Most Recent Changes

Items For Sale

Sale conditions

All of my advertised items either come from or are surplus to my collection – please bear in mind that I don’t operate a retail business and that most items are old, or unique and in some ways can show signs of age. Rarely will the signs of age be enough to detract from the overall appeal of the telephone.

Warranty 

If the telephone is sold as a working example, I will provide a 6 months guarantee from the date of purchase – the buyer will be responsible for postage costs. 

Postage is from Brisbane.

In all cases, I will provide a money back guarantee if the phone is not what the buyer expected; again, the buyer will be responsible for all postage costs and the cost of any modifications that they had requested. 

Working telephones 

If the telephone is sold as working, to connect to the Australian Network it will need a miniature or a 610 connector. I will fit the required connector for just the cost of the connector. 

Some telephones have a line cord that just can't be fitted with a miniature connection. For these I can provide an adapter cable.

From the era before dial phones - Buyers will often see bright, shiny brass parts and accents on phones that are said to be "antique"; this is a good sign that they are not original. 

I don't modify old phones by putting modern components in them to make them working, because I think they should be kept as original as possible. Almost without exception, the telephones from before the 1920's are not really suited to everyday use. That is not to say that they can't be used at all, they can; it is just that they won't have the speech quality or the facilities that we are used to. Some of them though will be fine for answering calls, which is probably all that is needed if it is used as a feature for a bedside or family room. Even rotary dials will work on some modern telephone lines.

Every day use of a Dial telephone For example, the Candlestick

The Candlestick can be a lovely telephone, but to be quite honest I could not suggest any dial phone as a complete replacement and suitable for every day use. Calling other numbers from a dial phone is very slow plus you lose the facility for input of post-dialling information. Nowadays, this post-dialling information seems to be necessary when you make a call to almost any major business/government; where you need to select from menu options for accounts etc.
There is also another issue with candlesticks in particular; and that is that they never had a bell inside of them which now makes them most suitable as a second phone. It is possible to fit a miniature buzzer inside the phones, or one of the old "bell boxes" (pictured on the left) near the candlestick.

The dial phone does have the advantage though of operating OK even when mains power is lost. 

Pictures

Some of the pictures of items that I will be selling are pictures from my collection and phones might be pictured where they "reside" on the shelves, or wall mounted. If I have had more than one of any type of phone, the phone on sale might not necessarily be exactly the same as the one in the picture; and you might need a higher resolution  picture to make an informed decision; just ask. 

The description though, of the condition and whether working or not will be accurate. So, by all means be satisfied that I have provided all of the information that you need.

Useful Information 

I have prepared a (pdf) document to provide an approximate time-line in a picture. It shows the type of telephones typically used in Australia during the 1900's. This might help folks to decide which type of phone best suits their needs.

Satisfaction

When buying any used and collectible item, it is often very difficult to gauge the validity and condition without actually having the item in your hands. The eventual discovery that the item is not as described is the penalty one can pay when buying on-line such as through eBay. Even if the seller honestly thinks an item is genuine, it takes expertise to be sure. Quite often it is difficult to validate without close examination (especially the internal parts).

I will guarantee that the descriptions of my phones are based on a thorough examination of the phone inside and out.

Imitations - Information here

Fakes and Genuine Vintage Collectable Antiques - Information here

See something you'd like???

Space is a premium for me so if you see something on my "collections" pages that you would like to buy, please ask; I may decide to sell. Or, contact me if there is a particular phone that you are looking for, or that special location that you want to decorate.  

And that's not all 

With any telephone purchased; and to promote sales of my book "TELEPHONEtalk", I will offer a copy at the very special price of A$27.50 – no additional postage; usually A$40 with postage in Australia.

Click on the category that interests you most for more details.