10 Apr
2005
10 Apr
'05
7:44 p.m.
On Thu, 7 Apr 2005, Teo Zenios wrote:
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.
If your experience consists solely of tracking eBay auctions then you're
never going to fully understand the dynamics of this particular hobby.
You are seeing only a subset of the actual deals taking place on a daily,
weekly or monthly basis. If you're going to want to be in the business of
valuation, you first need to keep track of data points from many sources,
including thrift stores, flea markets, surplus shops, ham fests, private
sales, surplus auctions, etc. You also need to understand the dynamics of
each source. In the case of eBay, if you have a handle on the other
sources then you know that prices are consistently inflated in that venue,
so you know to apply a fudge factor to normalize an eBay sale. Thrift
stores and surplus auctions are generally on the lower end of the scale,
so you apply a fudge factor to normalize the value upwards.
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.
You're discounting the tendency of the eBay auction mechanism to
consistently inflate prices. This is well known and is the reason why
it's so popular with sellers. It's also the basis of the persistent
gripes you hear from buyers on eBay (i.e. eOverpay, etc.) If you don't
understand this then you have no business philosophizing about values.
--
Sellam Ismail Vintage Computer Festival
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