the end of December last year. Note my admission back then: 'I can't honestly remember when I last wore it' .... :(

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Going back to March 2010, I did albeit briefly own two of them. I sold the one on the right on eBay for $120, IIRC. :D

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Here's a couple of the photos from my eBay listing:

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Note the slightly discoloured lume on the ends of the dial batons and minor corrosion of the gold plating. Naturally, I kept the better example (to this day), but although not mint, it's what I'd class as decent. There are a couple of tiny, almost imperceptible dings in the top LH and bottom RH of the watch case and the gold-tone colours of the case and bracelet have aged differently. The clasp is absolutely unmarked and retains its original matt gold finish. :)

Over the intervening 11 years and the course of dozens of posts in the old forum's 7A38-7000 SAA008J model thread, I saw a couple of better examples that I should possibly have purchased and specifically one that I regret passing up. :cry:

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Re: Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

So why at this late stage of my obsessive collecting of Seiko 7A38's, should I suddenly decide to buy another example :?: I hadn't honestly intended to. Blame it on the vagaries of online auctions. :roll: Just over two weeks ago, another saved search notification from LiveAuctioneers arrived in my email inbox. At the top of the list of 15 new items was this:

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The auction was being held by Converse Auctions of Pauli, PA, USA, last Saturday 26th June, starting @ 9:00 am EDT. The auction was titled as a Collector's Choice Sale and comprised a total of 495 lots of books, magazines, chinoiserie, model trains and several lots of cheap looking costume jewellery. Apart from a couple of cheap ladies fashion watches included in the latter, the Seiko 7A38-7000 was the only watch in the catalogue. It was lot # 0103, with an opening bid price of $10 and an auctioneers estimate of only $100-S200. I was initially vaguely interested, didn't take a screenshot of the listing, but I did right-click and save the photos.

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The following day, I looked at the photos again; thought to myself 'Hmm, that's actually quite nice', relented, registered for the auction and pre-bid it up to $60. Somebody else was evidently interested in it, because I was soon outbid again.

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Re: Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Fast forward to last Saturday: after at least three reminders from Live Auctioneers that my watched item was coming up for auction, I logged into the live auction just before 5:00pm (09:00 EDT). By then, the 7A38-7000, Lot # 0103 had already been pre-bid to $160. I wanted to have another punt at it. Having got sucked into bidding wars on these type of online auctions before, I needed to set myself a maximum bid limit. The £/$ exchange rate was 1/1.388. I reckoned on bidding no higher than £200. In this auction, bid increments were set @ $10 up to $60; $20 up to $200 and then $25 up to $500. So I calculated my maximum 'walk away' bid was going to be $275. I wrote that figure large on a Post-it note and stuck it on the corner of my PC screen. Lot # 0103 went live just after 6:00pm BST. The bidding was fairly brisk:

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Note the auctioneer's comment 'Nice Item' - something I'd not seen before. Possibly intended to encourage more bids. But, fortunately for me, it didn't. That's how it ended. :D

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Well not quite. On top of the $275, there's the inevitable 25% 'Buyers Premium', cost of packing and shipping to UK. When I paid LiveAuctioneers / Converse's online invoice early on Monday, the total cost converted to closer to £290. They didn't get around to shipping it till Wednesday. With the US 4th July long weekend holiday fast approaching, I wondered if it would actually manage to make it out of the country before that. According to the USPS tracking it left their Jamaica, NY international hub yesterday morning. Hopefully I'll receive it later next week, after grudgingly having paid the obligatory 20% VAT to HM Customs. Fingers crossed it'll turn out to be worth it. :|

