Appraisals, value, the "Market" was Re: And $500 gets you...

Rumor has it that Computer Collector Newsletter may have mentioned these words: [[ Ungh. - I wasn't going to jump into the fray on this one... but... Well, I'll say "Just this once." Blame it on CRI. ]] This isn't directed as an attack, but you said that there's no evidence that the above happens.... That's patently wrong; as that's human nature. [[ And to me, it seemed to me that Tom was making generalizations; not pointing at you or any of us specifically. ]] A *lot* of people see my 2004 Chevy Avalanche as a toy -- and they respond in fashion. What I heard most is "Sweet Ride! What'd ya shell out for that?" and "Must be nice to be rich enough to afford an expensive toy like that!" I have yet to hear "How many HP does the engine crank?" or "Boy, I'll bet that rascal could pull people out of the ditch no problem!" (which I did twice this winter.) I needed a dependable pickup that hauls 5 comfortably (as my children are growing, and I doubt they're gonna stop even if I ask 'em nicely ;-). This truck does it, and does it well. I'm certainly not going to try to pull my trailer or haul lumber (or yank people out of the ditch) with an '84 Yugo! And used Avalanches in this town are rarer than Amiga 4000Ts! Until H^HDell, Goatway and HPieceOCrap came out with their sub-$1000 PCs, cost was the first thing I always heard discussed about computers as well (and not just mine, either).... ... *especially* when a large portion of the "unwashed masses" considered computers as unnecessary toys instead of tools. Now that durned near everyone's got [at least] one, the public opinion has changed a great deal. "The geek shall inherit the earth" isn't such a stretch anymore. ;-) Sellam was stating that ePay *alone* is hardly "the market." ePay's a part of it, so are we, so are the people who collect in silence. To say "I saw a frobsnark sell on ePay for 3 cachillion deutschmarks, so that's what mine's worth" is wrong, as it's not taking in many variables (location, rarity, condition, and most importantly "don't trust one stoopid ePayer with more money than brains" ;-) of "the market." On the flipside, if Sellam says "In my vast experience, I set the value of an Amiga 4000T with a 4Meg 3D Zorro III card at $70" that doesn't automagically make me an idiot if I pay $80 for one in Northern Michigan; as they're exceptionally rare here. (Granted, I probably have the only one in a 100 mile radius, so I'd have to buy it WWII Enigma, yet I've never seen a PERQ. Which is rarer? (Heck, I've never seen a black Apple II!) I think he was trying to make the point more of "Why should we try to quantify a hobby in which a very small percentage of the population actually partake?" which is what you had said we should do. Is there a grading scale for condition of computers, like there is for coins? No. Should there be? I don't think so, as I don't think "the market" is going to grow to the point that it's necessary. How about mintages? Do we have much more than guesses as to how many of [insert favorite computer here] were made? How many survived? In most cases, no. However, until that grading scale exists, and actual "global rarity" data exists, valuation is going to be subjective, whether the primary datapoints you use are ePay or Sellam's brain. I'm with Tom - I don't *care* what my computer shiznit is worth. I do this because I enjoy the hobby. My coin collection mirrors my computer collection: 99% bog-standard crap, with a couple of rather interesting conversation pieces. I like my Canadian Large Cent collection just as much as my CoCo3 collection, and they're worth about the same amount - $20, tops. Maybe. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!! He's sleeping! Best not to wake him up, else he might get cranky! ;-) Laterz, Roger "Merch" Merchberger -- Roger "Merch" Merchberger | A new truth in advertising slogan SysAdmin, Iceberg Computers | for MicroSoft: "We're not the oxy... zmerch at 30below.com | ...in oxymoron!"