5 Apr
2010
5 Apr
'10
2:54 p.m.
Hi folks,
could someone please explain me THIS?
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190385486840
I don't sell on eBay very often. And from time to time I see people paying
astronomical sums for
more or less junk. But this time it was me offering stuff - and what did I get? I have no
clue who
would sell me a used RK05 disk pack in unknown condition for that price. But this was a
new in a box
one....!
What did I do wrong?
Was it the winner of the auction who has 0 eBay points? There was absolutely no trace of
fraud on my
side. I did neither bid with another account nor did I even ask someone to bid on my
auctions to
drive up the price. That's what I got from it. I hope that the lucky 0 points high
bidder on my pack
is someone who really exists...
Regards,
Philipp
--
http://www.hachti.de
5 Apr
5 Apr
4:57 p.m.
From: "Philipp Hachtmann", Monday, April 05, 2010 2:54 PM
Subject: eBay disaster
Hi folks,
could someone please explain me THIS?
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190385486840
Well, one thing that is interesting is that your auction never
came up in any of my searches, even though at least three of my
searches that run daily should have found it.
Something similar happened recently to another colleague a couple
of months ago; searches never found his stuff, and I only knew
about his auctions from his mention of them in alt.sys.pdp8.
Vince
5:10 p.m.
On 5 Apr 2010 at 16:57, Vincent Slyngstad wrote:
Well, one thing that is interesting is that your
auction never
came up in any of my searches, even though at least three of my
searches that run daily should have found it.
A good policy is to make people on related net lists and fora aware
of your auction. Posting something here as well as in the DEC
section of Erik's Vintage Computer Forum might have helped matters.
--Chuck
5:33 p.m.
On Mon, 5 Apr 2010, Chuck Guzis wrote:
A good policy is to make people on related net lists
and fora aware
of your auction. Posting something here as well as in the DEC
section of Erik's Vintage Computer Forum might have helped matters.
While on one hand posting auctions here would most likely be frowned upon, I
for one wouldn't mind seeing truely rare items that are up for auction
mentioned. Especially something like a NIB RK05 pack! Having said that
there isn't much I'm looking for, though there are a few DEC and Commodore
items I'd bid on.
Zane
6 Apr
6 Apr
1:10 p.m.
While on one
hand posting auctions here would most likely be frowned
upon, I
Hmm, I did not know that. I must have broke the rules by posting the
PC-4 stuff on here a while back. 
7 Apr
7 Apr
1:21 p.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Philipp Hachtmann" <hachti at hachti.de>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2010 9:10 PM
Subject: Re: eBay disaster
Hm, I thought about anouncing stuff here as well. And I also know that people
pointing at eBay
While on
one hand posting auctions here would most likely be frowned
upon, I
Hmm, I did not know that. I must have broke the rules by posting the
PC-4 stuff on here a while back. auctions often explicitely mention that they are not
the seller... So
there must be a kind of
unwritten rule. As I read here there's also a
fraction that wouldn't mind
to see such kind of
announcements. So I will post a short note on the next
auction I do.
Whilst that is quite true, atleast half of those are normally in the wrong
category, so most people would miss them in their searches. I personally
don't mind people point at eBay auctions as long as they are kept to a
minimum, after all we are here to talk about retro computers and not the
mainstream auction site.
Regards,
Andrew B
aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk
6 Apr
6 Apr
12:37 p.m.
Well, one thing that is interesting is that your
auction never came up
in any of my searches, even though at least three of my
searches that run daily should have found it.
That is interesting - bad. I assume that eBay doesn't show it if you don't do a
worldwide search.
Quite bad.
--
http://www.hachti.de
1:55 p.m.
cctalk-bounces at classiccmp.org wrote:
I think that if I list on ebay.co.uk and don't ask (pay?) then it
doesn't
show up worldwide any more (at least not by default).
I forget how they pitched this as a "good feature" :-)
Antonio
Well, one
thing that is interesting is that your auction never came
up in any of my searches, even though at least three of my
searches that run daily should have found it.
That is interesting - bad. I assume that eBay doesn't show it
if you don't do a worldwide search.
