"What is my toaster worth?"
That's one of the frequently asked question I have to answer from time to time when somebody wants to sell an old piece found on a garage sale, fleamarket or in "grandma's" kitchen.
To estimate common stuff is easy: "Something around 20 bucks +/- 10 or 15..."
But what about the unsual toasters? The really rare pieces?
All I know is: You will never know! I watch eBay since many years. Prices for same pieces vary in an not foreseeable way. Sure, toaster prices went down in the last few years. That's the result of the imploding stock market, the following economic downturn and psychic depression all over the world.
And: In the beginning of eBay many collectors had their first contact with foreign toasters. So prices for some items went up in an absurd way. Now, many collectors have most of the stuff they wanna have. So even rare pieces will be "cheap". go to page 2 | see examples of toaster-prices
But then you can watch a rocket...
There are some "Must have"-toasters every collector has to buy sometimes. For example the General Electric D-12s, a Mesco, a Pan Electric, a Universal "Butterfly" or in Europe an O.S.I, a Siemens Handbag or the first Rowentas. These models will make their prices on a more or less constant high level.
Not to forget the "one of a kind"-pieces. Toasters you will see only once in your life. They will be very expensive (US$1.000-5.000 or more).
Then there are some "cool" but common toasters like the Toast-O-Lator or the colored Kenwood Pop-Ups. Their prices are on a smooth way up (from US$50 to US$200 and more, depends on condition). I think, they will be bought from stylish people using them in their designer kitchen.
Why the hell is this Edicraft gone for US$ 4.550,00???
Yes, and then there are toasters nobody can say why their price goes through the roof. Sometimes two rich collectors bid fancy amounts and the result is a 4.5k-Edicraft (watched Jan 2005). see examples of toaster-prices | return to page 1
Examples
The following list shows the price history of some toasters sold on eBay. I have no records about the selling day/month/year, but the prices are in a timeline from 1998 till today. All prices in US$. "RNM" = Reserve (price) not met.
GENERAL ELECTRIC D-12 Model 1
3.500; 2.500; 4.308; 1.250; 1.315 & 848 (broken legs);
MESCO Black Porcelain Base
2.605; 2.550; 2.506; 2.375
EDISON ELECTRIC Edicraft
1.800; 422; 295; 306; 1.525; 660; 474 (worn); 327; 220; 267; 4.550 (like new)
PAN ELECTRIC Blue Willow
2.000; 2.500; 1.009 / 1.225 / 370 / 902 (RNM); 1.200; 1.200; 494
A. MECKY CO. Ledig
1.247; 1.156; 1.750; 1.450; 1.810
return to page 2 | return to page 1