It was only 3 days ago that I was asking some rather rhetorical questions about new, inexpensive bass saxophones, since I had noticed some significant sale prices on eBay, and even at WWBW.
While having my coffee this AM, I was poking around on eBay, and found 2 more, new, inexpensive, presumably Asian-made bass saxophone “brands”, that I had never heard of. I’m putting brands in quotes, because for the first one I found, there was no brand name listed. So I’ll just call it No Name Brand Chinese Horn, or NNBCH for short.
NNBCH can be yours for the Buy It Now Price of $6,999, which includes free shipping from “Beijing, Beijing Olympic, China”.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
This is what they say about the horn, themselves, & the conditions of the sale: (I’m sorry, but I just had to keep the colours in the text, it was just too tempting.) 
ITEM DESCRIPTION:
This item is a BASS Saxophone, is of very Super Quality and craftmanship
Condition:Brand New
Surface:Gold lacquer
Material: Brass
Bb key with high F# key
Case: beautiful Hard Case
With FREE Cleaning Cloth, FREE White Gloves, etc.
ABOUT US: Our Group is one of the biggest manufacturing of Percussion and Band instruments in China,Our products mainly focus on Percussion, Woodwind, and Brass wind instruments, accessories, cases and bags, etc, more than 20 musical instruments wholesales dealers from European Countries, United States, Japanese, Korea, etc. have imported our products and sell very well in their market and established long cooperation.
if you have any questions please contact me via E-mail: musical_shop168@yahoo.com.cn
PAYMENT WAY:
I Prefer PAYPAL, any other payments please contact me first, thanks.
SHIPPING AND HANDLING
The postage and handling from China to Worldwide is USD, Postal insurance 30USD is optional.
NOW FREE POSTAGE FOR PROMOTION!!!!
Via EMS Carrier, reaching about 10-14 work days,can be tracked via your local website and our website: http://www.ems.com.cn/english-main.jsp, Will only mail to United States, Canada,UK Australia, Japan, Singarpore, Thailand, Malaysia.
the price don’t include any custom duty of your country, thanks
COMBINED SHIPPING:
2 items 5% Discount off postage.
RETURN POLICY:
If you are unsatisfied with the item please E-mail me first and mail it back in Original conditions during 30 days after receiving the item,and you will get full money back. thanks for your cooperation.
Now if this NNBCH doesn’t exactly float your boat, or you feel if you’re going to spend $7k on a horn, you’d like it to have a brand name, then perhaps this next offering is more for to your liking…
This new bass saxophone is being sold under the brand name I&K (factory located in undisclosed Asian country, that manufacturers bass saxophones for other companies as well most likely). The sax is being sold by a dealer in Australia, so shipping is going to potentially be costly, depending on where it’s going. (No free shipping included on this baby.)
This is what they say about this horn:
A Brand new great looking and sounding Bass Saxophone for the intermediate to professional player. This well crafted, hand made Selmer reproduction is manufactured from all new high grade yellow brass.
The Sax has very good intonation and plays well in all registers. It is shipped to you in it’s own sturdy hard case and is supplied with a hard rubber mouthpiece. This instrument would suit any musician looking for a quality Bass at a down to earth price.
This is a Brand New Instrument that has been fully set up by our qualified technician and represents a unique opportunity to own a Bass saxophone at a realistic price.
Also Included:
- Cleaning cloth
- Polishing cloth
- Cork grease
- Neck strap
- Hard rubber Mpc
- Quality Hard Case
We have the utmost confidence in the high quality and suitability of our instruments, hence our customer satisfaction policy!
14 Day Money Back Guarantee If you are not completely satisfied with your Baritone, [emphasis added] you may return it in its original packaging and condition for a full refund of the instrument purchase price. (Please note that all freight costs are non refundable)
Payment can be by Bank deposit, Money order or Paypal.
Postage and Handling All Australian deliveries are by Courier and include insurance.
$150.00
Overseas deliveries are via Federal Express and fully insured.
AUD$600.00Pick up and inspection is welcome. We are located in Melbourne and a suitable time can be arranged by contacting us via eBay…
OK then, perhaps they better check their ad copy, since they’re selling us a bass, returning a baritone is not too likely is it? On the plus side, I like the fact that they do offer local residents the opportunity to come and inspect and pick the horn up.
The most glaring error here though is that they call their horn a “hand made Selmer reproduction”. Well looking at the photo, one sees an American style bass, not one with a French-style wrap. This is what the Selmer Series II looks like…
Source: sax.co.uk
Oops…Oh well, no one’s perfect. As a matter of fact, the NNBCH, shown first in this post, is actually a copy of a French wrap-style horn (despite them not mentioning that fact).
So to wrap up then, (pardon my pun) 😀 my tally for the week of new, “inexpensive” brands of bass saxophones on eBay is: 4. The NNBCH and the I&K that I came across this morning, the Orpheo, as well as the International Woodwinds that, while I saw it on the WWBW website, is also available on eBay today as well. I should mention that the IW bass is currently available on eBay in both the 602 & 661 models.
Post modernity has certainly run amok in the new, bass saxophone world. I’m just surprised we haven’t seen them in tiger strips, camouflage, fire engine red, or purple yet. 
But then there’s alway 2009 to look forward to ❗
Rhythm Australia is having a sale on its I&K bass saxophones (Conn reproductions). Currently on eBay, the price is $3,999.00 AU, or approximately $3,380.55 US according to eBay.
The auction for the I&K bass ends on September 13.
I didn’t see anywhere in the eBay ad where they specify the number of horns that they have in stock. Perhaps only 1? Perhaps ❓ ❓
I realized that I forgot to mention the price of the I&K sax. (Although I do mention the price of shipping.) At the time of writing, the horn was being sold by Rhythm Australia through their eBay store for $6,999 AU. At the time, eBay was showing that to be approximately $4,335.88 US.