You MIGHT find that strainer if you give yourself a LOT of time and have a lot of patience.

Your drum is quite valuable in any case. The fact that it has a missing part will lower the value only slightly because a collector will get the part for it....eventually. IF you need to sell it quickly, then I recommend that you sell it as-is and let the collector find the part.

Seriously, you could get a LOT of money for that drum. I think it's beautiful, myself, but I couldn't afford to buy it!

I second that and would not worry about it. The people that collect this type of drum either have the part or another drum that they can transfer the part over.

If you need any Ebay advice then please ask.

David

Well, thank you very kindly to both of you gentlemen for your prompt and reassuring replies.

I'll just put the reserve way under what others have rec'd bids at, and if it doesn't meet that, I'll keep relisting at lower reserves.

Now I'll just put it out of mind and let Fate take its course.

Thanks again, both O-Lugs and David.

Well, I had someone put it on ebay.

It only went to 735 for some reason. (possibly the person listing it didn't send me all the inquiries, and has now apparently lost them)

Since it looks practically identical to Mike Curotto's that went to 1900+, I can only assume that the missing part is to blame.

My reserve was 1490, which I'll greatly lower next time.(actually, I may try listing it here on this site soon and see if someone makes a decent offer)

But I'd really rather get the part if I can. It would be worth it in terms of the types of bidders who'd be attracted.

So- is there anyone who specializes in this sort of merchandise?

[SIZE="3"]What would I ask for [/SIZE]("strainer and attachment for Ludwig and Ludwig timepiece throw-off"?......sorry, I admit my ignorance)?

Any help (or legit offers) greatly appreciated.

thank you.

Well, I'm guessing the seller you had does not have the credentials in the business like Mike C does.

That goes a long way in selling an item of that level on Ebay. The reputation, feedback and the knowledge really help for potential buyers.

With Mike's reputation people are willing to spend knowing exactly what they are getting from a reputable dealer.

That is not to say your listing was not up to par, etc..

I strongly feel the strainer is a small part of the puzzle as to why it did not go any higher.

You can also contact Steve Maxwell and see if he has any interest of selling it on consignment in his drum shop.

The market is also changing and if two of the same drum are on Ebay the chances of bothing selling high are diminished.

Let me think about the strainer. Did you contact Mike to see if he has the parts??

David

I think there are a few factors which kept the drum from reaching a higher price...this is just speculation, of course.

1. The missing strainer...this doesn't always affect the sale of a rare item, especially since there are no extra holes. In this case, however, the "timepiece" strainer is probably the hardest one to find...that bottom piece is always lost, and this strainer wasn't used on lower end drums like its predessor, so there aren't many "donor" drums to rob one from.

2. The seller has a low feedback rating without any big ticket items, he's in Hawaii, and is requesting postal money order for "fast turnaround." Sounds scary to someone laying out a thousand bucks...

3. There's a lot of rust on the tension rods, and the seam looks like it's lifting. Not really a big deal, but a newer collector might shy away, not knowing these are easy fixes...

4. I think the market has softened greatly on drums from the '20s...and there were two other similar drums listed recently.

I think if Mick Curotto or Steve Maxwell were to list it, it would probably bring more $. It would probably do well at one of the drum shows...if youknow someone going to one, you could send it to them and give them a commission...or you could list it at a different ending time, and try again!

Hmmmmm.

Good points.

As for the Hawaii/money order situation, I've sold horns on ebay for up to $3300 thru someone else with no problems. But this current seller does have far fewer feedbacks, and yes, no big sales very recently. And has also admitted to not sending me all the inquiries for response. I chose her because she's completely honest, and lives very close. I forgot the feedback might be an issue.

Re the seam: it's not lifting at all. It's perfect. I had more pix, but didn't know that the Picture Pack feature allowed more, so that could be corrected. My ignorance. But yes, the tension rods are darker rather than sparkling shiny....isn't really rust/oxidation, it's just darker. The drum was dismantled easily for the pix.

That and the strainer were the only differences I could find between what got 1900+ and mine.

Mr. Curotto, in kindly replying to my initial post, indicated that this drum, from the white interior, would be from the 30's rather than the 20's...however, even if the market were softening here too, wouldn't a price gap of $500 easily bridge it?

I didn't know about possible consignment sales, but have not been a fan of them in my own area of expertise, which is horns.

I'd be delighted to sell it to a dealer.

Thank you very much for the more detailed elucidation of why the strainers may be hard to find. I was hoping there was one go-to guy who always has this gear "at a price". I didn't specifically ask Mike if he had the parts, but assume he would have mentioned it when I offered it for sale.

The problem with simply relisting, is the reserve price fee. Plus I have to pay the listor an additional fee, which is pretty generous even if it doesn't sell, as I thought I'd be getting quite a lot from this on the first time out.

Naivete is embarassing.

I hadn't heard of Steve Maxwell, but now I have so perhaps something might come of that.

For now, after this post, I'll go over to the For Sale section here and see about posting cheaply to see if any bargain-hunters are interested.

I greatly appreciate the in-depth responses you've given, and would welcome anything further anyone might care to post.