Thirty five pounds gets a bidder a tattered copy of "To The Front",  a Cammeyer banjo solo. Its condition is described  without embarrassment as "like new".  

http://www.ebay.com/itm/original-vintage-banjo-sheetmusic-to-the-fr...

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Woopty Doo indeed.

Then you're better of paying 49,90 for this plectrum method. At least the condition is described correctly. A Practical Plectrum Method by Arthur W Black .

http://www.ebay.nl/itm/BANJO-A-Practical-Plectrum-Method-rare-1919-...

Only while it lasts available for 22 pounds at:

 http://www.sheetmusicwarehouse.co.uk/details.php?ref=62678

The asking prizes on ebay do frequently amaze me.

There's no accounting for the prices people ask for things on eBay.  Makes you wonder if some of them ever sell.  I spent a long time trying to find a playable concert zither on eBay -- or at least one that could be made playable without spending 10x what the instrument was worth.  I didn't succeed, but I learned a lot of interesting things. 

One is that most people apparently don't know what a zither is:  I've seen everything from lap steel guitars to Vietnamese dan daysdescribed as "zithers".  Second thing is that a lot of people who actually did have a real concert zither to sell assumed that it was some rare, exotic instrument worth anywhere from 20-50 times what it sold for new.  And the third this is that a majority of people selling musican instruments of any sort on eBay don't seem to have any practical idea of what constitutes "playable condition".

I've seen zithers that probably sold for $20-$30 new, which if intact were worth maybe $50-$150 tops today, and which would require about $1000 of work from a luthier to be made playable -- listed for anywhere from $500 - $1200.  No thanks.

You need to beware with books and albums, too.  As far as I can tell, eBay doesn't set any standards whatsoever as far as describing the condition of the things people sell there, beyond "new" or "used".  People will use terms like "as new," "fine", "very good" , etc., but they don't use them as they're technically supposed to be used.

Oh well... that's the price we pay, I suppose, for having the convenience of an on-line auction site.

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