I just don't get some people...

Vintage Computer eBayer Logic:
Not-bootable, incomplete Apple computer (The seller has it listed as 'working' when it doesn't boot to the OS...)
Original Auction starting a $200 free ship, no bids
Next week, $150 free ship, no bids (I offer $100, they politely decline)
Next week, $150 free ship again, no bids again (I offer $120, no response)
This week it’s a $190 + $25 shipping or “Best Offer”
I offer $95 +$25, which is $120. And I explain that their computer is not ‘working’ like the ad says and that these models usually need servicing anyway due to leaking capacitors. (I'm polite about it)
I receive a counter offer for $150 + $25 shipping….

Well, the seller could raise his asking price if he could demonstrate that it was touched by Steve Jobs...

To be frankly honest its the buyer's I don't get.... I track prices on eBay for certain items for the hell of it and to get a feel of trends. Is it scientific, hell no, is it weird, maybe, but it is illuminating....

Here is a recent one:

OA Vol 1 and 2 - Sold for $99
However, the same set was initially listed for $179 by the same seller it did not sell or get a bid (rather weird given that OAs are bit rarer then the other books) so it was down to $129 then $99 then $79 then $49 and then back up to $99 when it sold.

As you can see there is no good reason/explanation as to why it sold for $99 when a quick check by the buyer would have shown the $49 price the week before except for right/unlucky timing. It seems that on eBay most of prices are determined by having the "right" suckerrr I mean buyer trying to buy something when the item goes on sale. There is really no established value for these items. Add that to the fact that the seller is trying to pull the "make me an offer scam (in the confines of ebay)" and hoping he can get a few bids out of multiple suckers errrr... i mean customers so he makes the most profit. So basically your seller is picking numbers out of his rear end and hoping someone will come along and buy it. He is also not tracking his prices in any shape or way so the idiotic $150 + S&H (when $150 w/ free S&H did not sell) counter off.

This of course has the cumulative effect of having old HW ending up at the recyclers because they are priced randomly with no one buying.

When the pool of potential buyers is small and we are talking about non-essential items (i.e., luxury items), there is no price set by the market as, in reality, there is no market itself. So in these scenarios the price is always just a lucky coincidence between the paths of seller and buyer, and not something set by "the market". Therefore, any lucky/unlucky coincidence is perfectly possible.

Hence, the price discrepancies you may witness.

Nothing on ebay is listed as non-working for parts. Nothing. It could be full of water, rusted, or in several mud covered pieces, and it would still be "used". I gave up looking at PCs after a whole day of "working" PCs without hard drives, optical drives, or power supplies. "Untested because I do not have a power cord" from sellers with a dozen or more PCs. I'd rather deal with Craigslist sellers.

Actually quite a few old laptops are listed as non working instead of used (I don't shop for whole PCs on ebay very often to know how they are listed).

I have seen items keep dropping with no bid (or relisted a few times at the same price with no bids) that end up selling later. Sometimes I think maybe one person is following the auction waiting for the price to keep dropping after it doesn't sell a few times and then biting the bullit when it gets relisted higher then the last time. I have waited on a few items to get into resonable pricing territory before buying.

Quite a few sellers think because one items sells for $150 then theirs has to sell for that or they are getting ripped off because that $150 is the going rate. I kind of wonder if some of these sellers have mental issues that keep them from having a more normal job. While some ebay sellers are strange, I still find them more normal then those on craigslist. Maybe I am just unlucky, but there are some real nutjobs selling on craigslist around here.

There are still others who see $150 as a BIN price on similar items and think that's what their item is worth.

arrow_runner said:

Vintage Computer eBayer Logic:
Not-bootable, incomplete Apple computer (The seller has it listed as 'working' when it doesn't boot to the OS...)
Original Auction starting a $200 free ship, no bids
Next week, $150 free ship, no bids (I offer $100, they politely decline)
Next week, $150 free ship again, no bids again (I offer $120, no response)
This week it’s a $190 + $25 shipping or “Best Offer”
I offer $95 +$25, which is $120. And I explain that their computer is not ‘working’ like the ad says and that these models usually need servicing anyway due to leaking capacitors. (I'm polite about it)
I receive a counter offer for $150 + $25 shipping….

Click to expand...

At least the seller dropped his price. Maker a counter counter offer and stop moaning. You might get lucky.

Caluser2000 said:

Make a counter counter offer and stop moaning. You might get lucky.

Click to expand...

And if that doesn't work, make him a kitchen counter offer and see if he'll take a sandwich.

(This is the off topic section - right?)

I would've thought the appropriate area was RANTS but there you go...

How many Apple users does it take to change a light bulb?


None. Cause they get the mouse to do it.

There are smart people, dumb people, and eBay numbskulls in the world. Guess which one you've run into. (Surely it isn't the first.)