collectors vs. enthusiasts

From: daniel <daniel_at_internet.look.ca>
Date: Fri Oct 15 08:54:42 1999

Well I think the bids on PDP 8s will finally tone down on EBay. The guy that
paid $1300 for the case needed it because he had CPU boards. He bid $300 on
my boards and placed ANOTHER 7 bids in the last 15 miniutes to make sure he
would not get snipered under $1000 for them. It looks like he really wants
to run a PDP 8/e. But... I see this morning someone put up a PDP 8e doc set
on EBay so I wonder how many $100s he will pay for that.

Now that he has what he wanted it looks like the 8 stuff will sell for the
usual $500 or less on EBay.


P.S. If someone put up a Desktop Honeywell 716 on EBay I would probably do
the same thing.

john



-----Original Message-----
From: Kevin McQuiggin <mcquiggi_at_sfu.ca>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp_at_u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, October 14, 1999 2:00 AM
Subject: Re: collectors vs. enthusiasts


>At 05:14 PM 99/10/13 -0600, you wrote:
>>I think we are seeing some of the same thing in computers,
>>and eBay (and other auction sites) make it easy for them.
>>Hopefully this is just a passing fad. If enough of these
>>"investors" get burned they may not return.
>
>For what it's worth, I'm also an enthusiast/collector of old radios from
>the 1920s and 30s, and eBay has caused the same thing to happen with prices
>in that realm. Old radios and speakers are changing hands at values far
>above what they're actually "worth", based on the number still in
>existence, the technologies used, etc.
>
>This cost craziness has even spilled over into the local secondhand/antique
>market, where radios that used to be fairly priced at say $100 are now
>price tagged at say $400-$500.
>
>I think that speculation on eBay has caused prices to rise artifically, to
>the detriment of those who seek to acquire for love of the technology and
>the fun of getting old radios (or old computers) working again. These
>things are significant parts of history that will be lost unless some folks
>care enough to preserve them.
>
>Kevin
>
>
>---
>Kevin McQuiggin VE7ZD
>mcquiggi_at_sfu.ca
>
Received on Fri Oct 15 1999 - 08:54:42 BST