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Re: Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:59 pmWith the US 4th July long weekend holiday fast approaching, I wondered if it would actually manage to make it out of the country before that. According to the USPS tracking it left their Jamaica, NY international hub yesterday morning.
Except I hadn't realized that wasn't quite the last stage of it's journey, Stateside. :oops: It took another 6 days to get from USPS's Jamaica, NY international hub to Newark, NJ international airport - a distance of only 50 miles. :x
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:59 pmHopefully I'll receive it later next week, after grudgingly having paid the obligatory 20% VAT to HM Customs.
It arrived at Royal Mail's HWDC, Slough on Saturday morning and spent 4 hours there in 'processing'. I'd already reckoned on (and was almost certain of) getting stung for 20% VAT and clearance charges. Depending upon what value Converse Auctions had declared (from my winning bid price of $275, to the total value of their invoice, including commission and shipping charges) I'd already calculated I'd probably have to pay out something between £48.50 and £66.50 (worst case). Not a vast sum of money, granted, but it always takes the edge off a purchase. The package arrived at my local Royal Mail centre on Sunday afternoon and there were no more tracking updates forthcoming. This morning, I was patiently waiting for a card to drop through my letterbox, advising me that I had a package to collect, but there were charges payable. Instead, just after Midday, there was a surprise knock at my front door. I opened it to see a Royal Mail van delivery driver walking back down the driveway. I looked down and there on the doorstep was my long-awaited parcel from Converse Auctions. No additional charges on import ? There was no trace of any commercial invoice having ever been attached to the box (with a labelope). Just a pre-printed combined mailing and CN22 Customs declaration label, with a mere $30 as the declared value and a humble description of 'old watch'. Thank you Converse Auctions !! :mrgreen:

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Re: NOS condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:59 pmFingers crossed it'll turn out to be worth it. :|
Not attracting any extra charges was an added bonus. :) But it certainly looks like it might be worth what I paid. :D

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The dark blue plastic Seiko presentation box is a style I've never seen before. The watch is in absolutely perfect NOS condition and shows no sign of ever having been worn (there is a pristine JWC II inspection sticker on the case-back).

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Obviously the battery is completely dead and in these 'as received' photos, it's showing the same time and date as the auction lot photos. Fingers crossed it'll be as good on the inside as its external cosmetic appearance. Of more anon.

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Re: NOS condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Actually, not much else to report. I carefully unscrewed the case-back to find an absolutely squeaky clean movement, with no sign of any battery leakage. Nor did the inside of the case-back show any evidence. Being a Maxell (rather than Seiko or Sony), presumably the battery must have been replaced once in its life. This time it got my prefered Seizaiken.

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I nailed it back together (with the utmost care) and took this quick wrist shot (about an hour after the time shown).

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Needless to say, everything works fine and resets properly and the pushers have that wonderful 'as new' clicky feel. :)

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Re: NOS condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Mon Jul 12, 2021 1:21 pmThe dark blue plastic Seiko presentation box is a style I've never seen before.
Just one other small point of interest concerns the warranty certificate - which again is a style I've never seen before. It's a pity that somebody decided to fold it in half, because it would have fitted perfectly inside the presentation box.

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The warranty is only valid in USA. Presumably Osaka International Corp., was another paper company previously used by Seiko to gain more favourable import terms. I've googled it briefly, but not come up with anything meaningful so far. :|
In fact, the name Osaka International Corp. is still in use by a small (2 dozen employees, 500 sq ft.) Indian company, which imports and manufactures Agricultural, Printing, Packaging and Textile machinery.

Further googling later uncovered this link to a defunct US corporation (registered in Texas), that previously existed from January 1984 to January 1988, which ties in very nicely with the watch's 42xxxx case-back serial number (manufactured in February 1984). Although there's no mention in the record of an address at 1140 Broadway, Suite 1202, New York, I suspect it's very likely connected.

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Re: NOS condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 1:59 pmWell not quite. On top of the $275, there's the inevitable 25% 'Buyers Premium', cost of packing and shipping to UK. When I paid LiveAuctioneers / Converse's online invoice early on Monday, the total cost converted to closer to £290.
I've just checked my email containing their invoice and the total figure was $391.25. Fortunately, as I didn't get stung for 20% VAT and Customs clearance charges on top (as expected), that was the final cost. Please don't for one minute think I'm now suffering from Buyer's Remorse, for having possibly paid too much for a less desirable gold-tone variant.
I'm not. I'm as pleased as punch with my little extravagance - that's what watch collecting is all about, innit ? :D
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:56 amOver the intervening 11 years and the course of dozens of posts in the old forum's 7A38-7000 SAA008J model thread, I saw a couple of better examples that I should possibly have purchased and specifically one that I regret passing up. :cry:
I've thought a couple of times about wading back through the 13 pages the old forum's 7A38-7000 SAA008J thread, to check the selling prices of the examples I passed up. I seem to remember one of them was significantly less than the £290 I paid for my recent acquisition, but more than I was willing to pay at the time. So probably best not to go there.

