20 Jun
1998
20 Jun
'98
5:13 a.m.
At 02:51 AM 6/20/98 -0500, you wrote:
Well... while it may not improve the price, it may improve the audience...
B^}
While trying to NOT reignite another flame war (which I probably contribute
to), the qualifier on this idea might be that when you post something, post
it with an acceptable price. IMHO that should not be a difficult
proposition for someone who is looking for a good home for a piece of
equipment. If you are just going to relocate an auction, then you are
probably only in it for the money! (boy, am I gonna get yelled at for THAT
one)
What really scrapes my oxide is an approach that I am starting to see more
often in postings in and newsgroups. (it has happened to me twice now in
the last month)
Someone posts an item with an asking price. I respond to the message with
a counter offer. The seller responds with a counter-counter offer that I
find acceptable. I respond to the message with my acceptance and provide
shipping details. The seller then responded back indicating that he has
received a higher offer and that the unit has been sold without so much as
an opportunity for further response.
Now, maybe it is just me... But from my view when responded with a counter
to my offer, we were in the midst of transacting a deal and I should have
'right of first refusal' until the point that either we make the deal or I
decide I don't want it.
I don't appreciate multi-thread dealing going on without being informed.
And it was not like there were any extended delays between these messages.
The entire series of exchanges occurred over less than 24 hours. Very
similar for the second occurrance I mentioned above...
BTW: a HERO-2000 auction just closed on eBay for $4027.78... (sheesh!)
-jim (the obviously overly idealistic one...)
---
jimw(a)agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
For Sale:
IMSAI 8080 Microcomputer
[...]
Asking price: $300
After a round of email bidding, the seller sez:
IT SOLD FOR $1000. THAMKS FOR THE RESPONSE.
Somebody recently suggested that it would be better to offer stuff
directly to readers of this list rather than advertising them via online
auction. The last IMSAI that sold on eBay went for around $650, I think.
FWIW,
Doug (still IMSAI-less) 
20 Jun
20 Jun
6:26 a.m.
Jim...
I agree with you completely...however evil ebay may be, at least it is a
structured enviornment with rules and etiquette that is regulated. I am so
sick of so-called "informal" auctions. How do I know that the seller is
quoting actual bids? Recently, in a so-called "silent" email auction...I
bid $275 for a non-working Odyssey 1 (IMHO a very fair and reasonably high
bid) only to receive the sellers reply that had been forwarded to ALL
participating bidders stating that in fact that I was the high bidder, the
amount I bid, and asked that counter bids should be made in $5
increments...I was livid! Isn't the whole point of a silent auction that
the bids _remain_ closed and the item simply goes to the highest bidder? Am
I crazy?
I am of the opinion that some of these characters are scrounging around
ebay and newsgroups soliciting bidders just to get out of paying the
commission...then they invent these rediculous auction scenarios. I think
there should be some sort of formal boycott.
Looking forward...
van
(snip)
What really scrapes my oxide is an approach that I am
starting to see more
often in postings in and newsgroups. (it has happened to me twice now in
the last month)
Someone posts an item with an asking price. I respond to the message with
a counter offer. The seller responds with a counter-counter offer that I
find acceptable. I respond to the message with my acceptance and provide
shipping details. The seller then responded back indicating that he has
received a higher offer and that the unit has been sold without so much as
an opportunity for further response.
Now, maybe it is just me... But from my view when responded with a counter
to my offer, we were in the midst of transacting a deal and I should have
'right of first refusal' until the point that either we make the deal or I
decide I don't want it.
I don't appreciate multi-thread dealing going on without being informed.
And it was not like there were any extended delays between these messages.
The entire series of exchanges occurred over less than 24 hours. Very
similar for the second occurrance I mentioned above...
BTW: a HERO-2000 auction just closed on eBay for $4027.78... (sheesh!)
-jim (the obviously overly idealistic one...)
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25 Jun
25 Jun
5:41 p.m.
On Sat, 20 Jun 1998, Van Burnham wrote:
<snip>
quoting actual bids? Recently, in a so-called
"silent" email auction...I
bid $275 for a non-working Odyssey 1 (IMHO a very fair and reasonably high
bid) only to receive the sellers reply that had been forwarded to ALL
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Check http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/Odyssey/Odyssey.html and if
that's the machine you're talking about, I guess I am a very lucky being.
I knew it was early and cool, and probably worth something, but not that
people would bid hundreds of dollars for broken units! I *had* seen some
high prices quoted for complete working units, but I thought they may be
anomalies like some of those prices published in the general media for
classic computers.
I got mine in its original box, with the playing cards, overlays, manual,
dice, etc, and even the "Receive a free ODYSSEY game!" and inspection
cards. The poker chips are still wrapped in plastic. I haven't counted
to see if I have ALL the cards, but they were organized and held together
with elastic bands. I have the RF switchbox and the weird cable for it,
and the machine itself has a "RUN NUMBER 1" sticker on the bottom.
