I have to admit I am fairly new to this whole vintage mower scene. What first got me interested was when I found an old, partly restored Southern Cross KXD mower sitting in the shed which belonged to my late father. He had other mowers too, but most were just "bitsa" mowers. The KXD had been his pride and joy, so I decided to finish restoring it. The first thing I noticed was the scarcity of parts, and I often ended up paying a fortune for some parts. But I felt a real sense of accomplishment when I finally completed the restoration.
I've added a few more mowers to the collection, mainly Southern Cross and old Rover mowers. Some I fully restore, others I mechanically restore.
I recall my father complaining many years ago about the cost of parts. He would growl if he had to pay more than $1 for anything. He was always complaining about the cost of blades and spark plugs. What would he think of today's greatly inflated prices?
Three things I have noticed in recent times:
One is the number of vintage mowers and parts appearing on auction sites has greatly diminished. Well there can only be so many available because only so many were made, and most ended up in landfill long ago. I turned my attention to later models, such as 70s Rover mowers, only to discover that a great many other people have as well.
Secondly the quality of what is coming on offer is also diminishing. What was once just rusty, broken, or worn out junk is now being sold as the best available parts. At least one seller on Fleabay regularly advertises these kinds of rusty old wares as "Brand New"!
And thirdly, the price just keeps going up and up and up and up.
Add to this the fact that there are younger ones getting into this hobby who are cashed up and ruthless, and wanting everything in a hurry, it is forcing me to question my own desire to continue in this "game". And that is the point, it is no longer a pleasurable hobby, it is becoming more and more like a game all the time. When you come across people who are prepared to spend $300 for a single mower wheel in order to complete their restorations, I really have to wonder about the sanity of it all. About the only bargains I have got in recent times have been the few Fleabay things I've noticed that were wrongly listed, so they escaped the gaze of most of the collectors. So yes, I too am guilty. I have also become more ruthless. One time I would have sent the seller a courtesy email to tell him the identity of an item so he could re-list it properly. These days I am more inclined to remain blissfully silent in the knowledge that I may be the only bidder.
Let's face it, the hobby has become very expensive and more ruthless. I was bidding on some wheels recently and had placed my bid 5 days before the end of auction to let the seller know that I was interested. I was the only bidder and the item had been listed for about 9 days. I placed a second bid on the final day just to improve my chances, but there was no competition in sight. Then someone snipes me in the final 2 seconds of the auction by putting in some ridiculous bid of $300. I'm not sure if he was using some kind of sniping software, but it made my screen flash and my PC slowed to a crawl. Then the screen froze and I lost connection. By the time I shut everything down and rebooted the computer, logged in again, the auction was well and truly over. I had lost to someone who was prepared to use ruthless tactics.
If this was a real world auction, he would be paying what he bid and that was $300. But no, only in the online fantasy land of Fleabay does the winning bidder pay the other bidder's final bid, which in my case was $25. I would have been prepared to go a bit higher, but not more than $300. I registered my dissatisfaction with the seller who was totally unsympathetic and advised me that instead of moaning about it, I should have placed a bid for $350 because then he would have got a better deal! He said that he did have other wheels available but could not offer them to me. He wanted to put them on ebay so that everybody has a chance. Well there is not much "chance" involved in competing against a cashed up bidder who is using sniper software in the last few seconds of the auction. Then of course there are the shill bidders. If ever I sense my bids are being matched consistently early in the auction, I know it is time to stop bidding. Some people like the thrill of a "bidding war". I do not, mainly because shill bidding is all too common on Fleabay. There are a few sellers that I avoid like the plague, because I suspect they have mates who run up their auctions for them.
My father would have said "To hell with them!"
I mainly only "Buy it Now" these days, or look for better deals elsewhere. My local hardware shop can often get parts cheaper than the same parts online. I am fairly house bound looking after a sick relative these days, so never get to any real world auctions. I occasionally go to the tip shop and buy an old mower for a reasonable price and strip the best parts off it. There are still ways to avoid the petty ruthlessness of the modern online world it seems.
The Government is also getting in on the action now, by imposing all manner of fees and charges. I purchased two Briggs fuel caps recently from the US because the shipping is free. I've bought them before and they can take up to 9 weeks to get here, but I am prepared to wait. Well this time I noticed our Government had imposed 10% GST on the goods. Seems you can't win. Even if you find something overseas that is reasonably priced, our Government has found a way to penalize us. I am not sure if they have introduced the $5 fee on each foreign mail item yet?
