| Author |
Message |
Michael A. Terrell
Guest
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 Posted:
Sat Sep 17, 2005 12:35 am Post subject:
Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
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"Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark Remover\"" wrote:
| Quote: |
True, but that's just a microcosm of the real world. I went to
Microcenter the other day to buy some USB accesories. I wasl ooking at
some cables and another customer said he could get that 6 foot USB cable
on Ebay for four dollars, and they were charging $22.99. I said yeah,
and Radio Shaft or Best Buy or Circuit City or Office Depot want $25 to
$30 (gold plated), and you can drive over to Fry's and buy the samer
cable for $6.99.
Funny part is that I was looking thru the 3 footers for en even shorter
USB cable (for my laptop), and came across a one footer for only $2.99.
Perfect! But I had to double check at the checkout to make sure that
wasn't a typo (it wasn't). So if this very same store can sell a 1
footer for $3 and still make a profit, and it costs only a fraction of a
dollar more for the extra cable to make a 6 footer, then what's the
profit margin on a 6 footer for $23? Must be more than 90 percent!
I think I have it figured out. Everything is going to USB, all the
keyboards, mouses, printers, and other peripherals. So the retail
marketers have all jumped on the 'gouge the customer' bandwagon, to take
advantage of the huge demand. I'm wondering what they are gonna do when
their cash cow dries up when the demand slacks off.
So Ebay, at $6 for a 6 footer ($4 and a couple bucks shipping), looks
like a bargain to the consumer. No doubt about it!
|
Cables is one of the last things I need to worry about. It seems like
people dig out every cable they don't need when they donate a computer
to the project. The thing that does bug me is almost every printer that
is donated has had the cartridges pulled, and they can't find the
external power supply. I have over 20 printers that I need the power
supply for, and most are missing the cartridges, as well. The other
thing is when they rip the hard drive out of a computer and take the
mounting bracket, as well. The talking heads on the local TV news have
people so paranoid that its not funny. SO, I have to take the drive
from a dead computer to fix another and I end up with a huge pile of
scrap steel to haul off. A lot of the dead computers need about $10
worth of new electrolytic capacitors to work again OH, well, I will
keep fixing what I can and recycle the rest. Now, what to do with 30
spare working monitors?
--
?
Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida
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Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Sep 17, 2005 6:39 am Post subject:
Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
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"Michael A. Terrell" <mike.terrell@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:432B202C.65BE0851@earthlink.net...
[snip]
| Quote: | Cables is one of the last things I need to worry about. It seems
like
people dig out every cable they don't need when they donate a computer
to the project. The thing that does bug me is almost every printer
that
is donated has had the cartridges pulled, and they can't find the
external power supply. I have over 20 printers that I need the power
supply for, and most are missing the cartridges, as well.
|
If you a list of brand and model numbers, or better yet, the info for
the power adapter such as the model and serial number, I will try to
find some replacements. I believe you have my email addr, if not, it's
my hotmail acct alondra101. I believe you're exempt from my requirement
to have NOSPAM in the subject: line, but it doesn't hurt.
[snip]
| Quote: | Now, what to do with 30 spare working monitors?
|
I understand that California is getting stricter about trashing monitors
because of the lead content. They want you to take them to a recycling
center instead.
| Quote: | --
?
Michael A. Terrell
Central Florida |
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Prepair Ltd
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Sep 17, 2005 8:35 am Post subject:
Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
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On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 03:52:01 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:
| Quote: | We had a lengthy discussion about sniping in the newsgroups in the last
year or so. Everyone has their opinion on whether it's worth it or not.
My opinion is that if you already know what the item is worth, how great
your need is, and bid appropriately, then sniping is not going to get
you any advantage. And it takes the fun away. You don't get to know
until the last second whether or not you're going to win. For items
that are buy it now or have a reserve it's kind of pointless. So I
don't see any real advantage, and I'm satisfied without it. But hey, to
each his own..
|
The main benefit seems to be that you keep the end cost down by not
getting into a bidding fight with someone else. We only bid at the
last minute, and only bid what we think it's worth. If we win, great,
but if not there will always be another along soon....
We have dsl at work and at home, so no problem with keeping an eye on
things, but if it looks like a couple of guys are going head to head
on an item, we just walk away from it.
People get silly on what they are bidding and end up paying way over
the top, and that's when it is best to drop it and wait for another
one to come up.
