On Wed, 8 Apr 1998, Tim Shoppa wrote:
> > Not only that, but offering items on Ebay instead of on this list, opens
> > them up to the speculative investor masses and creates much higher prices
> > than trading among collectors would produce. Trust me, it's much better to
> > have them advertised here than on Ebay.
>
> That might depend on whether you're selling or buying, Kai :-).
...and your motives for same... (I'll explain that in a minute)
I'm venturing in here since this thread started disturbingly close to the
time that I started my 'virtual garage sale', so regardless of if that was
a contributing factor or not I guess I'll wade in...
As I noted in my posting, I wanted to give the group here a shot before I
offered the items anywhere else. (the 'my latest auction on Ebay'
postings give me a royal pain in the netherrealms!)
I for one am a firm believer that the people here probably better
represent "collectors" who are in it more for the preservation of the gear
and (if I dare) love of the history and technology than for the money.
There is little doubt that more money can be made by posting items (of
general interest) to Ebay or similar places (witness the $2k+ Altair sales
of late) but in many cases I would just as rather see the gear go to
someone who will appreciate it for what it is than to some "retro-hacker
wannabe" who has a bunch of money burning a hole in their pocket.
(this was the part about motives BTW)
Of course, if anyone where wants to offer $2-3k for an Altair... (sorry,
could not resist) B^}
But maybe thats just me...
> More seriously, has anyone here actually conducted a transaction
> through Ebay? Did the highest bidder actually make payment in
> a timely manner, if you were selling?
I've done a large amount of both buying and selling thru Ebay and with the
exception of one (minor) dispute on a purchase (a misunderstood
communication) I have had no problems either way.
To date, items I have offered for sale on Ebay have been things that were
unrelated or inappropiate (due to age, or lack thereof) to this forum. To
date, I have never had a problem with promptly completing a sale. (some
for a fair sum of money)
Based on the business ethic demonstrated by the Ebay operators, this is
the only place that I partipate in on-line auctions.
I noted that someone commented that he was displeased with Ebay due to a
poor packing job done on an item he purchased thru the service. I would
only offer the opinion that Ebay simply coordinates sales, and takes no
part in delivery.
Just as with the people offering high amounts for
seemingly minimal items, you can't always assume that someone selling
thinks of any given item as anything special or that they know anything
about packing. A little homework often tells me a lot about the people I
am dealing with...
Similarly, I reciently obtained some equipment from a person (not thru
Ebay) who seemed knowledgable enough about computer gear, and did a fine
job packing a (rather large) printer to be delivered to me. However the
next day a box of spare parts and boards for the same printer (shipped
from the same person, at the same time) arrived in a cardboard box, with
no packing, crushed by UPS beyond any hope of salvage... Waddayado???
As for my 'virtual garage (pun intended) sale'... If this has in fact
offended anyone, my apologies... I tried...
FWIW...
-jim
---
jimw_at_agora.rdrop.com
The Computer Garage - http://www.rdrop.com/~jimw
Computer Garage Fax - (503) 646-0174
Received on Wed Apr 08 1998 - 16:21:59 BST