Sellam wrote...
> Define "market". If it sells for 100 times the average value that others
> would pay, is this "the" market? Or "a" market (a market of one)?
I would suspect that if someone paid it, it is "a" market. But not of one,
it's a market of all the people who bid on it, or wanted to but got scared
off by the price. Of course it's not the only market.
> There are, and have been, for decades, valid mathematical and actuarial
> methods for determining the value of a given object based on several
> criteria, including of course supply and demand. Why should ending prices
> of eBay auctions all of a sudden supercede that science?
Because the science is WRONG. Period. If "established" practice says an item
is worth say $10, but most of those items sell for $100 on ebay, then, well,
yeah, the science is flat wrong - at least as far as predicting what an item
is worth in terms of dollars that people will pay for it. Well, ok, maybe
the science is right in theory, but in practice, it's just plain wrong.
> Yes, eBay is good for finding something that you really, really need and
> don't want to spend weeks or months searching for, and in that regard you
> are paying a premium for that luxury.
We totally agree on this point. But look at the bigger picture. For you, in
your particular geography with your particular circle of friends, a given
system may be easy to find. For someone else, in their geographical area, in
their circle of friends, that system just can't be found. So who says your
"ability to acquire" should set a more "valid" price than the ability of
others to acquire the same item? Most of us here are fairly long time
collectors. Most of us have our sources, and know just what dumpster to dive
in or what scrap metal dealer to go to in order to find something. We are
NOT the norm. Other people who have just a passing interest, or aren't
collectors but just want one particular old system, don't have those
resources. I suspect that as far as a head count goes, they are in the
majority. Their ability to acquire should be given a higher weight.
> Which is not at all useful for long-term market valuation.
Perhaps. But I suspect that most of us are more concerned with "what am I
going to have to pay to get that one missing card from my xyz system to get
it up and running", than "wonder what a museum would pay for my system".
That's us... and for the non-collectors, when they ask about prices it's
because they want to know what they can get for it, and ebay prices should
be included in that type of valuation.
Anyways... here's my own personal paradigm for what it's worth. I vastly
prefer to trade or just plain give away excess stuff for free, among
collectors where I suspect it won't get hung on a wall, it'll get used.
However, from time to time I DO have to pay what I consider to be STUPID
amounts of money for something I need and can't find. I have to pay this to
ebay or to old equipment vendors. As a result, once in a while, as much as I
dislike it, I have to sell a classic computer on ebay to cover my real $$$
costs to get a system up and running. Just my own 2 millidollars worth.
Jay West
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Received on Tue Jan 14 2003 - 09:32:01 GMT