13 Jan
2003
13 Jan
'03
6:30 p.m.
On Mon, 13 Jan 2003, Jay West wrote:
I REALLY don't want to start a long thread on ebay
pros & cons, but the post
lawrence made got me thinking. I'll try to keep it lucid instead of trolling
;)
Me either, since we've already been there, done that, got the t-shirt,
then turned around and sold it on eBay.
The ebay seller on the other hand, doesn't have
this luxury. No inventory.
Chances are he only has one item. Period. Forever. So it is clearly in his
best interest to get the highest possible price. And I can't blame them one
bit. The simple fact is... when a particular item on ebay goes for 100 times
the value WE think it should have, to the person who bought it... well, it
*IS* worth that much. And that's pretty much the definition of market
value - what someone is willing to pay. And the ebay seller's costs... they
Define "market". If it sells for 100 times the average value that others
would pay, is this "the" market? Or "a" market (a market of one)?
DO fluctuate wildly. One guy may have bought the
system for $500 before
taking it to ebay, the other guy may have picked the same exact model system
out of a dumpster behind his apartment for zero cost. Another guy may have
emotional attachment which raises the price he would want. Others just have
an unrealistic idea of what a system is "worth", probably cause of ebay
There are, and have been, for decades, valid mathematical and actuarial
methods for determining the value of a given object based on several
criteria, including of course supply and demand. Why should ending prices
of eBay auctions all of a sudden supercede that science?
As a matter of fact, I would bet the fact that you can
get well over $1K
for an Imsai 8080 on ebay, is DIRECTLY responsible for a LOT of Imsai
8080's NOT going into the dumpster.
And I would guess that a probably equal number of IMSAI's did not go to
the trash because the owner just couldn't get him/herself to simply throw
it out. I've heard this story a lot. Heck, I have IMSAIs because of this
reason.
Is that such a bad thing? And when you have everything
needed
to make a system run except ONE single missing card... is it bad that
you find that holy grail card on ebay? I don't think so. Not if it gets
another vintage machine up and running.
Yes, eBay is good for finding something that you really, really need and
don't want to spend weeks or months searching for, and in that regard you
are paying a premium for that luxury.
Outside of eBay, that luxury is not afforded, and so therefore the price
one must pay for the item outside of eBay should not follow eBay
guidelines.
So I guess I have to say I both love, and hate, ebay
at the same time. It is
not a good indicator of the "collectible value".
Or even of true market value based on statistical means and averages.
But it is a very good indicator ... and 2-What was it
worth on that
particular date and time.
Which is not at all useful for long-term market valuation.
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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