E-Bay Driving Up Apple II Prices

[rocketusa@delphi.com]

I buy and sell electronics, especially Apple II stuff, on Ebay and say
hooray to the high prices Ebay sometimes manages for Apple II computers
that a few years ago weren't worth the price of shipping.

As far as buying goes, I usually bid on stuff that someone has mislisted
because many of the sellers have no clue. I'd say 90 of the Apple IIs
sold on Ebay come from people who just happened upon them and the
sellers don't even know how to boot from disk or they don't have a disk.
Because their postings lack knowledge, most bidders are wary.

When I buy things for myself, I usually aim for items I couldn't afford
as a kid in the late 70s and early 80s. I think that's the motive for a
lot of Ebay buyers. I just bought a full-sized arcade machine! A lot of
the stuff I buy I owned before, but my mother tossed it out or other
people in the house sold it.

As far as selling goes, I've sold some vintage computers for A LOT more
than I paid for them (usually I pick them up at garage sales). Yes,
there are people in Europe and the Far East who have "overpaid" for my
goods -- but they were willing to pay premium because I explained the
items really well. They don't want to bid on something that could be
wrong, paying $70 for shipping alone.

Also, it's good to add on little frills. For example, an Apple II
joystick normally goes for $5-10. I added five freeware game disks and
my joystick went for $35.

People don't want to buy an item and not be able to use it right away.

Darren


>Like I just said in the Subject... Someone earlier mentioned about some
>guy in the Orient purchasing a plain Apple II for $610. Just now,
>someone offered me an Apple II. I offered a pretty decent price for it
>(don't want to disclose my offer). But then he writes back saying,
>"it's hard to sell an apple 2 for $XXX plus shipping when they are
>going for over $600 on ebay.... thanks for the offer but i will need to
>get closer to its value...." It's value??? $600 is NOT its value!!! ]!
>...It's getting much tougher to complete an Apple II collection
>nowdays! :(


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