"What Are These People Thinking?????"

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gsmcten's picture
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"What Are These People Thinking?????"

Good Evening All,

I just finished checking out the Vintage Apple items up on eBay for the umpteenth time this weekend. Checking on pcbs and such for sale. I came across an Apple IIc Plus computer for sale. It's price....$500.00
as a "Buy It Now" item.

The description has it as a one owner machine in very good condition."Very Rare". It even comes with a power cord and a "Six page description copied from Wikipedia".

All the while I thought about the 3 IIc Plus computers that I have in the closet (which include the Applied Engineering RAM cards and are in mint condition) that I have bought from various folks on eBay over the past year and never paid more that $70.00 for. One of them was even less than that.

I wondered if many parts of this particular IIc Plus were made of gold, or even platinum, but if so it didn't say in the description. It makes me wonder....

WHAT ARE THESE PEOPLE THINKING??!!!!

Do they think that the general public has no clue and are willing (especially now) to shell out that kind of money for a IIc Plus?
Do they think that folks who are knowledgable about Apple II's are stupid?

I could understand a price like that if it were a brand new in the box never been opened IIc Plus, but this is used equipment and being sold "As Is Due To Age".

The one shining light at the end of this particular tunnel was the fact that the seller offered "Free Shipping". WhooHooo! Made me want to jump right up and send him my money.....NOT!

Am I the only one whose mind works this way? I hope not.

Have a good week. Smile

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I think is because of the rar

I think is because of the rarity of the availability and the fact someone is trying to make a quick buck.. Granted that IIc-plus units don't show up that often, so basiclly its greed..

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Not as bad as someone asking

Not as bad as someone asking thousand for a beat up IIe and getting it. And the loser buying a II+ for thousand also. A little harder to track these day on Ebay.

Take Care

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Supply and demand. There are

Supply and demand. There are plenty of items in my collection I got years ago for free or next to it that just do not show up on ebay much if at all. If you want an item and it is scarce then people will bid it up causing the price to rise. In a normal market people with multiple units in the closet will eventually flood the market trying to make the insane money and that will drop the selling price.

I don't know about you guys, but I don't pay ebay prices for anything in my collection, you can find just about anything if you look around long enough for little money.

Could just be scarcity of models on ebay and the fact the buyer has to have it NOW that makes people spend insane money on items. Then again if you have somebody with a huge stack of money maybe their time is worth more then what they are buying.

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The Closet....

Yeah, availability and demand have a lot with whats happening, but the ones I have in the closet are mainly for spare parts. You have to have a little stashed away for the rainy day when the one you are operating all the time decides that the Gerbal has died. lol

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What's the issue here? I coul

What's the issue here? I could put my Beige G3 up on eBay for $500 buy it now. What conclusion could you get from that? Actually I've seen people trying to sell Beige's for about that much on Craigslist. If it sells, then it may be time to clean those closets. If it doesn't sell, how can you call it greed? If it sells and the buyer is happy, how can you call it greed? If you see three of them sell on eBay for that price, will it be greed when you put yours up there for that price too? Is this sale likely to happen? You and I know the answer. Whether the seller knows or not, who cares, a long as he's not committing some kind of fraud. One of the guys I saw trying to sell a Beige on Craigslist for that high kept dropping his price over and over until he ended up basically begging to trade for almost anything. That's reality at work.

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The Point....

Cruiser,

Far be it for me to say that this person, or that person is being greedy. Thats not the point I was trying to get across.
What I was saying that in an economy like the one we're in now, it just does not make sense to try to sell an item for that amount of money as a "Buy It Now" auction. If I were going to sell an item like this, I would start at a lower price and let the bidders decide what it's worth. Whether or not I made any amount of money would be up to the buyers, but that's just me. Smile

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I think the idea of putting a

I think the idea of putting an Apple IIc with a BIN price of US$500 is to put out a "bait". All it takes is ONE clueless shopper who does not know the difference between a Apple II, Apple II+, Apple IIe or Apple IIc (they all look sort-off alike) and then bobs your uncle.

I have seen people who use the terms Apple II and Macintosh original interchangeably, so the above is very very possible

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None of the above are worth U

None of the above are worth US$500 though

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Thanks Doc....

