Value of this Duke Kahanamoku shirt?

[Marc Chevalier]

Curious, were any bids on the item cancelled before it got pulled?

No, there weren't ... but that doesn't mean much. Most bidders for high-end vintage clothing wait until the auction's final few seconds to snipe bid.

.

 

[DoubleXX]

Well, I've been collecting high-end vintage aloha shirts for quite a while now and for what it's worth, I'd say that shirt is an original. The original hang tag leads me to that conclusion. Sun Surf uses its own hang tags.

I have a pretty good idea who made the "buy it now" deal, judging by the way the seller question was asked. Oh well. The Sun Surf repros are fantastic, so you can always get one of them and virtually no one but you will know it's not vintage.

 

[repeatclicks]

Here's what really happened, gents.


The seller cancelled the auction early because someone sent him (or her) a PM offering A LOT OF MONEY for the shirt ... provided the seller would agree to end the auction and sell it to him privately. The seller liked the offer, and duly pulled the auction off of eBay. This happens all the time for very high-end vintage menswear: Levi's, Hawaiian shirts, and workwear.


The seller ends up happy, because he receives more for the shirt than he thought he'd get via eBay -- and he won't have to pay eBay a percentage of the winning bid price.


The buyer ends up happy, because he pays less for the shirt than he thinks he'd have had to via eBay (with all those rival bidders to compete with).


In short, the shirt did sell --off of eBay-- and probably for thousands of dollars (due to its large size, dead stock condition, and original paper hangtag).


And yes, I'd bet my life that it was a true 1951 vintage piece.


.

Actually this is not what happened, but it sure would make for a good story! The seller is getting in contact with The Hana Shirt Co about the shirt, so we shall see...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Actually this is not what happened, but it sure would make for a good story! The seller is getting in contact with The Hana Shirt Co about the shirt, so we shall see...

Interesting! Thanks for letting us know what really happened. The seller's opening bid price was not low, so I reckoned that he/she had an inkling of what the shirt was worth. It's surprising (and unusual) that the seller didn't do his homework before putting the auction up.


In my opinion, the shirt is worth at least $2,000, even in this market.


Do you know the seller?


.

 

[repeatclicks]

No I dont know the seller personally, but they seem like genuine people. Apparently the couple selling it have been collecting 'things' (they werent specific as to what) for a long time but are moving from Chicago to a smaller location, so they are selling off stuff.

 

[pdxvintagette]

Well, upon enlarging the photos on ebay (larger than what ebay shows on my screen) I retract my assumption about it beind a repro. Not due to yellowing (which could seriously just have been lighting), but because of the split in the cardboard where it bends to make the collar piece.

I still stand by my original "gee, thanks" ... while offering money is one thing, offering advice is another - people should mind their own business and let the ebay gods do what they will. In the end, the guy might have gotten a better price letting The Big Dogs duke it out instead of simply inquiring with one of them.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

In the end, the guy might have gotten a better price letting The Big Dogs duke it out instead of simply inquiring with one of them.

Agreed. Furthermore, the seller should have done his investigating before launching the auction. A quick search through eBay's completed vintage Hawaiian shirt auctions would have done the trick.


It's a pity that the buttons aren't made of coconut shell.


.

 

[handlebar bart]

Well, upon enlarging the photos on ebay (larger than what ebay shows on my screen) I retract my assumption about it beind a repro. Not due to yellowing (which could seriously just have been lighting), but because of the split in the cardboard where it bends to make the collar piece.

I still stand by my original "gee, thanks" ... while offering money is one thing, offering advice is another - people should mind their own business and let the ebay gods do what they will. In the end, the guy might have gotten a better price letting The Big Dogs duke it out instead of simply inquiring with one of them.

Wow...............nice shirt but I for one will take a pass on that wonderful advicelol

 

[Talbot]

Hmm, interesting outcome

Reminds me of an ebay auction a while back, when a guy put a motorless 63 Pontiac Tempest up for bids

He was going to scrap it to collect the $200 recycle value, but the price of scrap fell so he put it on ebay.

It eventually sold for $226,521.63. Turns out it had serious provenance.

When it was sitting at the $100,000 mark, the seller was offered $160,000 to end early and he declined.

This was late last year before the market softened. However the few people I know that are seriously well off have not moderated their spending. From their perspective, everything is on fire sale.

The guy with the car got lucky. I guess the moral to the story is to know what you have and don't trust to chance.

Thats why forums like this are so great - turbulence not withstanding

 

[repeatclicks]

Its been relisted, with a starting bid of $1,500. Someone got some much needed info apparently!

