eBay being sued over patent infringement

From: MTPro_at_aol.com <(MTPro_at_aol.com)>
Date: Thu Apr 24 21:43:00 2003

Doc Shipley <doc_at_mdrconsult.com> wrote:

<< I sell goods all the time on the austin.forsale newsgroup. As far as
I'm concerned, eBay is an *asset* to that, not a detraction. eBay is
the de facto Blue Book for used/surplus goods, allowing me to decide if
my property is salable, whether it's worth more in cash than as a
possession, and how to price it. It also shortstops lowballing by
prospective customers. Naturally, it isn't the only resource I use,
but it a very convenient and extremely well-organized asset for any
seller, and for any buyer of either local or online goods. >>

I think for most items, including collectible classic computers, this is
absolutely true. I've said for many years, you can find ANYTHING on eBay if
you look regularly, and for most things, most of the time, it's a deal.
Things that have collectability you have to be more careful about in order to
get the best price. That's really true of anything though, shop around a
little, research before you buy. I think Michael Nadeau's book, "Collectible
Microcomputers" is terrific and I highly recommend it to anyone here, but for
pricing, I think the values are definitely on the low end of the spectrum.
For instance a Heath H11 from 1977 is said to be valued at between $65 -
$175. Do you know how fast I'd jump on the opportunity to buy one for under
$200?! Even if just the cpu. Off the top of my head, an H11 in great shape
with a couple manuals a few cards in it, operational, I'd say would easily
get $600+ on eBay. Anything above that would approach excessive in my mind,
but on average, eBay prices represent "real" market values to me. eBay has
done a pretty good job over the years to improve the process and to be fair
about charges, etc. I think it's just about one of THE best web creations of
all time, seriously. Doc, you said it right, it's a fine tool and asset.

Best, David

David Greelish
Classic Computing
www.classiccomputing.com
"classiccomputing" on eBay
Received on Thu Apr 24 2003 - 21:43:00 BST