Quite bad.
1:59 p.m.
From: "Philipp Hachtmann", Tuesday, April 06, 2010 12:37 PM
That may well be why my searches didn't find your auction, but I
am not sure. In the case of my other colleague, though, we never
figured out why the searches didn't find the auctions. (In that
case, he was only 40 miles away.)
In general, I have no idea what can be done to find or resolve
issues with eBay's search engine.
Vince
Well, one
thing that is interesting is that your auction never came up
in any of my searches, even though at least three of my
searches that run daily should have found it.
That is interesting - bad. I assume that eBay doesn't show it if
you don't do a worldwide search.
Quite bad.
7 Apr
7 Apr
12:43 p.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Philipp Hachtmann" <hachti at hachti.de>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2010 8:37 PM
Subject: Re: eBay disaster
do a worldwide search.
Well, one thing that is interesting is that your
auction never came up
in any of my searches, even though at least three of my
searches that run daily should have found it.
That is interesting - bad. I assume that eBay doesn't show it if you don't
Quite bad.
Yes, eBay can be useless like that. I am a fan of someone on YouTube and she
was selling an "I-Power" [1] t-shirt to raise funds for charity last year.
However, because she lives in Belgium and didn't tick the "International
box", eBay wouldn't let me bid on it even when I was signed in :(
I have bought international items from China, Australia and USA from eBay.
Regards,
Andrew B
aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk
[1] I-Power stands for Internet Power
5 Apr
5 Apr
6:07 p.m.
Don't set a minimum bid of 1 dollar/1 euro/etc. if you aren't willing to
sell it for that little. It seems pretty cut and dry to me. If you
wanted at least 30 or 40 euros for it, you should have put that as the
minimum bid.
On 4/5/2010 4:54 PM, Philipp Hachtmann wrote:
Hi folks,
could someone please explain me THIS?
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190385486840
I don't sell on eBay very often. And from time to time I see people
paying astronomical sums for more or less junk. But this time it was me
offering stuff - and what did I get? I have no clue who would sell me a
used RK05 disk pack in unknown condition for that price. But this was a
new in a box one....!
What did I do wrong?
Was it the winner of the auction who has 0 eBay points? There was
absolutely no trace of fraud on my side. I did neither bid with another
account nor did I even ask someone to bid on my auctions to drive up the
price. That's what I got from it. I hope that the lucky 0 points high
bidder on my pack is someone who really exists...
Regards,
Philipp
--
Jim Leonard (trixter at oldskool.org) http://www.oldskool.org/
Help our electronic games project: http://www.mobygames.com/
Or check out some trippy MindCandy at http://www.mindcandydvd.com/
A child borne of the home computer wars: http://trixter.wordpress.com/
7:45 p.m.
On Monday 05 April 2010, Philipp Hachtmann wrote:
What did I do wrong?
As others have suggested, I'd either have put a higher starting bid, or
make it a Buy-it-now sale, with "best offer", for what you expect to get
out of it. I find that I can generally sell things for a higher price
that way than I can with an auction. It doesn't work for everything,
but it usually works well enough for what I list.
Pat
--
Purdue University Research Computing --- http://www.rcac.purdue.edu/
The Computer Refuge --- http://computer-refuge.org
6 Apr
6 Apr
11:32 a.m.
Philipp Hachtmann wrote:
Hi folks,
could someone please explain me THIS?
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190385486840
I don't sell on eBay very often. And from time to time I see people
paying astronomical sums for more or less junk. But this time it was
me offering stuff - and what did I get? I have no clue who would sell
me a used RK05 disk pack in unknown condition for that price. But this
was a new in a box one....!
What did I do wrong?
Philipp, you did not complain when you where on the winning end of a
similar deal !
Live with it, it is is just Ebay.....
Jos
11:54 a.m.
Hi folks,
could someone please explain me THIS?
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190385486840
I don't sell on eBay very often. And from time to time I see people paying
astronomical sums for
more or less junk. But this time it was me offering stuff - and what did I get? I have no
clue who
would sell me a used RK05 disk pack in unknown condition for that price. But this was a
new in a box
one....!
