Kai Kaltenbach <kaikal_at_MICROSOFT.com> 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.
Yes, absolutely. For the first 30 seconds, it seemed like online
auctions would be a great way to pick up discontinued items at a
good price, but the high quality of information and easy availability
drove prices up. Good for sellers, bad for cheapskate buyers.
I find the online "auctions" drive prices for conventional PC stuff
exactly to the average retail price, or sometimes even above that.
As I wrote on 2/23:
>Regarding the three Altair machines that were recently posted
>to the net auction at ebay.com - they went from $1525 to $2025.
>Mind you, these weren't complete systems. The software, extra
>drives, etc. were auctioned separately.
I was in contact with the guy who sold these before he submitted
them to ebay. For a moment, I thought I had a line on a good deal:
a well-off surgeon / ham / computer junk had died and his family
didn't know what to do with the multiple garages of stuff. For
the computers, they turned to the one computer-head nephew, who
was smart enough to know the value of the machines as well as how
to get the highest price - which I wholeheartedly but sadly supported. :-)
Van Burnham <van_at_wired.com> wrote:
>van burnham http://www.futuraworld.com
>production manager
>wired 520 third street fourth floor san francisco ca 94107 united
>states
Oh, no. Now we know we're cool, if Wired is watching. :-)
That'll do wonders for prices if we get on the "Wired/Tired" list.
As for list fragmentation, I'm tempted to reconfigure my extranet
news server to support a prototype handful of classic computer
news groups, just to see what happens. Private news servers make
so much more sense than mailing lists. How many people are on this
mailing list?
Greg Troutman <mor_at_crl.com> wrote:
>Me too! After thousands of shipping transactions, I now discourage
>would be shippers from using UPS and going with USPS.
After thousands of UPS shipments, I say the opposite: the Sloth Office
drives me crazy. They don't crush, they simple *lose*. Damage is
most often a function of packaging materials. Don't re-use boxes
unless they're in great shape. Be sure the box and packing materials
match the mass and CG of the item inside. Yes, both UPS and USPS
toss the box to the back of the truck and pile other boxes on top.
Be prepared.
- John
Jefferson Computer Museum <
http://www.threedee.com/jcm>
Received on Thu Apr 09 1998 - 09:32:17 BST