Price Check on Aisle 5

From: Patrick Rigney <patrick_at_evocative.com>
Date: Mon Sep 15 16:26:00 2003

> > Eventually, after a good solid history of data has been
> accumulated in the
> > system, we'll be able to tell you the high/low/average/etc
> price for items
> > over time.
> >
> > Patrick
> >
>
> How would you get a reliable price range from such a small group of
> collector with such a wide range of systems they collect?

It takes time. And, I'm not talking about publishing an absolute reference
for pricing, I'm talking about having a historical record of transactions
and being able to make inquiries of that data. How you interpret the
results is up to you. And, maybe we won't have price information for a
large number of items; that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to gather it for
any of them.

> Apple I's cost a few bucks but there is only a few around only a
> few people
> willing to spend the cash to buy one (not even taking into account the
> economy being good or bad).

And so, is it not useful to know either as a buyer or seller, that (pulling
random numbers for example) five such systems have sold in the last two
years, and that the high sale price was $25,000, and the low was $8,000, and
what the condition of the items was? I think so.

> How will you take into account a system that 5
> people might pay $300 but dozens are just given away every year
> just to have
> their space back?

You're reading way to much into my statement. We're documenting the past,
not predicting the future. If the system reports back that 5 sold at $300
and 50 were give-aways, it's up to you to make a judgement on your own
sensibilities (I know what I'd decide).

> It works better when a large volume of collectors are involved and items
> change hands alot or at least have a greater liquidity.

If your goal is to establish an instantaneous price for an item, and the
buyer and seller don't expect much variance, that's probably true. But, I
don't think that's the physchology of the collector (the general term,
speaking not just of computers, but any collectible item). This isn't the
stock market, and although "supply and demand" is hard at work in both
worlds, the driving physchology is different. At least, I don't buy stocks
the way I buy computers. Not even close. I've never bought a stock because
I had it as a kid. :-) But when I buy either, I do my research.

Patrick
Received on Mon Sep 15 2003 - 16:26:00 BST