Price guide for vintage computers (long)

Since the cat's out of the bag, I should respond to the comments about the vintage computer book I recently completed. First, it is not just a price guide. I call it a field guide that primarily helps you identify a computer and tells you what its key components and options were when new. It does give a value range. This was at the insistence of the publisher. My original proposal was for a 500-600-page vintage microcomputer encyclopedia, like the Catalog of American Cars (actually, I modeled the original proposal on The Complete Encyclopedia of Motorcars by G.N, Georgano and first published in 1968). The publisher thought that it would be a hard sell to the bookstores and distributors. The book would be too expensive for them to take a chance on what would be considered a new genre. For the record, I wrote this book out of an appreciation of computing history and because of the misinformation being distributed about old computers on eBay and elsewhere. I don't buy and sell vintage computers and have no intention of doing so for a living in the future. The book speaks to the enthusiast, not the dealer or speculator. Someone doubted whether a such guide could be successful. I don't expect to sell a lot of copies for now, but this is the type of project that could be sold for years with periodic updates. In the long run, the considerable amount of work that went into it will be rewarded. The book covers microcomputers and portable computers only. It's what I know best. It include more than 700 systems and 350 photos (numbers subject to change). The latest word from my publisher is that is will be available in June next year. I expected publication for late this year, but I was a bit late and their production is backed up. I haven't even had an initial reaction from the editor, so I'm uncomfortable saying any more about the book for now. However, I will reply to a few comments made on the value and wisdom of price guides. --eBay: Using eBay as a price guide works only for common items where you can look at selling prices for, say, 15 Osborne 1's in similar condition and figure an average. It is not good for rare systems where you can't factor out buyer over-exuberance, inaccurate descriptions, deceptive sellers, etc. In fact, there is no good pricing benchmark for most collectible computers where no public record of sales exists. This makes creating a price guide a dicey proposition, and I'm careful to spell out all the dangers of relying too heavily on any guide. And there is no copyright issue with using selling prices from eBay for a pricing guide (I didn't--just one of several data points I used) as long as you don't copy the format in which eBay presents them. The prices are facts, and you can't copyright a fact. --Price guides as evil: If people try to make a living from buying and selling old computers, or purchasing them as an investment, it won't be because of a price guide. From a dealer perspective, price guides work best for frequently bought-and-sold items. In this hobby, that means the C64s, Atari 800s, TRS-80 CoCos, etc.--the perennial low-buck items that dealers can't make any money on. As I said above, there is no data for what people are paying for most vintage computer models, and I expect this to stay the case for the foreseeable future. Dealers and speculators will have to rely on their own observations and gut feelings, as the successful ones tend to do. As for thrift shops, I expect that they will choose to remain ignorant about old computers and I don't see them spending money on price guides. --On dealers and speculators ruining the hobby: You could probably count using the fingers on one hand the number of dealers making a living buying and selling vintage computers exclusively. Old computers are high-overhead in terms of storage, testing, handling, and prepping for sale. It requires a great deal of knowledge and a network of buyers/collectors willing to spend high prices on rare systems. The hobby is too small for more than a few dealers to remain viable. I expect the hobby to grow slowly (price guide or no price guide) for similar reasons. Not everyone has the knowledge or storage capability to fully appreciate vintage computers. I could be wrong, but I don't see the old computer hobby turning into what the old car hobby is today. To me, it's more like the old radio hobby--large but still accessible to the person of average financial means. --On the true value of price guides: Someone mentioned that it was to the collector's advantage if the seller didn't know what a given system was worth. True, but how do you know what that computer is worth? If it's something you're familiar with, then you probably know its value as well as any price guide author, but what if you run across an unfamiliar but interesting system? How do you know then if you're the one taking advantage of someone's ignorance or vice-versa? The buyer is always the final arbiter of value, but a price guide can help keep you from getting burned or clue you in on a great deal. I'll keep everyone on this list posted on the book's progress. --Mike Michael Nadeau Editorial Services 603-893-2379