Thanks Doc,

I knew someone had to get the point. lol
I usually go up and check out the auctions in the evenings in case something catches my fancy, but here lately I am buying pieces and parts that don't show up that often. Case in point is the 3.5 inch Superdrive Controller card that just came in last week. It was a BIN of $375.00 OBO. I got it for $250.00 and (to me) it was money well spent as I have a Superdrive, but no controller. Was it a bit much?
Well; maybe, but it was worth it as they just don't grow on trees.
Other items though, like the $500 IIc Plus and several others that I've seen, just don't make it.
If I see something good at a reasonable price and I know that it might be worth something to someone on "Fritter" I report it. Gives folks a chance to get something they might want. Smile

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hard choices

I watched this one a couple of weeks ago:

ebay auction

It got offers for only a little over a $100 more than that IIc. Would you have gone the extra $115 and taken this one or settled for the IIc at $500? Maybe you should ask the IIc guy if he's got one of those for $500 instead. It would be interesting to hear what his response would be, and the timber of his voice.

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Yeah... I watched that one too.

Cruiser,

Yeah, I watched that one too. One of the problems I find with a "Reserve" price is that sometimes it ultimately winds up being the BIN price. There is an outfit that regularly sells on eBay that starts thier auctions at $.99 with a reserve, then has a BIN price listed. Almost always the reserve price comes out to be very close to; if not the BIN price. I steer clear of them.

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We're lucky compared to other hobbies.

I think it is amazing that nearly everything is under $100, or more likely under $50 and on sale frequently. I couldn't believe how cheap it was to buy a second Disk II drive, a Super Serial card, extended 80-col card, great condition Apple IIe manuals, etc. I even won an auction for a Commodore 64 with matching disk drive and color monitor for $1.50 once (local pick up only). I think I may have bought every one of my Apple items listed above for under $100. The super serial card was sealed in the box and the auction ended at $8.00. I like looking at the box more than I like using the card lately.

Be glad we aren't trying to buy Star Wars toys from the late '70's.

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Found it on Ebay

There is still an Ebay listing for a IIc-Plus for $500. Not an auction though.

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Again....

Good Evening All,

Well it's Friday again and as I am apt to do in the evening I went up and checked out the Vintage Apple II's and Macs for sale on ebay. Instead of just looking at the latest items up for auction I plugged in "Price + Shipping- Highest" and hit the Enter key. Lo and behold up came the list and my eyes bulged out like a stomped on toad frog.
I just could not believe the asking price for some of these items, and yes, the Apple IIc Plus for BIN $500.00 is still there.
I had to laugh.
There is also a II Plus for almost $250. 00 (it has a missing key) and a DuoDisk (in mint condition) for the same price.
Again, I am just amazed. lol

Have a good weekend. Smile

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Yer all correct! I think it

Yer all correct! I think it's amazing at what people try and ask for things , such as older Apple II's , now don't get me wrong , I am a huge fan of the Apple II series , always was.. But let's get real people , unless this is an extremely low serial # Apple , and what not , or have some kind of hardware installed that is so rare and hard to find , I can understand if someone is asking a higher price for it. For instance , if my friend still had his original II+ from back in the day , and this rig was tricked out like you would not believe! It had real time shift lower case mods built in , with the flip of a switch he was able to write in lowercase! A super modified non-autostart F-8 Rom , which was able to display Hexadecimal and other things , which aided him in cracking warez quickly , extra memory installed , which let him run programs without the use of a language card! A really rare mod that was , and alot of other stuff , see these are the things that would be rare and worth putting up on Ebay , one of a kind items , everyday stuff that you see constantly on ebay are just that. Ofcourse who wouldn't want to buy a mint condition , un-opened original Apple II or II+?

C-ya

]Patrick

]A2forever

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Here We Go Again....

Good Evening All,

Well, I thought insanity stopped at a $500.00 IIc Plus.

I was sadly mistaken.

There is now a $1500.00 Apple IIe (thats right; a IIe) up on eBay.
I know that it includes a Monitor, Printer, a Couple of Disk II's, and some software, but I swear that this thing MUST be made of Platinum.

I just don't know whether to laugh or cry when I see things like this. It has to be one of the most outrageous things I've seen.

