26 Jan
1999
26 Jan
'99
7:30 a.m.
On Tue, 26 Jan 1999, Alex Knight wrote:
I can only relate what I've seen in the world
o' calculators over
the last year & a half, but I believe that such a database would
accelerate the price escalation. Unfortunately much damage has
already been done in the calculator world, it would be a shame
to see the same thing happen to classic computers.
Sorry to break this to you but the computer collecting world has degraded
quite nicely despite the lack of a pricing guide.
Why do I say this? A couple of reasons. First, a
well-known
calculator web site has a list of values observed for "internet
sales" of various calculator models. Many of the numbers are
from eBay sales. Over the past year, I've seen a _lot_ of
these calculators for sale, and invariably there are eBay
listings that point to the web site and says "the museum of XYZ
calculators says this machine is worth $100". So it gets
bid up to $110, and the next time a model comes up somebody
else says "well it was worth $110 so I'll bid $120" and so
on and so on. So it appears to me that having the data available
in such a public forum causes inflation.
And undue inflation at that! Those prices are just based on what some
clown was willing to pay on that day. They have no basis in relevant
facts such as scarcity, and condition rarely (if ever) seems to come into
play (evidenced by the recent sale of an IMSAI 8080 with a terse
description and no photo).
Call me a cheapskate (because I am) but I think
it's a different
matter spending big $$$ to pull a machine you want out of
somebody else's collection, vs. spending that for a machine
that was headed to the junkheap anyway. I would like to
think that someday I'll find somebody here in central NC
who's throwing out their Altair and I can get it for $100.
Won't happen if the eBay price history is easily obtained on
the Web.
I've had at least a couple opportunties to get a reasonably priced Altair
dashed by this very cause. And despite what people want to believe, ebay
is not a "fair market", nor is any auction for that matter, virtual or
physical! The prices on ebay are just not based on any reasonable
valuation, only speculation and emotion.
When I started my calculator web site I thought about
posting
prices for non-HP machines (as I have kept a pretty complete
history of eBay selling prices over the last year), but after
going through the thought process decided against it. For me
the key aspect of "collecting" is saving as many old machines
as I can from the scrapyard, not worrying about how much
any particular thing is worth.
In all the times I've been interviewed for stories I always downplay the
"value" aspect of collecting (and in fact try to avoid it altogether if
possible) and am quick to put the emphasis on the historical significance
and historical value of the machines, because that's all that really
matters.
Sellam Alternate e-mail: dastar(a)siconic.com
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Always being hassled by the man.
Coming in 1999: Vintage Computer Festival 3.0
See http://www.vintage.org/vcf for details!
[Last web site update: 01/15/99]