 

[reetpleat]

That, essentially, is my point.

The intrinsic value of the shirt is about five bucks, as a covering for the torso.

Beyond that, it's what the market will bear which is highly erratic in uncertain economic times.

What it's worth to any given person is unknowable, since emotional value varies from person to person.

So all we really know is that it's not worth $160 right now. It may be worth twice that next month. Who knows?

Such is the antiques/collectibles market.

You could argue that point, but I would not necessarily agree. Collectibles tend to have a certain value, although it varies. A skilled dealer can pin point the value to a certain percentage. Just because it did not sell today on ebay, does not mean it is not worth that price. The owner could walk into many a vintage shop and get that right now, or contact a collector.

But for some reason, it did not bring that here. Perhaps because people thought it was a copy or a rip off.

 

[reetpleat]

The only thing that is an known unknown (how Rumsfeldian) variable here is the spelling of "hawaiian', it is wrong, this can be a factor: I recently picked up on ebay a quite nice shirt very cheaply .. Waikiki Sports in fact, that had that same misspelling, and because no-one else bid on what was a very impressive item, I got it for $40 and later sold it for $350.
My theory is that possibly that the big collectors' saved searches had the correct spelling and therefore did not pick up the listing, which is probably why I didn't see the one in question.....

Not sure, but5 Ebay does do their searches in a way that might pick up misspellings. Do a search for 50's and you will g et thiings listed as 50s, for example. Not sure about common misspellings of words like hawaiian.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Its been relisted, with a starting bid of $1,500. Someone got some much needed info apparently!

Ah ha! Now market forces will truly show of show us the value. Although, they likely would have anyway if the original listing hadn't been pulled. Misspelling aside, a number of us found the first listing, so I'm sure the "big bad" collectors did to.

 

[reetpleat]

I assumed that the auction ran it's course, otherwise, (no offense to original poster) there would seem to be no point in bringing it up. an auction that is ended early either did an outside buy it now deal, or realized they made a mistake and cancelled it, or sold it locally or some such. So a question as to why it did not sell, or isn't it worth the asking price, is mute if the auction did not run its course. Now, as for linen suits with bullet holes in them, that is a different story.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I assumed that the auction ran it's course, otherwise, (no offense to original poster) there would seem to be no point in bringing it up. an auction that is ended early either did an outside buy it now deal, or realized they made a mistake and cancelled it, or sold it locally or some such. So a question as to why it did not sell, or isn't it worth the asking price, is mute if the auction did not run its course. Now, as for linen suits with bullet holes in them, that is a different story.

No, the OP actually contacted the seller and apparently had some pretty extensive communications with the seller. I believe a referral was made to one of the really prominent dealer/collectors, who gave the seller some info.

The whole thing strikes me as rather odd and thoroughly "hall monitor-esque."

 

[pdxvintagette]

I won't lie - I find it a little amusing that the shirt DIDN'T sell at the $1500 relist. If the big-time buyers were confident that it was the real thing, it probably had the potention to reach a price point near this when listed with a lower starting bid.

But, that's sorta what ya get when you pull a listing from ebay - buyer who were watching it before don't come back, for multiple reasons.

Whether people thought my advice to "mind their own business" was snarky or not ...(hey, I can be a little snarky. But I'm an honest and ethical businesswoman) ... I would bet ten to one it was the RIGHT advice in this case.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I won't lie - I find it a little amusing that the shirt DIDN'T sell at the $1500 relist. If the big-time buyers were confident that it was the real thing, it probably had the potention to reach a price point near this when listed with a lower starting bid.

But, that's sorta what ya get when you pull a listing from ebay - buyer who were watching it before don't come back, for multiple reasons.

Whether people thought my advice to "mind their own business" was snarky or not ...(hey, I can be a little snarky. But I'm an honest and ethical businesswoman) ... I would bet ten to one it was the RIGHT advice in this case.

Yep, re-listing is generally a price killer. Also, high starting prices always depress the final ending value. Big time baby Huey effect on this one.

The real shame is, the seller will now probably sell it off E-Bay to the collector who originally made an offer, thus depriving the little guy "amateur" collectors a chance to duke it out in open bidding...

 

[mattfink]

If it's a repro, I'd say $161 was a fair price. I would guess that most other heavy bidders on eBay didn't think it was real or it would've been hammered. I personally think the shirt (if real) is worth upwards of $500 even in this soft market. Two years ago it would have gone for over $1,000.