I've never powered it up because I've never bothered to go out hunting for
'C' cells, and video game systems aren't really my thing (though I do love
my Atari 2600).
I think I paid $8 (Canadian) for it at a local elementary school sale. (I
attended that very school for two years.)
I wrapped the box in a plastic bag and put it on an upper shelf, and I've
only had it out a few times to show people, and to take some crappy
pictures of it.
I guess this is a brag post. ;)
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/
26 Jun
26 Jun
3:02 a.m.
New subject: Odyssey 1
On Sat, 20 Jun 1998, Van Burnham wrote:
<snip>
Wow! Nice (simple) Odyssey page. I, too, have one. It's not the
original one my family had in 197x; that one got cannibalized when
I was a teenager for the parts. One of the program cards got chopped
and soldered to the connector for a 44-pin VIC-20 bus extender (yes,
the cards are the same pin cound and spacing). A controller cable
got a new lease on life as a C-64 printer cable (user-port to centronics
connector). We used to play that thing for hours and hours. My
biggest complaint was that the overlays came in small and large, but we
had a "medium" TV. My favorite was the sub hunt, followed by the
haunted house.
-ethan
quoting actual bids? Recently, in a so-called
"silent" email auction...I
bid $275 for a non-working Odyssey 1 (IMHO a very fair and reasonably high
bid)...
GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
Check http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/Odyssey/Odyssey.html and if
that's the machine you're talking about, I guess I am a very lucky being.
I knew it was early and cool, and probably worth something, but not that
people would bid hundreds of dollars for broken units!
3 Jul
3 Jul
12:37 a.m.
New subject: Odyssey 1
On Fri, 26 Jun 1998, Ethan Dicks wrote:
Wow! Nice (simple) Odyssey page.
Thanks. I prefer simple pages myself, even though I now work for a
company that provides not-so-simple ones. (Once I'm settled in and am on a
solid footing, I'll try to convince them to make their sites accessible
via Lynx. :) )
I, too, have one. It's not the original one my
family had in 197x; that
one got cannibalized when I was a teenager for the parts. One of the
program cards got chopped and soldered to the connector for a 44-pin VIC-20
bus extender (yes, the cards are the same pin cound and spacing). A
controller cable got a new lease on life as a C-64 printer cable (user-port
to centronics connector).
I understand that these things happen, and at least you used it for
something useful instead of just tossing it into the dumpster like certain
other people would (I'm pissed off at what I found at the Salvation Army
yesterday). When something is merely 'old' it's easy to cannibalize it.
I was considering using the dozens of TI-99/4As that were sitting around
at the SA for spare parts for electronics projects, but I knew nothing
about electronics and the machines disappeared without a trace before I
started shoveling them up.
Actually, the first "collectors" machine I bought (i.e. the first machine
I bought that wasn't to be used as my primary computer) was a broken-up
old VIC-20. My actual intention was to teach myself something about
electronics, using the VIC. A friend of mine had done all kinds of
wonderful things with his VIC-20, he had even plugged a UART into it so
that he could use it with his 9600bps modem. He had actually been working
on interfacing a CGA card to the VIC at one point, but he never got it
working.
Anyway, the case of the VIC that I bought was cracked and the cartridge
connector damaged, but otherwise it turned out to be functional, and it
didn't take long before I fell in love with the thing. I never did get
around to hacking it up. Or learning anything about electronics,
unfortunately.
We used to play that thing for hours and hours. My
biggest complaint was
that the overlays came in small and large, but we had a "medium" TV. My
favorite was the sub hunt, followed by the haunted house.
I thought all of the overlays were fairly large. But I guess the folks
who could afford an Odyssey could afford a large set. :)
The TV set we had when I was a kid was the right size, but I don't think
it would have worked very well. The surface of the CRT was curved quite a
bit, but it had a flat plate of glass in front of it. It was an old
wooden TV set with turntable and radio that my parents had purchased
sometime in the 1950s. We didn't replace it (with a COLOUR set!) until
1979.
Which, I think, is the same year my brother brought home his first
computer. :)
I never had a video game system until I picked up an Atari 2600 a while
back at the same SA store that just junked all that computer stuff. <s>
As I think I mentioned, I've never powered up my Odyssey. I guess I
should, though, just to make sure it works. The battery compartment
doesn't look like it's ever had any batteries in it, though. The machine
seems like it's hardly been used.
-ethan
Doug Spence
ds_spenc(a)alcor.concordia.ca
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/
9437
days inactive
9450
days old
4 comments
4 participants
participants (4)
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ds_spenc＠alcor.concordia.ca -
erd＠infinet.com -
jimw＠agora.rdrop.com -
van＠wired.com