Best regards,
Peter
--
Peter A Forbes
Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK
prepair@easynet.co.uk
http://www.prepair.co.uk
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Ralph Mowery
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Sep 17, 2005 2:08 pm Post subject:
Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
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| Quote: |
Corporate sponsors pay them to run ads, like Waste Management. In
other words, they have already sold out. The local groups are run as
free Yahoo groups, so it doesn't cost them anything. If you have a
problem with a local Freecycle group don't bother to report it to
corporate. They are too busy finding more money for themselves.
|
I did not keep up with what hapened but the local group just changed their
name to Rowan-rEcycling due to some kind of problems with Freecycle. It
seems to be working fine with the local people. |
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Peter A Forbes
Guest
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| Posted:
Sat Sep 17, 2005 4:21 pm Post subject:
Re: Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
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On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 08:01:51 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark
Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:
| Quote: | That's a good point of view, if you're in it for the money, not the item
itself.
|
No, we only buy for ourselves, not for resale of repair, it's just a general
modus operendi.
| Quote: | We only bid at the
last minute, and only bid what we think it's worth. If we win, great,
but if not there will always be another along soon....
That's my philosophy, which I try to adhere to as best as I can. I try
to make an intelligent decision as to the value and condition of the
item and what I'm willing to pay, and bid accordingly. But there are
other factors beyond one's contrl that one has to make assumptions
about, and sometimes those assumptions are way off.
|
Yes, there is always the unexpected!
| Quote: | We have dsl at work and at home, so no problem with keeping an eye on
things, but if it looks like a couple of guys are going head to head
on an item, we just walk away from it.
People get silly on what they are bidding and end up paying way over
the top, and that's when it is best to drop it and wait for another
one to come up.
That's a good point of view if you're trying to buy the item for resale
later at a profit, or as your name implies, you want to buy the
non-working item for repair and resell it at a profit later. However if
you're into the bidding for the item's collectible value, or for other
purposes less vulgar and earthly[1], then it's not a valid viewpoint
necessarily. And there are other points in between; it's not a
black-and-white decision. When you get into this kind of bidding,
sniping is kind of pointless. The price as long gone past the point
which the sniper is willing to pay.
|
We make large industrial battery chargers, we don't buy much for the company at
all, mainly ceramic caps and things like that which are getting expensive as
leaded devices start to become a problem.
| Quote: | [1] I love to watch the bidding going on with the CK722 and other old
transistors. Obviously they have no real functional value, and it's
likely that after 50 years they barely function, if at all. The
cheapest 2N3904 transistor outperforms them by a mile. But one knows
that the bidders are not in it for that reason, they're in it for the
collectible value, which seems to be in the $5 to $80 range (or more)
depending on date code, condition, and packaging.
|
Never got into the old semi stuff, although we have some 1960's Mullard
transistors in the house somewhere. Most of my collecting is old laboratory
instruments such as galvanometers, bridges etc. Love the mahogany and brass!
Peter
--
Peter & Rita Forbes
Email: diesel@easynet.co.uk
Web: http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel |
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Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sat Sep 17, 2005 4:35 pm Post subject:
Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
|
|
"Prepair Ltd" <prepair@easynet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:n3hni11oojboqgv0qmi3g7lbog695cetuo@4ax.com...
| Quote: | On Fri, 16 Sep 2005 03:52:01 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:
We had a lengthy discussion about sniping in the newsgroups in the
last
year or so. Everyone has their opinion on whether it's worth it or
not.
My opinion is that if you already know what the item is worth, how
great
your need is, and bid appropriately, then sniping is not going to get
you any advantage. And it takes the fun away. You don't get to know
until the last second whether or not you're going to win. For items
that are buy it now or have a reserve it's kind of pointless. So I
don't see any real advantage, and I'm satisfied without it. But hey,
to
each his own..
The main benefit seems to be that you keep the end cost down by not
getting into a bidding fight with someone else.
|
That's a good point of view, if you're in it for the money, not the item
itself.
| Quote: | We only bid at the
last minute, and only bid what we think it's worth. If we win, great,
but if not there will always be another along soon....
|
That's my philosophy, which I try to adhere to as best as I can. I try
to make an intelligent decision as to the value and condition of the
item and what I'm willing to pay, and bid accordingly. But there are
other factors beyond one's contrl that one has to make assumptions
about, and sometimes those assumptions are way off.
| Quote: | We have dsl at work and at home, so no problem with keeping an eye on
things, but if it looks like a couple of guys are going head to head
on an item, we just walk away from it.
People get silly on what they are bidding and end up paying way over
the top, and that's when it is best to drop it and wait for another
one to come up.
|
That's a good point of view if you're trying to buy the item for resale
later at a profit, or as your name implies, you want to buy the
non-working item for repair and resell it at a profit later. However if
you're into the bidding for the item's collectible value, or for other
purposes less vulgar and earthly[1], then it's not a valid viewpoint
necessarily. And there are other points in between; it's not a
black-and-white decision. When you get into this kind of bidding,
sniping is kind of pointless. The price as long gone past the point
which the sniper is willing to pay.
