7 Apr
2005
7 Apr
'05
12:35 p.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Vintage Computer Festival" <vcf at siconic.com>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Thursday, April 07, 2005 3:15 PM
Subject: Re: And $500 gets you...
On Wed, 6 Apr 2005, Marvin Johnston wrote:
Festival
Its a very visible data point. Anybody with an ebay account can keep track
of what systems they are interested in were sold (if they sold which is
always good to know) for. Nobody knows what you can get a system for Sellam
because it is not mentioned in public, so the deal might well not even exist
to the rest of us collectors.
There are peaks and valleys of what something sells for on ebay just like
any other venue. The shear volume of same items sold over a long period of
time to me is a good indication of what the retail value of that items is ,
more accurate then any printed price guide or somebody bragging about
getting one for a buck at a flee market 2000 miles from me.
I maintain that Ebay does reflect the state of
the market subject to a
couple of limitations.
1) Ebay is a *retail* venue although bargains can be had.
2) Looking at *only* the final bid price to determine value is stupid!
My general rule of thumb is to go back to the third highest bidder as
that eliminates the "game players" who bid with the "Oh yea, take
this"
mentality.
I think it's worth reiterating that eBay is only one data point.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer