Ebay prices bit of a joke

[+Stephen]

1 hour ago, electronizer said:

Non-collector’s guide to selling Atari computers via online auction

 

1. If it says Atari, it’s RARE. Put RARE in the auction title. Maybe put it two or three times so bidders will be sure to notice.
2. If it says Atari, it’s VALUABLE. Don’t worry if it’s in poor condition, cracked, or not working. Even if all you have is the box (or part of the box), it’s worth money. Search online for your item and sort from high to low price. Offer yours for at least 20% higher than the highest price. If this seems like too much work, USD999.99 is always a good starting bid. If you can’t find your item in an active auction listing, it’s probably worth billions.
3. If it says Atari, it’s IN DEMAND. Because it’s RARE (see #1), desperate collectors will fight over it. There’s no need to waste time and effort cleaning, gluing, or otherwise trying to fix it up, people will bid on it just the same. In fact, if it’s covered in dirt and looks like it came out of a landfill, people will probably pay more for it.
4. If it says Atari, it’s INDESTRUCTABLE. No need to waste time and money on careful packaging. Throw everything into a box with a few pieces of crumpled up paper and ship it. Or, for even more cost savings, just wrap it in one sheet of bubble wrap and put a shipping label on it. If you position the shipping label just right, it can double as tape to hold the bubble wrap together.

Don't forget, if anybody complains about the price, smugly reply "that's how collecting works" and re-list it even higher.  Eventually nobody that wants to sell it will be able to, nobody who wants to buy it will be able to, and it will all go into the trash.  This is how we drive up rarity.

[cwilbar]

I always laugh when you watch an item, it ends, it gets released, it ends, that might happen 1-2 more times, then it gets relisted for a higher price....

 

WTF.... if it didn't sell at X, it isn't going to sell at (1+something)*X !

 

Maybe eBay needs a feature than when an item doesn't sell it is automatically relisted at 10% more ?

 

[mdivancic]

If you are patient every once in a while you can get a diamond in the rough. You have to wonder if some of these people have any idea what they have. I picked up a “working” 1040 STE with a bum floppy and 1 mb of memory for a good price as it was listed “as is”. It was filthy. There was, let’s call it gunk, under the keyboard I’m not sure I ever want to know what it was. Ran the case through the dishwasher. Soaked the keys in the sink with dish soap. Even scrubbed the shielding.  The motherboard was in good shape. Opened the floppy drive and gave it a good cleaning, lubed the rails. Put everything back together and it all worked fine including the “bad” floppy. 
 

The seller included a mouse (cleaned up nice) and some random bits in the auction. One bit was two pieces of cardboard wrapped in packing tape. Turned out there were 4 1mb simm’s inside! Never mentioned in the auction. Installed and they worked fine. If the original owner had taken the time to clean this up they could have easily doubled there money. Go figure...

[CaptainCanadian]

I think the disconnect here is that you guys are fans and the people buying are investors. Look at this from my perspective... I don't quite understand why people are interested in these old games at all...especially when you can get all this stuff on a memory card the size of a dime.  That said, some guy on kijiji pointed me to a video talking about investing in Comics, Collectibles and old games as a long term play. I think a lot of non-gamers are getting into it. It is much safer than stocks, gold and GICs and I guess when demand outstrips supply it'll go up? Theoretically? It seems silly to me though. If I kept my comic/cartoon collection on physical media, my 4 TB drive of 80's cartoons would likely fill up a shopping mall of VHS cassettes. I don't think I would derive any more enjoyment of owning an old VHS player and rifling through the tapes to find something quick to eat a bowl of CountChocula to. 

 

I'm really enjoying it though. I'm learning how to solder and clean up motherboards and replace old controller ports with new spare parts. What a good time you guys have been having. If some kid is willing to pay me 150 bucks for creating a frankensystem who am I to argue? I had a young man of about 20 the other day lecture me on the finer points of the genesis, games and collecting as if I were new to video games. I was the one selling him the system AND the games.  

 

[cwilbar]

investing on speculation in any market will have winners and losers.

 

When the speculator isn't getting their return, eventually they decide it isn't worth it, and dump the stuff to get out of that investment area....  if enough of these happen, the whole market comes crashing down as all the speculators get scared and start dumping before the prices crash. 

 

Can't say how big it could crash, or when it could, but sooner or later, there likely won't be as many people interested in this old stuff at some point in time.... thats when the supply/demand curves change.

 

Baseball cards have had boom and bust cycle(s), etc... 

 

I haven't seen this happen in the old computer arena yet.... not sure it has happened to any great degree in console stuff either.... but that doesn't mean it can't happen ?

 

This stuff is a hobby for me.  I enjoy the projects, fixing some things.... I need to get better at selling though.....  as I've accumulated way too much computer stuff over the years ?

 

[mdivancic]

2 hours ago, cwilbar said:

This stuff is a hobby for me.  I enjoy the projects, fixing some things.... I need to get better at selling though.....  as I've accumulated way too much computer stuff over the years ?

Same here. I’ve talked myself into several projects lately that I really have enjoyed. My next project is to put an LCD screen in my SX-64 and I still have some work to do on my STacy.

[bluejay]

23 hours ago, Stephen said:

Don't forget, if anybody complains about the price, smugly reply "that's how collecting works" and re-list it even higher.  Eventually nobody that wants to sell it will be able to, nobody who wants to buy it will be able to, and it will all go into the trash.  This is how we drive up rarity.

If a stupid buyer, especially an AtariAger, keeps on nagging you, then tell them how you have an excellent rating and how it's worth the extra money. Don't forget to block the buyer.