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Oy vey! Gross mischaracterizations of our hobby.

E

EvanK

VCFed Founder
Joined
Aug 14, 2003
Messages
1,017
Location
New Jersey
It pains me to criticize "the media" because I'm in it. But ... recently I was grossly misquoted by the financial site Bankrate.com, re: any value in vintage computing.

http://www.bankrate.com/lite/smart-spending/collecting-items-as-an-investment.aspx

I don't even recall anyone from that site ever contacting me! I think the write just copied information that I told another financial site, Minyanville.com, two years ago:

http://www.minyanville.com/special-...-apple-computer-values-old/2/17/2011/id/32477

Bankrate's story says that a desktop PC from 1998 could be a valuable collectible, with the implication that I'm the source of such nonsense. It also says that sky-high early Apple prices are "the excitement" that "led to" formation of groups like MARCH.

(As many (most?) of you know, MARCH formed back in 2005, solely to allow collectors in our region to meet, tinker on vintage computers, and have fun.)

We retrocomputing folks will never have the numbers of the Beanie Baby people, but, help a brother out: go to the Bankrate story, scroll down to find my comment, and vote it "up" by clicking the caret symbol underneath and to the left of the comment.

More bad news: the story was picked up by Fox Business, where presumably many more people will see it than on Bankrate, but where there's no comment system. Soooo, a bunch of people will see the Fox version and get the idea that Pentium Windows 98 computers are ** L@@K R@RE !! and worth BIG BUCKS over on eBay. Oh, joy.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/personal...ive-collectibles-to-stash-for-big-cash-later/

Please know that it's not my fault. ;)

- Evan
 
I just went there, and it took a while to figure out what was going on. It's one of those stories where they spread it over a bunch of pages. The first page is just the beginning and there are little numbers you can click. Pick the last one and that's the bit about computers. Also Evan's comment has gotten to the second page by now so just click on "more comments".

I must say though, it will be interesting to see if a bunch of high priced (ie. any price) 1998 boxes show up on eBay soon. That would be funny.
 
They deleted my comment, which was calm and informative. Baffling! I sent a very blunt email to them just now.
 
I must say though, it will be interesting to see if a bunch of high priced (ie. any price) 1998 boxes show up on eBay soon. That would be funny.
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Er... have you checked eBay at any point in the last 3-4 years? The vintage computing section is a wasteland of worthless crap at huge prices, and has been for quite a long time. The "zOMG LQQK UBER R@RE Dell GX1 VINTAGE DOS GAMING SYSTEM WIN98!!1!!111" for $100+ (and inevitably in very poor condition) is already a common sight.

The real question is whether these sorts of sensationalist news reports will cause a demand for such things. I've got a fair number PII/PIII crapboxes sitting around, and I think it'd be fantastic if I could use them to part idiots from significant amounts of money.
 
Hopefully, any perceived rise in prices will slow the unnecessary disposal of perfectly good hardware and put a lot of the fly-by-night recyclers out of business.
 
Certainly a representation of quality reporting there. Not amending or editing the article but deleting the comment by the quoted source correcting the misconception. Oh well lol.. perhaps it still has some use that yes, there is an increasing number of folks aware of collecting, preserving, and enjoying classic computers.
 
The bankrate article did specify machines from the 1980s. The 1998 comment was likely sarcastic in tone.
 
Old Thrashbarg said:
Er... have you checked eBay at any point in the last 3-4 years? The vintage computing section is a wasteland of worthless crap at huge prices, and has been for quite a long time. The "zOMG LQQK UBER R@RE Dell GX1 VINTAGE DOS GAMING SYSTEM WIN98!!1!!111" for $100+ (and inevitably in very poor condition) is already a common sight.

The real question is whether these sorts of sensationalist news reports will cause a demand for such things. I've got a fair number PII/PIII crapboxes sitting around, and I think it'd be fantastic if I could use them to part idiots from significant amounts of money.
Click to expand...

I do check eBay almost daily, however I'd never bother to check for computers - they just show up. I wonder, are any of those "vintage gaming" systems selling? If so, I'll hang on to some when they show up. Since I plan to live forever, they should be worth millions by the time I die. :)

EvanK said:
They deleted my comment, which was calm and informative. Baffling! I sent a very blunt email to them just now.
Click to expand...

Yes, your comment was perfectly acceptable. I can't believe they did that.

SpidersWeb said:
"This comment was deleted." - right where it was only a few hours ago!
Click to expand...
Nah, it's gone. They left mine. I wish I'd said something a little more terse. Of course we could all go there and post comments questioning where Evan's comment went - just to provide a heads-up for other readers.
 
Unfortunately I know of people who either bought systems at scrap value or totally mislead the seller into almost giving it away, only to play with it for a week and then flip it for far higher prices.

If you're a collector, you're in it for the historical value, not market value. If you hoard systems simply because you know you can retire off them that is NOT a healthy way to collect. YOU DO NOT CONSIDER YOUR SYSTEMS AS ASSETS.

This is partly why I have a grudge about people selling systems (or sitting on piles of duplicate system) or parts of systems for absurd prices and sitting on that item for months if not years. You're totally in it for the money.

You buy a PET for $25, to you it's worth $25. I never sell items on what I expect them to be worth to everyone else. If someone offered me $700 for my PDP-11, yeah, I would take that but too bad for you because I was asking $30.
 
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There are all kinds of collectors, some are long term and some are short term. Some sell systems for more then they paid for them to buy other systems and some don't sell anything. I don't see a problem hoarding spare parts either, sooner or later those parts will end up in another collectors hands and not in the recycling center. I have raided recycling centers for all kind of systems that were hours away from destruction and paid a little over scrap value for them, am I supposed to feel bad I didn't pay ebay prices for them? Personally I have sold way under 1% of what I have snagged over the decade, mostly stuff I didn't like from lots and a few items to help collectors with broken machines out of my duplicates. A couple times I have sold items for much more then I paid for them (people toss a figure out there for something I have that I don't care about and I sometimes take it), nothing wrong with that. What I don't do is buy stuff just to flip it, takes away from the hobby and turns it into a money making venture and I don't have the space for that stuff as it is. My collection is a money pit, but someday I will get bored of some of it and sell if off hopefully getting some of my money back in the process.
 
Wait...there is money in old computers? If I could only use the money to stop buying other old computers.
 
There is nothing wrong with finding a seemingly lost case, saving, cleaning, fixing and reselling. The price should reflect your effort to restore the system. My friendly criticism of those who find supply and demand evil...that's life! Why are vintage computers any different than anything else? The Ebay rules are pretty straight-forward, there is sniping, there are less-than-informed sellers, there are crappy shippers. It's the "open market", an awesome thing.

I do give away lots of stuff to my friends, I sell at wholesale to fellow hobbyists, and otherwise get whatever I can on the open market/retail. I am not too active a seller on Ebay but when I go through the trouble I want to get as much as possible.



There is nothing wrong with being a capitalist, right?

Didn't we just have this conversation?
 
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There's nothing wrong with wanting an amount corresponding to the work you put into a system, the problem is all the yahoos who grab systems, don't put any work into them, and then demand prices more in line with vials of unicorn blood than used, decades-old computers because it's R@RE L@@K. (If I had a dollar for every eBay auction that's "couldn't be assed to turn it on because I might find that it was broken, sold as-is," I might have enough to actually buy one of them...)
 
TOtally understand your frustration with these types, but then don't buy from them, the market does not support prices that are higher than what a seller will be willing to accept. These kinds of sellers may choose to be patient, and don't mind waiting for a buyer who "must have this"....Eventually the seller is either stuck with the item or they have to lower the price.
 
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