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A lesson in eBay. . .

E

Erik

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Staff member
Joined
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Messages
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San Jose, CA
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The auction above was a second listing for a nice Cosmac Elf II system.

The first time it was up the seller put the starting price and the buy-it-now at $1,000 US.

When it didn't sell he apparantly decided that a lower starting price was in order but the reserve was set to $1,100.

In the end, it sold for the $1,100. . .

As if it were needed, more proof that eBay is wierd.

Erik
 
Erik,

I have a very nice Cosmac Elf emulator, (with Pixie Graphics) but I don't recall where I got it from, so I can't post the link. I could email you a copy if you'd like to play with it. I was doing some reading up on the 1802 processor, (programming, etc.) and it seems to be a pretty capable processor, for an 8-bit. Way more sophisticated than I had thought before. Internaly, it has all 16-bit registers (16 of 'em, if I understand it correctly). The registers are not specific to any purpose, but any register may be used for any (legal) purpose. Kinda like the "workspace" registers in the TI TMS-9900 chip or in some mini-computers. Has a pretty complete instruction set, too.

--T
 
Re: A lesson in eBay. . .

Erik said:
As if it were needed, more proof that eBay is wierd.

Erik
Click to expand...

Heh, a TRS-80 Model 100 sold about a week ago, for $108.00US. They usually sell for $20.-30.00 on eBay. There was nothing remarkable about this p'ticular machine, just more eBay wierdness. (Well, the seller did *say* that it had only been used once, then stored away in a closet).

--T
 
Terry Yager said:
I was doing some reading up on the 1802 processor, (programming, etc.) and it seems to be a pretty capable processor, for an 8-bit.
Click to expand...
I like Tom Pittman's "A Short Course in Programming", which is a machine code course for the 1802. Already in chapter one, he asks the question "What is a Computer?" which might be reasonable in 1980 when the course was published, but anyone advanced to read it today should have passed that stage long ago.

A few of my favorites are IDL (idle, stops the processor) and STXD (store D via register R(X) and then decrement). Neither of these takes an operand. Some day I'll seriously try to get going with 1802 programming.

*insert move-to-other-thread tag here*
 
Re: A lesson in eBay. . .

"Erik" wrote:

[Link Snipped]

> The auction above was a second listing
> for a nice Cosmac Elf II system.

> The first time it was up the seller put
> the starting price and the buy-it-now at
> $1,000 US.

> When it didn't sell he apparantly decided
> that a lower starting price was in order
> but the reserve was set to $1,100.

> In the end, it sold for the $1,100. . .

> As if it were needed, more proof that
> eBay is wierd.

Which is why I question it sometimes.
Sure there's some honest sellers out there
& eBay has that rewards system where if
your a seller & have a good track record,
then more interested buyers will be
interested in you, which is a good idea.

But occasionally, there's this one off who
thinks they can rip off someone with a
machine, or even be deceitful in terms of
what you're getting. It's this clown which
gives eBay a bad name & it's always the
minority which want to spoil things, to
which they always stand out more than
the honest seller.

CP/M User.
 
carlsson said:
Some day I'll seriously try to get going with 1802 programming.

*insert move-to-other-thread tag here*
Click to expand...

Yes, I have that task on my "to-do" list as well. (First, I should dig up some kinda 1802-based computer to learn on tho).

--T
 
Re: A lesson in eBay. . .

CP/M User said:
But occasionally, there's this one off who
thinks they can rip off someone with a
machine, or even be deceitful in terms of
what you're getting.
Click to expand...

I've experienced the extreme of this when some unscrupulous folks decided to sell MY machines at auction. No, they didn't steal them from me but they DID rip the pictures and descriptions straight from my site and post them on eBay as being for sale.

I have no doubt that, had the sales gone through, I'd have been targeted by the buyers since the links within the auction pointed straight to me.

These sellers were using "appropriated" accounts and the actual owners didn't even know what was being done.

Fortunately the few times it's happened I've been alerted before the end of the auction. eBay is very quick to shut those things down.

Erik
 
Re: A lesson in eBay. . .

"Erik" wrote:

>> But occasionally, there's this one off who
>> thinks they can rip off someone with a
>> machine, or even be deceitful in terms of
>> what you're getting.

> I've experienced the extreme of this when
> some unscrupulous folks decided to sell "MY"
> machines at auction. No, they didn't steal
> them from me but they DID rip the pictures
> and descriptions straight from my site and
> post them on eBay as being for sale.

> I have no doubt that, had the sales gone
> through, I'd have been targeted by the
> buyers since the links within the auction
> pointed straight to me.

> These sellers were using "appropriated"
> accounts and the actual owners didn't even
> know what was being done.

> Fortunately the few times it's happened I've
> been alerted before the end of the auction.
> eBay is very quick to shut those things down.

When did this happen Erik (if you don't mind me
asking)?

Do you know who it was? You should call the
Police if this happens again (or can't they do
anything). I know over here, there trying to do
bust con artists, who try & take advantage of
you.

CP/M User.
 
Re: A lesson in eBay. . .

CP/M User said:
When did this happen Erik (if you don't mind me
asking)?

Do you know who it was? You should call the
Police if this happens again (or can't they do
anything). I know over here, there trying to do
bust con artists, who try & take advantage of
you.
Click to expand...

The last time it happened was nearly a year ago. The listings in question were posted on international eBay sites (eBay UK, for instance) and I didn't have the energy to go after the sellers. . . especially since they weren't the actual crooks but were victims just like me.

eBay did the right thing and terminated the listings. I doubt if the cheat who stole the accounts ever got busted.

Erik
 
I have only had one eBay scare (just last month aamof). EBay sent me a notice that a person I was buying from had had his account suspended for some reason. I emailed them asking for mere details, and they sent me back the info that they were unable to confirm that persons identity (address, etc.), so they closed the account. The scary part was that I had already mailed out a money order for $125.00, (a lot of money to me, being on a fixed-income), and when I asked the bank where I had bought it, they told me it couldn't be stopped. Well, I prepared myself for the worst, but fortunatly, the laptop did arrive, in the condition described, a few days later. I guess a good rule-of-thumb would be: Don't bid any more than you can afford to lose (the same as any other form of gambling).

--T
 
Re: A lesson in eBay. . .

Erik said:
CP/M User said:
But occasionally, there's this one off who
thinks they can rip off someone with a
machine, or even be deceitful in terms of
what you're getting.
Click to expand...

I've experienced the extreme of this when some unscrupulous folks decided to sell MY machines at auction.

Erik
Click to expand...

One of our local "characters", a man who went by the handle of "Gypsy Jack", collected antique "wild west" memorabilia for many years. He even had his home "officially" designated as a museum. His home/museum is something of a local landmark (he used to give tours to whoever showed up on his doorstep). Unfortunatly, he passed away recently. According to the local (Flint, MI) newspaper, some of his collection has been showing up on eBay, unbeknownst to his heirs. People have been breaking into his former place, and carrying off whatever was not nailed down. I sure hope they manage to catch whoever is responsible, as Gypsy was a good friend of mine, and I hate to see his legacy destroyed in such a way.

--T
 
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