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i have a model 207 cyl back & I'm trying to get an idea what it's worth. it's been restored & is now in good trim & is playable. it also has it's original hard case that is rough but restorable. i'm not sure what it's build date is but it looks to be an earlier model. it's ser. # is 34459.
I believe that your mandolin is a model 202. A 207 would have pearl trim and other fancy appointments, and figured maple back and sides.
It looks like the top on yours has been over-varnished, which reduces the market value of the instrument.
While a 202 with clean and original finish can bring $1500 + at major vintage stores, yours is more likely to bring somewhere around $1000 on a good day.
i misread the page i looked at. this is a model 202. when i repaired the soundboard i did a french lacquer finish on the top.
There was a Vega cylinder back on eBay recently- I was outbid, although I should have bid higher. It was probably the same model with its original hard case and it only made $560. It appeared to be in pretty good condition- not perfect but nothing that worried me. My bidding did not go higher as I am overseas and I will get about a 23% surcharge on arrival over here- so that limits my enthusiasm somewhat- so I didn't get it which is a pity but there you go.
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And therein lies one of the problems with putting a dollar value on an instrument.
What is the buying/selling medium?
Ebay selling prices are often a fraction of those at established retail stores.
The better retail stores provide secure transactions, return policies, skilled packing, and independently insured shipping.
On ebay, there are the constant risks of financial scams, mis-represented or poorly represented instruments, no-return policies, amateur packing, etc., etc. . . .
Reverb fits somewhere in between.
Some buyers are willing to take the ebay risks for the lower prices.
Many others are not.
My personal preference is to neither buy nor sell on ebay.
The benefits of buying from a retail store are as you have detailed- and I have no problem with a retailer making a margin. However, making that margin often depends on buying that instrument at a price that might disappoint the seller- which could be well below what could be realised on eBay- although many would prefer not to sell on ebay, which I understand. I have only ever bought one mandolin that was used as opposed to being new, from a retailer and I was ripped off, but you live and learn.
In fact this store in London's renowned Denmark Street, was famous but that really should have been infamous but the media wrote endless articles about the shop and its owner, and this helped sustain the business for years. I am not anti-retailer, one of my best friends, I met when I bought a guitar in his shop in 1978 and know the problems retailers have- people come in and ask all the questions, play their instruments and decide what to purchase but then buy it online, to save money, then when they have a problem, return to that shop with their purchase- it must be really annoying.
Yeah, there was also a famous high-priced American store that survived on similar hype when they really should have gone out of business.
They did finally go under a few years ago. I regularly see new upstarts trying to get away with similar shenanigans, but in most cases, they don't last.
But there are still a few ne'er-do-wells who have been around for a long time, though. I guess we will always have those.
I don't know what it's like outside the US, but over here I'd rather consign and let the dealer do the work and take the fees. If they can get $1500 for an instrument that will only bring half of that on ebay, the numbers work out better if I consign. But I do choose the retailer carefully.
I have to admit, that I have only given instruments away and have never tried to sell or consign them. I know my friend when he had his shop did consignment sales on vintage guitars which worked okay for a while. I rarely go to music shops now because most that have survived are big and are selling instruments that I have no real interest in trying out, let alone buying and do not sell vintage instruments- just trade ins of similar instruments to what they sell, so I have no reason to go in except to buy strings- which I now tend to buy online. My local shop has a big internet presence and a large following on YouTube that is called "Chappers & The Captain" and although I do know "The Captain" as I do not go into the store much, he is not a face in the shop- although I may run into him on the street from time to time. When I took my Gibson snakehead A2 to my luthier- he was going to make some A2 inspired mandolins and wanted to take measurements, I told him that: "I don't want to speak ill of the dead, but Andy charged me way too much" and he replied: "Don't let that stop you!" so he really was known for being what we call a "rip-off merchant." However, it is a very good A2 in terms of tone and volume, so after more than 20 years, it does not sting me- I am older and wiser.