Instead, I decided to console myself by injecting a little hilarity into the proceedings, by searching the archives for another much older thread. It took me a while to find it again, because it was nearly at the bottom of the old forum's eBay section. I may poke fun at some of the ridiculous prices asked nowadays, particularly by certain Italian eBay sellers, but the wackiest price for a Seiko 7A38 that I've ever seen was by a Brit. And it was a gold-tone 7A38-7000.
£550,000.00 !! :lol:

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Re: NOS condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Sat Jul 03, 2021 10:56 amGoing back to March 2010, I did albeit briefly own two of them. I sold the one on the right on eBay for $120, IIRC. :D
I guess all it needs to finish off this thread is a side-by-side shot of my current pair of gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J's.

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Or two, with a touch of flash, which served to highlight that tiny ding in the top L.H. corner of the watch case. :roll:

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On the left is the decent used example, with slightly mismatched gold plating colours, that I purchased off eBay in the States in February 2010. Checking my spreadsheet records, I paid $108.17 in winning the auction, plus $20 postage. :)
My recently acquired NOS example, which cost rather more, in fact just over 3 times as much, is on the right.

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Re: Other recent gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J's on eBay

Post by Seiko7A38 »

I'll start by categorically stating that I have no intention of resurrecting the old forum's 7A38-7000 SAA008J thread. :P
Nor do I wish to make comparisons or try to justify (to myself) the price I paid for my recently acquired NOS example. However, by amusing coincidence, during the last week, since I recommenced adding updates to this thread, three gold-tone 7A38-7000's have turned up on eBay. :lol:

The first, a well-worn example, listed by a UK eBay seller as a 5-day auction, with an opening bid price of £0.99, sold yesterday evening for £92 after 19 bids. (Someone did place a bid for £120, but subsequently, quite wisely retracted).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294270935318

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The second well-worn example, listed by an Australian eBay seller as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of $290, was fitted with a frankly hideous non-original generic replacement bracelet. That auction ended at lunchtime today, selling for $295 Au. (equivalent to £158.45) after 2 bids.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Seik ... 4236608039

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The third example, listed by another UK eBay seller as a 5-day auction with an opening bid price of £30, was in the best cosmetic condition of the three. Although his primary image and description, which smacked of a laissez faire attitude, didn't do it any favours. There was another gotcher in that it had a rather short bracelet. From the seller's last 2 photos, you could see there were only 4 bracelet adjustment links present: 2 either side of the clasp, meaning that at least 6 had been removed. I'd chucked in a final 'throwaway' bid of £67.89 on the first day. Slightly disconcerting, I was still the high bidder with only one minute of the auction remaining. I'd already checked and there were more than three dozen other watchers besides myself, so I felt confident of being outbid by at least one sniper. Thankfully, I was. It sold for £69.89 after 9 bids, but probably deserved better than that.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-SEIK ... 3524445296

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Re: Other recent gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J's on eBay

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pmI'll start by categorically stating that I have no intention of resurrecting the old forum's 7A38-7000 SAA008J thread. :P
Nor do I wish to make comparisons or try to justify (to myself) the price I paid for my recently acquired NOS example.
Yeah, I know what I wrote. :roll: But here's another gold-tone 7A38-7000 that possibly bears closer comparison with my recently acquired NOS example. It was listed earlier this afternoon by a German eBay seller with a Buy-it-Now price of 349 Euros - not much more than I paid for mine (in US dollars). It's in better than average used condition, but the gold plating of the watch case shows some tarnishing. Interesting to note how the bracelet's plating has aged to a different hue of gold (like my previous example).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RARITAT-SEIK ... 4544052347