Well, one problem for ne (had I been looking for an RK05 pack) is that I
have no idea what's inside that box, and nor apparently do you. I will
believe that you are honest, and that uou truely believe there is a brand
new and good 12 sector RK05 pack in there, but we don't _know_. It's
possible it's been damaged at some time. it's possbie the plastic has
fallen apart, or whatever. I'd rather hand a good used pack that one that
I have no idea about.
Of course the second problem is that the first thing I would do on
receieving something like that is open the box and format the pack. So I
wouldn't want to pay a premium price for an new unopened one (since I'll
immediately lower the value). While the origianl box is nice to have, it
is one more thing to store and not something I would be especially
interested in.
I haev found it's impossible to predict the prices that things will sell
for on E-bay. Several times I've seen things with an opening bid of
perhaps $5. I've thoguht that it was a rare an interesting item and put
in a bid of $100 for it (and ecpected it to go for a lot more), only to
find I end up winning it for the opening bid. Conversely there have been
times when I've thought 'nobody will want that' and put in a sensible (if
somewhat low) bid, only to find it sells for much more.
What did I do wrong?
My only thoguth is to set a reserve or a higher opening bid.
-tony
1:30 p.m.
Hi,
Well, one problem for ne (had I been looking for an
RK05 pack) is that I
have no idea what's inside that box, and nor apparently do you.
Schroedinger's pack - Currently there is a pack in the box. And there is no pack
in the box. And the
pack that is there is currently good. And of course it's also in all bad states you
can imagine. All
now and at the same time. It decides its state and pure existence when you open the box
:-)
I will
believe that you are honest, and that uou truely believe there is a brand
new and good 12 sector RK05 pack in there, but we don't _know_.
Hey, if you
find a new and sealed box of diskettes sitting in a shelf for a long time, do you
question if there are diskettes in the box? New in the box is better than "untested
sold as is".
I could X-ray the box btw :-)
It's
possible it's been damaged at some time.
Yes, I mentioned that. But very low
probability.
it's possbie the plastic has
fallen apart, or whatever. I'd rather hand a good used pack that one that
I have no idea about.
So you think it would be better if I sold the pack as
tested?
I currently have no pdp11 to test it. But if that's an issue, I can bring up a 11/34
or such alike
to do the job...
Of course the second problem is that the first thing I
would do on
receieving something like that is open the box and format the pack. So I
wouldn't want to pay a premium price for an new unopened one (since I'll
immediately lower the value). While the origianl box is nice to have, it
is one more thing to store and not something I would be especially
interested in.
Ok, memorizing for next time: Sell the stuff tested, not as new in
the box.
I also have a few of those packs for sale. In used condition. Is there any interest in
those if I
offer them cleaned and tested?
I haev found it's impossible to predict the prices that things will sell
for on E-bay.
Fully agree. I've seen strangest things happen. Sometimes the
same item gets very different prices
with not much time between auchtions. There was a Onmibus backplane. I think it did not
get bids at
EUR 70. A few weeks later a similar backplane (but dirty dirty!) was sold in US for $350
as far as I
remember. That's strange.
I have some more items to let go - so I'll just play the game. And won't complain
too much. The only
point is that I have to advertise - it's bad to read that a bunch of probably
interested people did
not even find my stuff. And shipping from Europe for US buyers is less expensive than the
other way.
My only thoguth is to set a reserve or a higher
opening bid.
I'll think about that.
Regards,
Philipp
--
http://www.hachti.de
7 Apr
7 Apr
11:59 a.m.
I will
believe that you are honest, and that uou truely believe there is a brand
new and good 12 sector RK05 pack in there, but we don't _know_.
Hey, if you
find a new and sealed box of diskettes sitting in a shelf for a long time, do you
question if there are diskettes in the box? New in the box is better than "untested
sold as is".
I could X-ray the box btw :-) It's
possible it's been damaged at some time.
Yes, I mentioned that. But very low
probability.
it's possbie the plastic has
fallen apart, or whatever. I'd rather hand a good used pack that one that
I have no idea about.
