It's all perspective. Some times good, sometimes bad.

Excellent question!

It's both good and bad. First the good; you can pretty much find anything you're looking for on the internet, whether it's eBay, CL, local newspapers, etc. I'm sure many of can remember scouring each city we visited for drums and parts to complete our kits. I found a NOS Slingerland Tempo King pedal at a music store in Las Vegas a long time ago... way before the internet became popular. But, finding those items took a very long time. Now, with the internet, we can pretty much find what we need.

The bad; probably the first thing is that whatever we need, you can bet there are dozens of others looking for the same thing! Many items may start out at a very low price, but, due to over zealous bidders, can force items up to astronomical prices! There can be no rhyme or reason to prices, with identical items spanning a large price gap.

Now, because of those high prices for certain items, we find sellers who feel the need to ask very high starting prices for these same items. There are still bargains to be found, but it seems they are getting few and far between.

Just my humble :2Cents:

Prices have been going down steadily since the days of NSMD & the white paper. At that time certain snares were marketed as being rare, & hard to find. The internet has since shown that most of these drums are actually common, & easy to get. Good & bad depend on one thing, ..are you a buyer or a seller. Internet prices have especially been falling in recent years. I have never seen so many great drums selling for such affordable prices.

that's my finds also!

The good ... it's a bit easier to locate a kit.

The bad ... anytime you add people to a mix, inevitably you get crooks.

So, while it's neato to be able to locate a kit easier with the influx of more people, the number of untrustworthy and unethical crooks has increased. That just plain sucks.

We've had plenty of discussions on here about that very topic. It's one of the reasons this forum is such a special place. We can more easily identify those with which to do business ... that is to say, most all of us here are honest. The bad apples are easy to spot, as the worm gives 'em away toot sweet. Love this forum.

Thanks for starting this topic. For someone like myself it's great info to learn about. I have only been in the vintage drum market here since this Jan. So I'm pretty much a total newb with past prices on things. Even though I've played since the 60's I haven't bought anything drum related for myself since the early 80's. I have bought drums, cymbals, guitars, basses, amps etc... for my kids but mostly new stuff or specific used items I can check out and haggle a bit. Today prices seem to be up a bit from last year. But with what everyone is saying things are still down overall compared to years past.

It all depends on the drum how much it's in demand and how easy to get.

For example Leedy timbales back then sold for $75.00 with case today in excellent condition You can get between $500.-2000.00 depending on condition and model from Slingerland to Conn. With Slingerland being the lower priced.

Now a FULL DRUM kIT LEEDY from the Slingerland era will sell at a higher price than from the Conn era.

Then you you have company's Like Ludwig there older model will sell more expensive than the newer Model. The same goes with Rogers the older the more money you will pay. And again all depends on condition.

leedy conn era drums are far superior in build quality to slingerland drums period. conn era drums out sale slingerland period except for a sold shell RK. complete conn era kit's routinely sale for $1200.00 to $2500.00 show me a completed slingerland kit in that price range?

To me, the biggest advantage with the internet is that you can do all the research on and search for an item without even leaving the house! And that's my point, with all the info on the internet (like our VDF) shame on you if you don't use it as a tool to keep yourself from getting taken when buying and selling on the net. I feel lucky because I was around and playing what are now "vintage drums" back then so I think it's a little easier for me to spot bogus items people are passing off as genuine or original. I've learned a ton since becoming a member of VDF. Keep on drummin!