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Re: Other recent gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J's on eBay

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 3:09 pm
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pmI'll start by categorically stating that I have no intention of resurrecting the old forum's 7A38-7000 SAA008J thread
Yeah, I know what I wrote. :roll:
There has been a veritable deluge of gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J's listed on eBay in July. Another one just squeezed in under the wire. It will be the last example I post in this thread too. It was listed yesterday evening by a profiteering UK eBay re-seller, as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of £149.99. I say 'another one' but in fact this is just another instance of 'Déjà Vu' - and a fairly recent one at that too, which rankles with me for obvious reasons. :x See below ....

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1984 ... 5073147837

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Note the comment in the seller's description, about having a very short bracelet, which should have been a red flag. :!:
When I started composing this post, I didn't spot it straight away. There's some irony in what I wrote a fortnight ago. :roll:
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pmThe third example, listed by another UK eBay seller as a 5-day auction with an opening bid price of £30, was in the best cosmetic condition of the three. Although his primary image and description, which smacked of a laissez faire attitude, didn't do it any favours. There was another gotcher in that it had a rather short bracelet. From the seller's last 2 photos, you could see there were only 4 bracelet adjustment links present: 2 either side of the clasp, meaning that at least 6 had been removed. I'd chucked in a final 'throwaway' bid of £67.89 on the first day. Slightly disconcerting, I was still the high bidder with only one minute of the auction remaining. I'd already checked and there were more than three dozen other watchers besides myself, so I felt confident of being outbid by at least one sniper. Thankfully, I was. It sold for £69.89 after 9 bids, but probably deserved better than that.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-SEIK ... 3524445296

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This is of course the same gold-tone 7A38-7000 with a short bracelet, which sold a fortnight ago for £69.89 - as verified by the previous seller's photo of the case-back, showing the same serial number 450112.

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One other point should be abundantly clear by now and that is these are FAR from being 'Ultra Rare' as the seller claims. They're a relatively common variant and being gold-tone less popular with collectors, and certainly not 'a dream'. Hence the reason they achieve much lower selling prices, compared to their stainless 7A38-7000 SAA007J sibling. The knack is finding one in good used condition, with minimal plating wear, a decent length bracelet - and paying the right price.

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Re: Other recent gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J's on eBay

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:23 amThere has been a veritable deluge of gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J's listed on eBay in July ....
It will be the last example I post in this thread too.
O.K. So I lied. :oops:
This rather unusual listing for a BUTTON (only) for a gold-tone 7A38-7000, by a UK eBay seller, appeared at lunchtime today. The seller has only uploaded one photo of the well-worn example (none of said 'BUTTON') and the description reads exactly the same as the title. Evidently an extremely lazy lackadaisical seller, probably one best avoided. :!:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BUTTON-only- ... 4555281773

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There's another reason I thought it worthy of mention. You've probably already guessed it. :roll:
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:23 am.... in fact this is just another instance of 'Déjà Vu' - and a fairly recent one at that too ....
Unless I'm mistaken, this looks very much like the same well-worn gold-tone 7A38-7000 which sold for £92 on 17th July.
There may be no serial number by which to prove it, but the areas and levels of wear to the gold plating are identical.

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Academic, anyway, because before I'd even finished editing this post, there it was, gone. :roll:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/224555281773

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Re: Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pmI'll start by categorically stating that I have no intention of resurrecting the old forum's 7A38-7000 SAA008J thread. :P
Please don't totally disregard what I wrote earlier, because we're still talking about the same gold-tone 7A38-7000's. ;)
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pmThe first, a well-worn example, listed by a UK eBay seller as a 5-day auction, with an opening bid price of £0.99, sold yesterday evening for £92 after 19 bids. (Someone did place a bid for £120, but subsequently, quite wisely retracted).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/294270935318

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After that slightly confusing false start, with another UK seller listing a 'Button', using just a head-on photo of what appeared, to my eyes, be the same watch, I could easily have predicted this was coming. This time I'm absolutely certain. The same well-worn gold-tone 7A38-7000, which sold for £92 in July, was listed earlier this morning by a 'Johnny come lately' profiteering UK eBay re-seller, with a highly optimistic Buy-it-Now price of £164.99. :roll:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Seik ... 3548571202

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Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 2:19 pmThere may be no serial number by which to prove it, but the areas and levels of wear to the gold plating are identical.
It goes without saying, that this time the case-back serial number 421194 matches the previous seller's.