[1] I love to watch the bidding going on with the CK722 and other old
transistors. Obviously they have no real functional value, and it's
likely that after 50 years they barely function, if at all. The
cheapest 2N3904 transistor outperforms them by a mile. But one knows
that the bidders are not in it for that reason, they're in it for the
collectible value, which seems to be in the $5 to $80 range (or more)
depending on date code, condition, and packaging.
|
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Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Sep 18, 2005 7:13 am Post subject:
Re: Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
|
|
"Peter A Forbes" <diesel@easynet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:legoi1d5b308p1kff4p3s1m0do87m163on@4ax.com...
| Quote: | On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 08:01:51 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark
Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:
That's a good point of view, if you're in it for the money, not the
item
itself.
No, we only buy for ourselves, not for resale of repair, it's just a
general
modus operendi.
We only bid at the
last minute, and only bid what we think it's worth. If we win,
great,
but if not there will always be another along soon....
That's my philosophy, which I try to adhere to as best as I can. I
try
to make an intelligent decision as to the value and condition of the
item and what I'm willing to pay, and bid accordingly. But there are
other factors beyond one's contrl that one has to make assumptions
about, and sometimes those assumptions are way off.
Yes, there is always the unexpected!
We have dsl at work and at home, so no problem with keeping an eye
on
things, but if it looks like a couple of guys are going head to
head
on an item, we just walk away from it.
People get silly on what they are bidding and end up paying way
over
the top, and that's when it is best to drop it and wait for another
one to come up.
That's a good point of view if you're trying to buy the item for
resale
later at a profit, or as your name implies, you want to buy the
non-working item for repair and resell it at a profit later. However
if
you're into the bidding for the item's collectible value, or for
other
purposes less vulgar and earthly[1], then it's not a valid viewpoint
necessarily. And there are other points in between; it's not a
black-and-white decision. When you get into this kind of bidding,
sniping is kind of pointless. The price as long gone past the point
which the sniper is willing to pay.
We make large industrial battery chargers, we don't buy much for the
company at
all, mainly ceramic caps and things like that which are getting
expensive as
leaded devices start to become a problem.
[1] I love to watch the bidding going on with the CK722 and other old
transistors. Obviously they have no real functional value, and it's
likely that after 50 years they barely function, if at all. The
cheapest 2N3904 transistor outperforms them by a mile. But one knows
that the bidders are not in it for that reason, they're in it for the
collectible value, which seems to be in the $5 to $80 range (or more)
depending on date code, condition, and packaging.
Never got into the old semi stuff, although we have some 1960's
Mullard
transistors in the house somewhere. Most of my collecting is old
laboratory
instruments such as galvanometers, bridges etc. Love the mahogany and
brass! |
I dunno why you snipped your own stuff, but, whatever. I would say that
since it's easy to find test equipment with performance that surpasses
those old galvanometers and bridges, the old stuff is not as popular
with the technicians for its usefullness as it is for its
collectibility. And when you get into collectibles, the prices are
anyone's guess and can go sky-high. And it seems the biggest influence
is supply vs. demand. So it's really important that the buyer know his
stuff.
About the only things I have are a Leeds & Northrup bridge and some old
Weston ammeters. Not much to speak of.
|
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Prepair Ltd
Guest
|
| Posted:
Sun Sep 18, 2005 1:50 pm Post subject:
Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
|
|
On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 19:13:15 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:
| Quote: | I dunno why you snipped your own stuff, but, whatever.
|
Thread was getting a bit long...
| Quote: | I would say that
since it's easy to find test equipment with performance that surpasses
those old galvanometers and bridges, the old stuff is not as popular
with the technicians for its usefullness as it is for its
collectibility. And when you get into collectibles, the prices are
anyone's guess and can go sky-high. And it seems the biggest influence
is supply vs. demand. So it's really important that the buyer know his
stuff.
About the only things I have are a Leeds & Northrup bridge and some old
Weston ammeters. Not much to speak of.
|
We have six or seven Leeds & Northrup items, they made some fine
equipment. Most of ours are Cambridge Instruments or Pye, and probably
all of these originated in the same area of Cambridge in the UK where
both companies were based. There were a group of companies in the UK
who manufactured such equipment, mostly now extinct.
Probably the pinnacle of their manufacturing were the big Torsion
Wattmeters, one of which we picked up a while back as part of a pair
on ebay. They are truly lovely pieces of kit. One went on ebay last
week:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6558651885
Always strikes me as 'funny' how some items take on a value which is
disproportionate to their use, while others always seem to go for
pennies, almost!