Check it out and have a good evening. Smile

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someone on craigslist was try

someone on craigslist was trying to sell an 8500/250 for $500 recently. i think it comes down to people just being naive to the changing technology. i have also seen some powerbook g4s on craigslist for $1200, and even someone trying to sell an ibook g3 in horrible condition for $1300 obo, will not go under 1000. i think that these people are either idiots or think that they can actually sell their old computers for more than it would cost to buy a brand new one. also, are either of these computers worth anything close to the asking price: http://miami.craigslist.org/pbc/sys/1334365947.html ?

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Even worse

I've been searching around for spare Apple II keyboards, there was one for $160 as a Buy-it-now... Apple II's with keyboards are cheaper than that.

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Re: Here We Go Again....

Good Evening All,

Well, I thought insanity stopped at a $500.00 IIc Plus.

I was sadly mistaken.

There is now a $1500.00 Apple IIe (thats right; a IIe) up on eBay.
I know that it includes a Monitor, Printer, a Couple of Disk II's, and some software, but I swear that this thing MUST be made of Platinum.

I just don't know whether to laugh or cry when I see things like this. It has to be one of the most outrageous things I've seen.

Check it out and have a good evening. :)

Um. And what's wrong with selling an otherwise ordinary item that is in exceptional condition for a premium. Do you all understand the concept of collectibility? The Apple IIe mentioned is in pristine factory condition, the included DuoDisk is basically brand new - was still sealed(not taped) in the original plastic bag. Zero evidence of sun exposure. All but one of the manuals were mint condition still wrapped in plastic from the factory. It's not about what's included, its ALL about what CONDITION the items are in. If I had an old 1984 Honda Civic CRX all faded and rusty with 200K miles on it I'd only get $500 for it if I'm lucky. But if I had that same car in original factory condition with 20K miles and the manuals still in the glove box wrapped in plastic, I'd get $10K for it even though Honda made thousands(possibly tens of thousands) of these in 1984 alone, how many do you think are in factory pristine condition today? Well it's just like this for the 1983 Apple IIe for sale, which by the way, was the earlier, much higher quality II+ type case that was only made for the first year. I love how the people complaining about prices overlook all the fine details that make all of the difference. By the way, that Apple IIe just sold for $1699, so I guess someone thought it was worth it, which proves the old adage: "It's worth what someone will pay for it". The buyer of that Apple IIe has a museum quality showpiece that fewer and fewer will be able to find again. Since most IIe's ended up in schools and got discolored fom sunlight and beat to h***, not to mention engravings, badges, and even painted on stencils to demark the school ownership. Mint, clean IIe's have a value far above the average and that has just been proven Biggrin

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Wow, Stiers you proved the ol

Wow, Stiers (aka Macdoogie) you proved the old adage that there is a sucker born every minute. Geez, can you hear that guy's wife right now.
More power to you.

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Well, there was that NIB IIc

Well, there was that NIB IIc that sold last year for $2600.

I bought my IIc last year for $125 including shipping, and that included the system, power adapter with AC cord, monitor stand, monitor with power and video cable, external Disk IIc, TV adapter, and an Imagewriter I serial cable. I had a fight on my hands to get it even for that price.

People consider because something is old, it makes it rare. Apple IIs are a dime a dozen, though there seem to be less of them today.

Another aspect is even through the current recession, the sellers think that it will be a collectible, and worth twice as much in the future as what they are selling it as, even though it in it's current price is rather exorbitant.

Just my 2 cents.

-digital Wink

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Collectable , hmm...

yep certain things are considered collectable , Apple II+'s //e's and IIc's used with normal wear and tear and a dime a dozzen! If you happend to come accorss one that is totaly emaculant and never opended , still in anti-static bags , never seen the light of day , then this would be a rare-collectable indeed. But when you find odd boards like Pirates Harbor Krack-Shot boards , then these are really collectable because only a handfull were ever made! Especially modified F-8 Non-autostart roms that were designed by pirates like The Freeze and others , these are the collectable items you look for , to enhance your system and make it fun to use...

that's about it.

Patrick.
A2forever

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LOL... Macdoogie Followed me...

