PDP-8 for sale

[Tothwolf]

On Sun, 21 Dec 2014, Mark Linimon wrote:
> On Sun, Dec 21, 2014 at 11:41:09AM -0500, Sean Caron wrote:
>
>> There is definitely some interesting stuff up there right now, but the 
>> prices are off the wall. Everything is overpriced.
>
> As someone who works for a company that sells things on eBay ...
>
> ... the key is to research "sold listings".  There can be a 
> night-and-day difference between that and the "completed listings" :-)
>
> e.g. you can *list* stuff for whatever.  The question is what someone 
> will *pay* for it.  Looking at the listed-but-didn't-sell prices will 
> give you an idea of how foolish some sellers are being.

On a related note, I've mentioned this before, but there is also a serious 
flaw with using eBay completed searches to decide if an item should be 
listed for sale or junked. If a particular item hasn't been listed on eBay 
recently, and that is used as the deciding factor to scrap it, you can 
easily miss out on potential buyers.

For example, I routinely search for certain models of Socket 7 Compaq PCs 
(as well as 386/486 and earlier Compaq desktops and laptops). The models I 
look for don't turn up too often because most ewaste companies seem to 
scrap them on sight. Those that do turn up are generally either completely 
trashed and/or are being listed by small/individual sellers who ask very 
high prices thinking that they are "rare" and "collectible" because they 
didn't see them in a completed listings search.

[...and for those who would argue that Compaq computers were all 
junk/unreliable...I have a bunch of Socket 7 Compaq systems running 24/7 
which have been running since ~1998-2000 with typically 2-3 reboots or so 
a year for kernel upgrades. The machines as currently configured are 
anything but stock, but the chassis, motherboards, and PSUs were pretty 
well engineered.]