4 Jul
2005
4 Jul
'05
7:32 p.m.
Well, as a collector I am not happy that everyone knows what something
is worth. Cummon, who among us would not buy omething below market if
we could? And E Bay has done a lot to teach the world the value of
items that were once thought to be trash. This causes my collecting
costs to go up. I dont like that. BUT....................
As a seller, I like having a huge market to sell to intead of just the
local market (Which is tinny here in south Texas where they think Hi
Tech is refering to the Model T automobile) I also like a market that
is educated in the value of my items so I dont have to convince them.
Thee two views are conflicting, but as both a buyer and a seller I
have to ballance both views, and I think in the long run, because of
the exposure , E-Bay helps both.
I have some issues with them, such a their ban on Nazi paraphenalia,
which I could understand if it was just "modern" or Just reproductions
they were against, but something like a genuine item from the Third
Reich, is a true collectable even if you dont agree with the politics.
Yet they ban them based on the philosophy. Why not ban Christian
paraphenalia baed on philosophy...etc. etc., who is next???
On 7/4/05, Computer Collector Newsletter <news at computercollector.com> wrote:
There are certainly some big problems with eBay's
system.
But overall, I agree with the prior posting (I forget whose) noting that no
place else can we find so much stuff without leaving our desks. That is one
heck of a good deal.
There are several hundred to maybe a thousand of us here on classiccmp.
There could easily be twice or ten times as many collectors who have no idea
classiccmp, vcf, etc. exist. I'd bet there are also thousands of people who
just desire one particular item for some particular reason (technical,
sentiment, etc.), and they just go on eBay, get that item, and then walk
away. Those people aren't any less human - or less collector - than the
rest of us.
Now, eventually, those people will Google for some help on their new vintage
machine. When they do, they'll promptly find our resources, like
classiccmp, vcf, old-computers.com, and countless machine-specific sites.
So while it's absolutely true that some big parts of eBay do suck, I'd argue
that some parts of ALL large systems suck, but that we just happen to be a
group affected by these parts rather acutely. And I'd argue that eBay
probably brings just as many new collectors into our hobby and to our
preferred resources, than it could turn away.
--
Jim Isbell
"If you are not living on the edge, well then,
you are just taking up too much space."
W5JAI
1967 UltraVan #257
1936 SS-100 (replica)
1970 E-Type
1982 XJ6
1985 XJS
1988 XJ40