eBay.com -- Paradise Lost

Man, no more than three of four years ago I could use eBay to get vintage kit at dirty cheap prices. No more that's the case, either there is a revival in vintage computing, or there is far too many people into this hobby (once frowned upon) with a surplus of liquidity.

I tried to get a 486DX2 no-name laptop with 8 MB RAM and a german keyboard layout, for which just shipping itself is 20 Euros (according to the seller, in Germany), and I was ready to bid up to six Euros for it.

But alas, some sucker wanted to pay 27.50 Euros for it, plus the 20 Euros of shipping, so that makes a total of 47.50 Euros for a super-crappy obsolete laptop which is not special in any sense whatsoever, and with a crappy grayscale LCD panel (so it's not good for games, although it has a VGA out). I wanted it to run Xenix/386, but oh well...

Pepinno said:

Man, no more than three of four years ago I could use eBay to get vintage kit at dirty cheap prices. No more that's the case, either there is a revival in vintage computing, or there is far too many people into this hobby (once frowned upon) with a surplus of liquidity.

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I think it's just a case of as time moves on, many are scrapped, these things become rarer and it's harder to find them in good condition. Some things will never be highly collectable and fetch Apple 1 prices, but in general prices are likely to follow an inverted bell curve, with the bottom of the curve (i.e. you can't even give them away) being at about 12-8 years from the current year. Either side of that, (providing they are in good condition) they will be worth something, even just for curiosity/novelty value. Not much maybe, but more than a dollar or two.

Tez

There are "stores" at eBay.com where your pants will fall off if you just dare to look at the prices they put on the old tech they sell:

http://stores.ebay.com/Vintage-Computer-Museum-Services

Mine are already on the floor.

I've noticed the prices on ebay.de have seemed to jump recently as well. But there are still deals to be found if you have patience and a lot of luck.

After I bought a couple of items from eBay sellers, I received emails from them that pointed to their website with "Here are things that we don't sell on eBay" messages. Apparently, eBay's fee structure has some vendors frustrated.

Working 486 laptops of any kind are hard to find these days compared to a few years ago (most have been sold to collectors or scrapped). These days you can find P2/P3/early P4 laptops for very little and that will change in a few years as well.

Ebay has jacked up the fees and made it so they get a cut of the shipping as well, so you can't sell something for $5 with $25 shipping and make much profit. What this has done is encourage people to junk old equipment or sell it locally (or maybe through computer forums if they feel like it).

I don't know if there are that many more people in the hobby or if the supply has just dried up. I do think people are lazy and anti social and would rather order something online while sitting at a desk in their PJ's rather then have to go out into the world and actually talk to people and hunt stuff down.

Chuck(G) said:

After I bought a couple of items from eBay sellers, I received emails from them that pointed to their website with "Here are things that we don't sell on eBay" messages. Apparently, eBay's fee structure has some vendors frustrated.

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Not only that but they are fickle about certain merchandise as to whether they'll allow you to sell it there. They allow it, then some time later they say *no* to it, then they allow it, again, then they say *no* to it, again. A friend/client of mine has been having this particular problem with them for years.

Besides the fee structures, I'm seeing more and more horror stories about purchasers claiming the package arrived empty, eBay refunding the money no questions asked, and then the purchasers refusing to cooperate, so the seller can't get an insurance reimbursement.

No one wants to go to the trouble of listing something, selling it for a pittance, packing and shipping it, then losing the money. So someone running a business will list a few things in hopes of including a slip of paper with a web site address will lead to more direct business (in which case it's just advertising). Or they'll jack their prices on everything to cover the occasional total loss. Or they'll stay away from the place entirely, finding another place to sell or they'll just toss the item in the trash and save the trouble.

The core problem is ebay got greedy. The original intent of the site was to simply provide a listing system in which people could sell goods. They took a small cut for the listing service, and thats it. After the auction was over, completing the sale rested solely on the buyer and seller. I never had a problem, even pre-paypal. I used to send money orders to pay for everything, heck my first auction ever, I had to sent CASH in the mail to Taiwan (cashing any type of international check is a long and expensive process)!

My biggest problem selling on eBay lately has been 0-feedback users who "Buy It Now" within the first several hours after I post an item, and then they never pay for it. I don't lose any money over it, because eBay reimburses my listing fee, but it's a major annoyance. And I can't write things like "no 0 feedback buyers allowed" or "don't bid if you don't intend to pay" in the item description, because eBay forbids that!

This has happened to me at least 3 or 4 times in the past year. The only thing I can think of is that these are phantom accounts set up by competing sellers?? They don't want you selling the same item as them at a lower price than them, so they sacrifice one of these puppet accounts to make a phony sale??

BuggZ said:

I've noticed the prices on ebay.de have seemed to jump recently as well. But there are still deals to be found if you have patience and a lot of luck.

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Maybe,but in general things are better than in ebay.com or ebay.co.uk.The only problem shopping in ebay.de is that few sellers accept paypal,or send abroad,but if you contact the seller you can find a solution in 80% of the cases.

Another case of "loseage", which I bring here. :D



Crappy 386 laptop with a barely functional keyboard, Spanish layout, sold for 25 euro-marcs, plus 12.75 euro-marcs of shipping (located in Spain).

Ohohohoh, what's going on? I don't consider this "state of affairs" as normal... But I may have to reset my outlook of things...

It's not just eBay--Craigslist in my area just agglutinates new items with old ones, many posted from dealers, the same day after day with ridiculous prices. I'll take a peek every couple of days, but it's rapidly turning into a haven for people with unreasonable expectations of worth. As in "Well, if I paid $500 for it three years ago, it must be worth at least $450 now because the salesman told me it would hold its value."