Peter
--
Peter A Forbes
Prepair Ltd, Luton, UK
prepair@easynet.co.uk
http://www.prepair.co.uk |
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Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:35 am Post subject:
Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
|
|
"c a l a n d e" <r86calande@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:YSkXe.16$zQ3.2@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
| Quote: | Prepair Ltd wrote:
Snip
Probably the pinnacle of their manufacturing were the big Torsion
Wattmeters, one of which we picked up a while back as part of a pair
on ebay. They are truly lovely pieces of kit. One went on ebay last
week:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6558651885
That's a truly lovely piece of art and if I were independently wealthy
I
might be so inclined to bid on such.
|
Looked like a steal to me, ohly 200 Pounds, or somewhat under $400. I'd
expect it to be worth more than that, even with a broken spring. |
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Watson A.Name - \"Watt Su
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:35 am Post subject:
Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
|
|
"Prepair Ltd" <prepair@easynet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:k2aqi1ls6vpnlnamc6soadufspi6p3nauu@4ax.com...
| Quote: | On Sat, 17 Sep 2005 19:13:15 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the
Dark Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:
I dunno why you snipped your own stuff, but, whatever.
Thread was getting a bit long...
I would say that
since it's easy to find test equipment with performance that
surpasses
those old galvanometers and bridges, the old stuff is not as popular
with the technicians for its usefullness as it is for its
collectibility. And when you get into collectibles, the prices are
anyone's guess and can go sky-high. And it seems the biggest
influence
is supply vs. demand. So it's really important that the buyer know
his
stuff.
About the only things I have are a Leeds & Northrup bridge and some
old
Weston ammeters. Not much to speak of.
We have six or seven Leeds & Northrup items, they made some fine
equipment. Most of ours are Cambridge Instruments or Pye, and probably
all of these originated in the same area of Cambridge in the UK where
both companies were based. There were a group of companies in the UK
who manufactured such equipment, mostly now extinct.
Probably the pinnacle of their manufacturing were the big Torsion
Wattmeters, one of which we picked up a while back as part of a pair
on ebay. They are truly lovely pieces of kit. One went on ebay last
week:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6558651885
Always strikes me as 'funny' how some items take on a value which is
disproportionate to their use, while others always seem to go for
pennies, almost!
|
Like I said, supply vs demand, makes all the difference.
That's a nice piece of workmanship. It needs to be shipped inside a
foot of foam rubber, so that things like the thermometer and galvos
don't get broken. Hopefully it has lockdowns so that it can be
transported. Things like that really do belong in a museum.
I like to watch Antiques Roadshow (both English and U.S. versions).
It's a shame that seldom do these electrical and electronic devices get
shown on the shows.
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c a l a n d e
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:35 am Post subject:
Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer |
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|
Prepair Ltd wrote:
Snip
That's a truly lovely piece of art and if I were independently wealthy I
might be so inclined to bid on such. |
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Peter A Forbes
Guest
|
| Posted:
Mon Sep 19, 2005 5:36 am Post subject:
Re: Re: Ebay Newbie Made Life Tougher for Ebayer - Now Torsi |
|
|
On Sun, 18 Sep 2005 17:04:35 -0700, "Watson A.Name - \"Watt Sun, the Dark
Remover\"" <NOSPAM@dslextreme.com> wrote:
| Quote: |
"c a l a n d e" <r86calande@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:YSkXe.16$zQ3.2@newsread1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
Prepair Ltd wrote:
Snip
Probably the pinnacle of their manufacturing were the big Torsion
Wattmeters, one of which we picked up a while back as part of a pair
on ebay. They are truly lovely pieces of kit. One went on ebay last
week:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=6558651885
That's a truly lovely piece of art and if I were independently wealthy
I
might be so inclined to bid on such.
Looked like a steal to me, ohly 200 Pounds, or somewhat under $400. I'd
expect it to be worth more than that, even with a broken spring.
|
We picked up two of these for around £65 each last year in the wilds of
Scotland, a friend had one and I had the other. Both came with a resistance box
as well, so quite a nice deal! Their location and the need for collection made
them unattractive to most bidders who are in the south of the UK.
The spring that breaks is a common problem apparently, mine is also broken.
There are no transit locks for the movement that we could find, and it is a
fairly fragile piece of heat-treated wire.
I'll get around to trying a repair sometime, but it is a very nice thing to
view, if a little large.
The bidder for the one referenced was in Europe, probably Italy.
Peter
--
Peter & Rita Forbes
Email: diesel@easynet.co.uk
Web: http://www.oldengine.org/members/diesel |
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