I do mine just like most collectors in most other areas, I buy, sell, and trade. Buying is a LOT more fun than the others, but most of the time I can't just buy what I want, and end up with a pallet of misc. The only thing that really keeps my budget floating is that I don't pay for storage, piling stuff around the garage and house instead. Even a tiny storage room here in Orange, CA costs a couple hundred bucks a month, and then your stuff is essentially all packed away and you can't really play with it. Selling, the logistics of writing ads, packing, waiting to ship, really suck, but OTOH there is a lot of satisfaction from providing people with items they are unable to find and really need. Trading, other than face to face, is my last resort. It is so much easier to list an item on eBay, then take the cash and buy my toys. PayPal is making me a little goofy, as it "feels" like found money, ie much more tempting to spend.

At , you wrote: expand their collections. Especially people like John R. Keys. 8-D Basically I take money out of my budgest and buy something when it strikes me. Lately, Ive actually turned down some of the more popular computer models because I either have one or more, or space is at a premium. I also pay monthly for small off-site storage to hold some machines as I'm reaching over 150 computers+accessories now. Is it feasible to start a non-profit org to help pay for some of the costs one incurs while enjoying this hobby or how would one solicit donations? I am reluctant to become too commercial or plaster my domain with ads. I blew a good chunk of my pension a couple of years ago on the collection, but haven't spent any money since although if anything real interesting comes along I will probably weaken. Our science museum project is at a low ebb since the fellow promoting it unfortunately died. Looks as if the computers will be in my basement and garage for a while. Regards Charlie Fox Charles E. Fox Chas E. Fox Video Productions 793 Argyle Rd. Windsor N8Y 3J8 Ont. Canada email foxvideo(a)wincom.net Check out "The Old Walkerville Virtual Museum" at http://www.skyboom.com/foxvideo and Camcorder Kindergarten at http://www.chasfoxvideo.com

I do contract programming, computer repairs, and sale some excess computers to low income families to help pay for my collection right now. I also use a big portion of my regular job income pay for all of this. It's at the point now that I will need more funds than I can come up with on my own, so I will be sitting up a non profit to help get funds for all of this. John Keys ----- Original Message ----- From: <SUPRDAVE(a)aol.com> To: <classiccmp(a)classiccmp.org> Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2000 1:20 PM Subject: How do you finance/afford your computer collection? and expand their collections. Especially people like John R. Keys. 8-D Basically I take money out of my budgest and buy something when it strikes me. Lately, Ive actually turned down some of the more popular computer models because I either have one or more, or space is at a premium. I also pay monthly for small off-site storage to hold some machines as I'm reaching over 150 computers+accessories now. Is it feasible to start a non-profit org to help pay for some of the costs one incurs while enjoying this hobby or how would one solicit donations? I am reluctant to become too commercial or plaster my domain with ads.