Computer Values, was Re: Another EBay absurdity

From: Marvin <marvin_at_rain.org>
Date: Thu May 14 22:20:22 1998

I am one of those fortunate souls who have been collecting long enough
that people tend to just drop off stuff on my front porch. Yesterday, I
found a variety of older motherboards, etc. sitting out there including
one of the Intel 386 "upgrades" for the AT. The day before, I was given
a TRS-80 Model 4P and a Coco 2. IMNSHO, the values of all computers will
vary greatly depending on the knowledge and experience of the person
doing the valuation. Hmmm, sounds just like *every* other form of
collecting.

I, for one, do like to see what E-Bay is doing. I kept track for a
while of the people who were bidding on the stuff, and there were a
number of people there who were collectors. Last year, I was bidding on
a Sol-20, and the guy who outbid me won the bid at $800 or so. High? I
talked with the guy later on, and the machine was in mint condition, had
all the original documentation, and also included some of the
peripherals. The Altairs that have been sold there are *all* selling
below the prices I have seen for similar systems.

The prices quoted in the last go-around on the web site (don't recall it
off hand) could be high or low depending on a lot of things (condition,
docs, peripherals, etc) that most of us here probably take for granted.
Someone less knowledgeable might well have a different idea of its worth
that members of this list.

FWIW, I tend to value my collection in the millions of dollars. And
that is probably conservative ... if one were to go back in time and
look at what the stuff cost new :).
Received on Thu May 14 1998 - 22:20:22 BST