Well,

I stand by what I wrote to him up on eBay. Theres one born every minute. I just don't happen to be one of them. Yes, I agree it was a "Nice" system, but it was not like the IIc that sold last year as that IIc system had never seen the light of day.
This IIe system was used. I don't care how you wrap it after it's been out of the box; it's used.
I don't mind spending my money on "Collectible" items and I guess everyones criteia for that term is different. Stiers and mine just don't jive.
Stiers... I'm glad you got what you wanted.You'd make P.T. Barnum proud. lol

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Another interesting item....

Its Saturday Night

Ebay item 170379604500 is a IIgs with an Applied Engineering PC Transporter Card. All things being considered I do not think the starting price too unreasonable, but I noticed something in the photograph; there was no AE 3.5 or 5.25 disk drive as part of the package.

Now I am not going to say that "Everyone Knows" that you have to have an AE disk drive for this card to operate, but enough folks know (like myself) to ask the seller if an AE drive came with the package. Apparently the seller did not know and does not have an AE disk drive
to go with the card as he/she changed the description, but does not say that the AE disk drive is required.

It's kinda like buying a car without the tires. Its pretty, but you can't drive it anywhere. lol

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yep

well yea , this is true , general public at large alot of them , have no clue as to what exactly is supposed to be included in an actual system , that they claim is complete!? alot of after market stuff was added later , and like you said , once a //e or //c for that matter , hits the day of light , plastic baggies that protect them are open , well it's pretty much a done deal as being used in my opinion. I mean who really cares? Just buy a good used one that is clean and works , play the games and appz on it and be happy. If you spent $2500.00 for a so called un-opened IIC , well you got ripped in my opinion... I don't buy this stuff to show off to everyone , I buy it because it brings back memories of my childhood and it's fun to run stuff that is over 20 years old and too see it still work is amazing in itself....

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Maybe not your people

Well, here's the deal. Believe it or not, there are people out there for whom cost is not much of a consideration. Take for instance, the Barons of Business--those CEO's and upper management of Wall Street and the big banks--the people who gambled and ruined their companies and the world economy in general, but who had friends and "former" colleagues in high places who were able to extort...um, excuse me...convince your representatives that the coffers of their companies should be refilled with IOU's signed in behalf of all of your grandchildren--and then subsequently made sure that those mega million dollar bonuses that they were used to always getting kept coming as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened at all--on the contrary, their personal performance had been beyond admirable. Well, these people, for example, have a different relationship with money than you and I have. And then, say, they have a child or friend or lover whose birthday is coming up, and this child or friend or lover is a great Mac enthusiast, and it occurs to this kind of people that, wouldn't it be the greatest thing to present the child or friend or lover or Treasury Secretary or Federal Reserve Chairman or head of the House Financial Services Committee with a brand new, never opened Apple IIc as a present. Wouldn't that be the thrill of the party? Wouldn't that garner the greatest sense of affection? And gratitude? Ripped off? Are you kidding? It was a bargain. They've had lunches that cost more than $2600. They've tipped the "doorman" more than $2600. Well, you and I may never even meet these people, but rest assured, they exist, for the benefit of you and I. They weren't even the person who placed the bid. They gave some agent an idea of what they were looking for, and he found it, and clicked on the BIN, and got a reward for the find. There are people who have a different concept of money than you and I have, and a greater understanding of the cost-be-damned value of a novel whim or a novel collection than you or I have, or who have bigger vaults than you or I. Don't wrack your brain over it. It's out of your ken. It's of a different persuasion. It's in the upper echelons.

On the other hand, I just went up on eBay to check out the CPU category in the Apple Computers section looking to see if there were any dual 1Ghz Quicksilver processors to watch. As I went down the list of CPU's, I had to wade through an obnoxious clutter of countless used Digital Audio 466mhz, Quicksilver 733mhz, and other such lowest end of the line processors offered at BIN prices like $29.95, $39.95, etc.--they were like dead leaves in the pool--and in my annoyance with their constant presence, that's when I can't help but cry out, "what the hell are these people thinking?"

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prices on *Bay

Basically "Let the buyer beware!"

Knowledgeable buyers won't "guppy up"
for those outrageous prices. Unfortunately
noobies will because they don't know any
better!

It's like that on 'the bay' right now
with good deals at $100US and below but
also one or two vendors asking high 3 and
4-figure prices.

Hopefully, browsers will see the disparity
and figure it out for themselves.

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