Re: the $470 one on ebay...
I've been collecting compact macs for about 18 months now. I've got a few 128ks (here in the UK I'd say a simple unboxed (but non-yellowed) example, working but with maybe a flaky floppy drive goes for about £100-£200. I've been after a boxed one for a while but they're always for silly money. I sat there at 11pm and had a price in mind - I never put in bids, I decide what it's worth to me, considering the shipping as well and put that price in with 3 seconds left. Everything else is obviously pointless.
I was prepared to go to about $685 I think. This got me the machine delivered to my door for less than £550.
The price considered the unit was working, a bit yellowed, but most importantly - looking truely complete.
I never expect to get it for $685 but it was worth a punt. But I win. So I'm thinking - this guy has it listed as a buy-it-now the previous week for $1984.00 - crazy money - but that's obviously what he thinks it's worth. It goes for $470 - am I going to have problems?
Next morning - "sorry mate - I put the wrong power lead in to test how much memory it has and it started smoking - I emailed all the bidders to say it was fried". Wrong lead? There isn't such a thing as a wrong lead. He has good feedback so maybe it did smoke by chance or maybe he is looking to get out. So I gave him the choice - I felt $470 was a reasonable deal and would take it for that price needing attention or I could file a dispute and ultimately leave bad feedback (he has an unblemished record I doubt he woud like to cloud).
He said he would do that, throw in some extras and he feels bad.
So maybe when I get it, it will just work. Maybe I'll need to take a look.
Talking about the thread topic. I buy and sell a bit. I mainly keep, but sometimes I don't have enough money to keep it all. One of the factors in differences in price I've found is that macs in the UK go cheap to people in the UK (because they're common). However, if you offer it to Europe with a reasonable shipping price, you find there is a big demand for them in Spain, Portugal and Greece. They pay more because a lot of sellers won't ship to Europe. I do admit I sell them (successfully) at the highest price point I see on ebay, but as far as I am concerned, I take lots of pictures, pack it well, descibe it properly and provide a service others don't and it allows me to pursue my collection without it impacting on my pathetic salary. One other factor is that the price has to be a bit higher to ship to Europe etc because I take on a quantity of the risk that it might arrive damaged or broken. With Paypal, I know if there is a problem, as the seller I am at a disadvantage. So I factor in that maybe 1 in 20 deals will go sour through no fault of my own. UPS are renowned for being a complete pain in the ar5e when it comes to claims - to the point I won't claim unless it's a very valuable item.
Not sure if this all makes me an evil empire or not.... As and when I meet another collector then the price/swap changes to that level. It's just appropriation of price to the market the item is within.
I've been collecting compact macs for about 18 months now. I've got a few 128ks (here in the UK I'd say a simple unboxed (but non-yellowed) example, working but with maybe a flaky floppy drive goes for about £100-£200. I've been after a boxed one for a while but they're always for silly money. I sat there at 11pm and had a price in mind - I never put in bids, I decide what it's worth to me, considering the shipping as well and put that price in with 3 seconds left. Everything else is obviously pointless.
I was prepared to go to about $685 I think. This got me the machine delivered to my door for less than £550.
The price considered the unit was working, a bit yellowed, but most importantly - looking truely complete.
I never expect to get it for $685 but it was worth a punt. But I win. So I'm thinking - this guy has it listed as a buy-it-now the previous week for $1984.00 - crazy money - but that's obviously what he thinks it's worth. It goes for $470 - am I going to have problems?
Next morning - "sorry mate - I put the wrong power lead in to test how much memory it has and it started smoking - I emailed all the bidders to say it was fried". Wrong lead? There isn't such a thing as a wrong lead. He has good feedback so maybe it did smoke by chance or maybe he is looking to get out. So I gave him the choice - I felt $470 was a reasonable deal and would take it for that price needing attention or I could file a dispute and ultimately leave bad feedback (he has an unblemished record I doubt he woud like to cloud).
He said he would do that, throw in some extras and he feels bad.
So maybe when I get it, it will just work. Maybe I'll need to take a look.
Talking about the thread topic. I buy and sell a bit. I mainly keep, but sometimes I don't have enough money to keep it all. One of the factors in differences in price I've found is that macs in the UK go cheap to people in the UK (because they're common). However, if you offer it to Europe with a reasonable shipping price, you find there is a big demand for them in Spain, Portugal and Greece. They pay more because a lot of sellers won't ship to Europe. I do admit I sell them (successfully) at the highest price point I see on ebay, but as far as I am concerned, I take lots of pictures, pack it well, descibe it properly and provide a service others don't and it allows me to pursue my collection without it impacting on my pathetic salary. One other factor is that the price has to be a bit higher to ship to Europe etc because I take on a quantity of the risk that it might arrive damaged or broken. With Paypal, I know if there is a problem, as the seller I am at a disadvantage. So I factor in that maybe 1 in 20 deals will go sour through no fault of my own. UPS are renowned for being a complete pain in the ar5e when it comes to claims - to the point I won't claim unless it's a very valuable item.
Not sure if this all makes me an evil empire or not.... As and when I meet another collector then the price/swap changes to that level. It's just appropriation of price to the market the item is within.