Flute Waiting List

The Chiff & Fipple Irish Flute on-line community. Sideblown for your protection.
Post Reply
LKtz
Posts: 259
Joined: Wed Jul 04, 2001 6:00 pm
Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
Location: Washington
Contact:

Post by LKtz »

Hi everyone. Right now I have a cheep, decent keyless Irish Blackwood flute that was given to me. Sometime in the future I would like to get a good keyed Irish flute.

My question is does anyone know if you are able to put your name on a waiting list of a good flute maker, so you can deside in the meantime for the next two or three years whether or not you really want the flute and/or have the money to pay for it? Does that make sense? If not someone post and I will try to explain better.

The thing is if I put my name on the waiting list now, I can pratice in the meantime and really work on the flute, instead of learning, prefecting et al. THEN desiding I want a good flute and have to wait another two or three years to get it. So could someone enlighten me, on what they think?

PS. Sorry about spelling
User avatar
rich
i see what you did there
Posts: 609
Joined: Mon May 14, 2001 6:00 pm
Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
Location: Toronto, Ontario
Contact:

Post by rich »

Most if not all flutemakers with waiting lists will take a deposit when you put your name on, and if you don't want the flute, keep the deposit. Even if you don't mind that, there's a much better way to do it if you've got the cash:

Let's say you put your name on Patrick Olwell's list. Two years later Patrick calls you and says "I have your flute", but you've decided the flute wasn't for you. Let's say the flute cost $1500.

Now, you had to wait two years and pay $1500 for an Olwell flute. What would someone pay to not have to wait? Probably a few hundred, at least. So you buy the flute and turn right around and sell it. (That's all Patrick would do if you didn't buy it, after all.)

The nice part about that, if you've got the money to do it, is that everyone wins. Either Patrick sells a flute and you get one, or Patrick sells a flute, someone gets one without a wait, and you make a bit extra for your troubles.

Now, I can't say I'd recommend speculating in flutes -- the market might decline, after all! -- but if you do think you want one, get your name on the list in good faith now, and you're essentially insured against deciding you don't want it in the end.
<ul>-Rich</ul>
Mal
Posts: 101
Joined: Wed Jun 27, 2001 6:00 pm

Post by Mal »

Yes, be careful about speculating in the Irish Flute market, (or any other market, for that matter). Don't gamble unless you can resign yourself to the possibility that you may end up paying for a flute you couldn't sell except at a loss.

Case in point: After WWII, automobiles of any kind were in short supply ... even used ones; none had been made for 4 years, and manufacturers were converting production lines from making planes and tanks. People got on the waiting list of every car dealer in their areas with idea of buying from the first guy who called them. Who cared whether it was a Kaiser or a Crosley; as long as it ran you could always resell it!

The excessive demand for cars seemed insatiable until, all of a sudden, it
disappeared when it was discovered that the same names were on all the lists! These people didn't have to make deposits, of course, which would have made the potential market more realistic, but it was mainly the post-war boom that smoothed out the situation by steadily increasing the size of the market.

Twenty five years earlier, people who had placed deposits or down payments on real estate and other similar big ticket "investments" just walked away from the game because they couldn't (or opted not to) pay the balance.

I can remember, only a few years ago, when classic flutes like Rudall and Rose languished in hock shops and flea markets, as popular as buggy whips. pins.

That day could come again, since the potential for any market is limited, and particularly so for small trendy markets.

Remember, people don't "consume" flutes, and every flute being made today will sooner or later be up for resale... maybe not tomorrow, but someday.
Post Reply