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I had to chuckle at the seller's assessment of the wear to the gold plating as 'minor'. A master of understatement !! :lol:

7A38-7000-Gold-eBay-August2021-(re-seller)-Description.png
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Possibly more worthy of a cautionary note is that eBay seller beautique_watches is a newly created ID (as recently as 3rd August), who has already seen fit to change their username !!

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Their current items show a location of Goole (Yorkshire), but if it was the same person, as I suspect, the 'Button' eBay seller maksychyrki-0 claimed to be in London. Something else rather fishy, is when I checked the Bidding History of the previous auction, the winning bidder is shown as no longer a registered user (which usually means they've been banned).

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Re: Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Speaking of profiteering UK eBay re-sellers and their mug punter buyers, I think it's time to resurrect another of my old custom smilies that I used to good effect (if sometimes to excess) on the old Webs hosted forum. Specifically this one ! Image
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:23 amThis is of course the same gold-tone 7A38-7000 with a short bracelet, which sold a fortnight ago for £69.89 - as verified by the previous seller's photo of the case-back, showing the same serial number 450112.
Yesterday evening, that same gold-tone 7A38-7000 with a short bracelet, listed by profiteering UK re-seller ryan_h165, sold not for his already outrageously marked-up opening bid price of £149.99, but for a whopping £222 after 7 bids ! :shock:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1984 ... 5073147837

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Hard to credit, checking the Bidding History, the winning bidder had actually stacked 3 more 'safety bids' on top ! :roll:

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Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:23 amI say 'another one' but in fact this is just another instance of 'Déjà Vu' - and a fairly recent one at that too, which rankles with me for obvious reasons. :x
So re-seller 'Ryan' made himself a nice quick 200% plus profit on his initial outlay, for doing nothing more than fitting a battery and taking a better set of photos than the original lackadaisical UK seller. :roll: Still, if there are mug punters out there willing to pay these kind of prices, that means that even my second string example has to be worth at least £250.

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Re: Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

If this wasn't so utterly pathetic, it could almost be funny ! :roll: Yesterday evening, a would-be profiteering Canadian eBay re-seller bestunder39, who only two weeks ago had foolishly paid the previous re-seller £222 for that gold-tone 7A38-7000 with a short bracelet, listed it on eBay with an absolutely ludicrous marked-up Buy-it-Now price of £350 !!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1984 ... 4346929588

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The listing itself is pretty pathetic. This incompetent idiot has re-used some the previous UK eBay re-seller's photos, but has uploaded them from his camera phone. They may have looked quite good before, but take a look at them now ! :roll: Needless to say, he mentions the short bracelet twice in his description - implying that's the reason he's selling it:

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At the risk of repeating myself:
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:23 am
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pm
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VINTAGE-SEIK ... 3524445296

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This is of course the same gold-tone 7A38-7000 with a short bracelet, which sold a fortnight ago for £69.89 - as verified by the previous seller's photo of the case-back, showing the same serial number 450112.