Craigslist is worse than that. I've been trying to sell a car there and all the email replies are phishing scams and the like. Or... 'you can remove your ad now -- I'm sending you a certified check for it. You can ship it to me at my expense.' Hehehehehe... It's gotten to the point where I'm going to leave a bogus email addy and only respond to phone calls. At least the calls are for real.

Chuck(G) said:

It's not just eBay--Craigslist in my area just agglutinates new items with old ones, many posted from dealers, the same day after day with ridiculous prices. I'll take a peek every couple of days, but it's rapidly turning into a haven for people with unreasonable expectations of worth. As in "Well, if I paid $500 for it three years ago, it must be worth at least $450 now because the salesman told me it would hold its value."

Click to expand...

Which that means is that people, suddenly, doesn't mind sitting on yunk they want to sell, for as long as their fantasy prices don't materialize. So, they just hoard the yunk they want to sell, waiting for the blue prince to come and kiss it...

Well, they can kiss my...

Man, my eBay adventures continue...

I am now eager to know with which excuse the seller of this aution is going to refuse to sell me this item I won for 1 cent of euro-marc:



Should I report to eBay the seller, and nail him, if he refuses to proceed with the sale I won?

Truth be told, I was ready to pay up to 5 euro-marcs for this VGA card, but I have already lost so many auctions that now that I've won one, and at a bargain price, now the greed is strong within me to demand my card for 1 cent, AS PER DE RULES.

Last summer while visiting family in the States I posted an item on Craigslist and got a reply from one of the scammers, so I thought I would have a little fun with him. Read my replies below (sorry for the length)


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: HP Proliant ML370 G4 Server 3.2Ghz/2GB/3 x 73 GB - $300
(Milton, DE)
From: Scammer
Date: Wed, July 28, 2010 12:12 pm
To: <sale-cud74-1866639214@craigslist.org>

** CRAIGSLIST ADVISORY --- AVOID SCAMS BY DEALING LOCALLY
** Avoid: wiring money, cross-border deals, work-at-home
** Beware: cashier checks, money orders, escrow, shipping
** More Info: http://www.craigslist.org/about/scams.html




hello
My name is Dr Eward John and i want to buy the item you advertised on craigslist .get back to me so we can talk .thanks



this message was remailed to you via: sale-cud74-1866639214@craigslist.org



My Reply:

From: me
To: scammer
Subject: RE: HP Proliant ML370 G4 Server 3.2Ghz/2GB/3 x 73 GB - $300 (Milton, DE)
Date: Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:44:52 -0700

"Hello Dr John,

Please contact me at 555-555-8011 and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

Joe"

Response from Scammer:

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: HP Proliant ML370 G4 Server 3.2Ghz/2GB/3 x 73 GB - $300
(Milton, DE)
From: Scammer <XXXXXXXXXXX@hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, July 28, 2010 2:07 pm
To: <Me>


Hello thanks for the mail and i want to buy the laptop,
Your asking price is OK for me,i would have come to your area for pick
up,But i had an accident 2 months ago in which i lost my husband and my beautiful
daughter and i my self was crippled.Furthermore i don't walk I'm staying on
a wheel chair at least for now, The laptop in question is for my son's
birthday gift who is a student at Austine Okocha's football soccer academy
in west Africa,Please i want you to assist me in mailing the item to my son
due to my condition,I will add $100 making it $400 for the cost of your item
and the mailing fee to west Africa.I'll be paying you through PayPal,please
provide me with your PayPal account for me to make the payment .And i
will forward my son mailing info for you to mail the item as soon as payment
reaches you. please get back to me asap..Or if you don't have a PayPal
account you can send me your.

FULL NAME
FULL CONTACT ADDRESS
CITY AND YOUR ZIP CODE...So that i can place a postal money order for you...thanks


My Reply:

"I'm so sorry for your misfortune. However I am unable to take the laptop to the post office for you because my picture is on the Most Wanted posters in the post office and I fear I will be recognized. If you would like for me to deliver the laptop personally, please provide a first class ticket to the closest airport where I can deliver the laptop to your son. Once I have the confirmed ticket I will contact you with further instructions.

Joe"


I never heard anything back after that.

BuggZ said:

Last summer while visiting family in the States I posted an item on Craigslist and got a reply from one of the scammers, so I thought I would have a little fun with him. Read my replies below (sorry for the length)

-------- Original Message --------
please get back to me asap..Or if you don't have a PayPal
account you can send me your.

FULL NAME
FULL CONTACT ADDRESS
CITY AND YOUR ZIP CODE...So that i can place a postal money order for you...thanks

Click to expand...

Excuse my ignorance, but how is the scammer supposed to use that information for his own profit? Ok, he would get to have your name and your postal address. So what? Do you fear him coming to your very own door?

Pepinno said:

Excuse my ignorance, but how is the scammer supposed to use that information for his own profit? Ok, he would get to have your name and your postal address. So what? Do you fear him coming to your very own door?

Click to expand...

Ah, he was obviously just getting started but stopped the "negotiation" when he could see there was no point. There would have been many other pathetic excuses to help the seller feel empathy and eventually send the laptop BEFORE the payment arrived. There would have been a delay in the payment because of some extreme calamity that the seller couldn't help but feel sorry about, and the laptop would still need to get to the "son" in time for his birthday. You know, something like his wheelchair got stolen and he had to use his rent money to buy an new (broken) one but will have the money when his check comes through when he can make it to the bank when they are next open etc etc.

A site I visit occasionally to have a laugh is 419eater.com. That will tell you how tenacious some of these scammers are--and what fun some have with them.