So you think it would be better if I sold the pack as
tested? I haev found
it's impossible to predict the prices that things will sell
for on E-bay.
Fully agree. I've seen strangest things happen. Sometimes the
same item gets very different prices
with not much time between auchtions. There was a Onmibus backplane. I think it did not
get bids at
EUR 70. A few weeks later a similar backplane (but dirty dirty!) was sold in US for $350
as far as I
remember. That's strange.
4:26 p.m.
If I foudn a box of old floppies, I would want to open
them and at least
look at the surfaces before deciding whether to buy them.
I wouldn't buy them
:P
How would you feel about a NIB QIC tape? WOuld you
assume the belt was
still good, and that it hadn't stuck to the tape and was going to pull
the oxide off? Becuase I sure wouldn't. How would you feel about a NIB
HP97 calculator. Would you assume the card reader roller needed replacing?
Yes and
yes and yes. But this is a disk pack! I've not yet heard of it getting flaky or
gooey...
As somebody who uses these old machines and
peripherals, I would want a
pack that I could use, not something to look nice on the shelf. So yes, I
would prefer something that was tested to something that was NIB.
Ok, next time I
offer a used - and tested - pack.
Mind you, I have plenty of 12 sectore RK05 packs
already... And a couple
of alignment packs.
A couple of alignment packs? I have none :-( And I'm just
fighting against some rk05 drives. Have a
F drive hooked up to a pdp8/e. That servo system adjustments and problems around that keep
me
unhappy... Anyone an idea about incomplete head retraction? If I won't find a
solution, I'll post
that separately.
--
http://www.hachti.de
1:31 p.m.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Philipp Hachtmann" <hachti at hachti.de>
To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts"
<cctalk at classiccmp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, April 06, 2010 9:30 PM
Subject: Re: eBay disaster
Hi,
no pack
in the box. And the
Well, one problem for ne (had I been looking for
an RK05 pack) is that I
have no idea what's inside that box, and nor apparently do you.
Schroedinger's pack - Currently there is a pack in the box. And there is pack that is there is currently good. And of course
it's also in all bad
states you can imagine. All
now and at the same time. It decides its state and
pure existence when you
open the box :-)
I was gonna go with Schroedinger's cat, but that would have been OT compared
with your version :)
Regards,
Andrew B
aliensrcooluk at yahoo.co.uk
6 Apr
6 Apr
12:05 p.m.
could someone please explain me THIS?
http://cgi.ebay.de/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190385486840
I don't sell on eBay very often. And from time to time I see people paying
astronomical sums for more or less junk. But this time it was me offering
stuff - and what did I get? I have no clue who would sell me a used RK05
disk pack in unknown condition for that price. But this was a new in a box
one....!
What did I do wrong?
I don't think you did anything wrong with your listing (maybe English
only wasn't a good choice).
I just think there is little demand for a new disk pack. There are
very few of these drives left in existence. And the most likely buyer
is going to be someone who is going to use the Disk.
I sell old collectible equipment on eBay, and I am often surprised at
how little it brings. I have learned to keep my expectations low, or
put a reserve price on it.
What I would have done would be to list the disk pack, not as an
auction, but as a Buy it Now Sale with an Offer option. I would also
put it up for 30 days at a price I would be happy selling it at.
I have found this better than putting a truly rare item up for
auction. The 30 days really helps also get more exposure. I feel it
takes 100 page views to get a reasonable price. If you don't get that
you risk selling low.
Paxton
Innfosale on eBay.
--
Paxton Hoag
Astoria, OR
USA
5373
days inactive
5375
days old
19 comments
12 participants
participants (12)
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aliensrcooluk＠yahoo.co.uk -
arcarlini＠iee.org -
ard＠p850ug1.demon.co.uk -
brain＠jbrain.com -
cclist＠sydex.com -
hachti＠hachti.de -
healyzh＠aracnet.com -
innfoclassics＠gmail.com -
jdr_use＠bluewin.ch -
pat＠computer-refuge.org -
trixter＠oldskool.org -
vrs＠msn.com