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Re: Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Fri Aug 06, 2021 10:29 am
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pmI'll start by categorically stating that I have no intention of resurrecting the old forum's 7A38-7000 SAA008J thread.
Please don't totally disregard what I wrote earlier, because we're still talking about the same gold-tone 7A38-7000's. ;)

After that slightly confusing false start, with another UK seller listing a 'Button', using just a head-on photo of what appeared, to my eyes, be the same watch, I could easily have predicted this was coming. This time I'm absolutely certain. The same well-worn gold-tone 7A38-7000, which sold for £92 in July, was listed earlier this morning by a 'Johnny come lately' profiteering UK eBay re-seller, with a highly optimistic Buy-it-Now price of £164.99. :roll:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Seik ... 3548571202

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Yup. I'm still writing about the same gold-tone 7A38-7000(s) which were listed on eBay in July. Their saga drags on. :roll: Whenever I see an eBay listing for a watch has been ended as allegedly no longer available, I'm frequently sceptical - often quite rightly too. I hadn't bothered mentioning before, but 10 days ago, would-be profiteering UK eBay re-seller beautique_timepieces, whose newly created persona I was already suspicious of, did just that.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203548571202

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So no great surprise that they re-listed it yesterday evening, as a 7-day auction with an opening bid price of £99.99. :roll:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-Seik ... 3577602686

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Re: Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

Seiko7A38 wrote: Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:31 amYup. I'm still writing about the same gold-tone 7A38-7000(s) which were listed on eBay in July. Their saga drags on. :roll:
Hopefully these will be my final updates to this sorry saga. :roll:

A fortnight ago, UK eBay re-seller beautique_timepieces revised their latest 7-day auction re-listing (above), adding the option to Buy-it-Now for £150, presumably done so at the behest of a potential buyer. It sold just 3 minutes later.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/203577602686

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The other one dragged on rather longer. :roll:
Seiko7A38 wrote: Mon Aug 23, 2021 10:30 amIf this wasn't so utterly pathetic, it could almost be funny ! :roll: Yesterday evening, a would-be profiteering Canadian eBay re-seller bestunder39, who only two weeks ago had foolishly paid the previous re-seller £222 for that gold-tone 7A38-7000 with a short bracelet, listed it on eBay with an absolutely ludicrous marked-up Buy-it-Now price of £350 !!

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-1984 ... 4346929588
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Aug 01, 2021 10:23 amThis is of course the same gold-tone 7A38-7000 with a short bracelet, which sold a fortnight ago for £69.89 - as verified by the previous seller's photo of the case-back, showing the same serial number 450112.
Deluded would-be profiteering Canadian eBay seller bestunder39 had made a number of revisions to his listing during the last three weeks, including no less than 4 reductions to his initial ludicrously marked-up Buy-it-Now price of £350.

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It finally sold yesterday evening for an undisclosed best offer (of presumably less than £200). Serves him right. :lol:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/384346929588

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Re: Other recent gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J's on eBay

Post by Seiko7A38 »

In closing ....
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Jul 18, 2021 12:27 pmI'll start by categorically stating that I have no intention of resurrecting the old forum's 7A38-7000 SAA008J thread. :P Nor do I wish to make comparisons or try to justify (to myself) the price I paid for my recently acquired NOS example.
Readers / fellow eBay watchers may have noted that there have since been a few more gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J's listed on eBay, in varying conditions and asking prices, that I've stoically resisted the temptation to comment upon. ;) But one example that I'd first mentioned back in July still remains unsold ....
Seiko7A38 wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 3:09 pmYeah, I know what I wrote. :roll: But here's another gold-tone 7A38-7000 that possibly bears closer comparison with my recently acquired NOS example. It was listed earlier this afternoon by a German eBay seller with a Buy-it-Now price of 349 Euros - not much more than I paid for mine (in US dollars). It's in better than average used condition, but the gold plating of the watch case shows some tarnishing. Interesting to note how the bracelet's plating has aged to a different hue of gold (like my previous example).

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RARITAT-SEIK ... 4544052347
The German eBay seller revised their listing on 9th August, reducing their Buy-it-Now price from 349 to 275 Euros:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/RARITAT-SEIK ... 4544052347

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Re: Nice condition gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J incoming

Post by Seiko7A38 »

As a final footnote to this tale, that gold-tone 7A38-7000 SAA008J, which had been listed on eBay Germany since 25th July, eventually sold yesterday afternoon, for the reduced Buy-it-Now price of 275 Euros.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/154544052347

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The moral of the story being: You pays your money and takes your choice. I'm still very happy with mine. :D

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