Heathkit H-11 on eBay

[smp]

Not mine:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Rare-Heath...312809?hash=item2ceb9a34a9:g:d~sAAOSwy39c7R9Y

This one is being offered by one of the Sellers I am very wary about. What do you think? It appears to be complete. What are the chances that it is in working condition? Is it worth $900, simply because there seem to be so few out there? Has anyone made an offer to this Seller and had things work out well?

Thanks!

smp

 

[livewire]

His feedback record is large and near perfect. You can probably be rest assured that the item will arrive at your door.
He has been at this for years, his packaging is ample.

As for your other questions, he sells everything with a boilerplate disclaimer.
Basically he is saying "you MUST accept the fact that this item may be non-functional. No returns."

So will it work? Who knows?
Just looking at it, I would think better than 50/50.
It is clean. It is complete. It appears not to have been abused.
I haven't heard rampant stories of DEC designed computers having "bit-rot",
although that could be a possibility with some chips that were used back in the day.
With a little patience, parts and manuals are still available.

If I were to buy it, I would take all of the known precautions before applying power to it.
(reforming caps, cleaning/re-seating connections, pre-test PSU, visual inspection of all components, etc.)

Is it worth $900 ?
These sell all of the time at that price. Actually, they range from $500 to $1000 on a good day.
I paid $500 for mine about seven years ago.

I have bought computers from this seller in the distant past.
He was a straight shooter, I have no complaints.

 

[NeXT]

His feedback record is large and near perfect. You can probably be rest assured that the item will arrive at your door.
He has been at this for years, his packaging is ample.

As for your other questions, he sells everything with a boilerplate disclaimer.
Basically he is saying "you MUST accept the fact that this item may be non-functional. No returns."

...

I have bought computers from this seller in the distant past.
He was a straight shooter, I have no complaints.

I have as well and this is very true, however he also has a pretty mixed reputation for reselling with large markups and minimal change from the seller before him, plus his storage locker clearout sales are typically pretty poor, if not already cherrypicked. I again bring up my Apricot FP I paid about $350 for in 2012, while it shipped to me with the Goodwill $30 pricetag still on it AND in the ebay photos.

Why did I pay that much money you ask? Because look at his selection. He knows he can rake in a profit selling hardware you typically cannot find anywhere else. Nothing really wrong about that aside from ethics.

 

[livewire]

I have as well and this is very true, however he also has a pretty mixed reputation for reselling with large markups and minimal change from the seller before him, plus his storage locker clearout sales are typically pretty poor, if not already cherrypicked. I again bring up my Apricot FP I paid about $350 for in 2012, while it shipped to me with the Goodwill $30 pricetag still on it AND in the ebay photos.

Why did I pay that much money you ask? Because look at his selection. He knows he can rake in a profit selling hardware you typically cannot find anywhere else. Nothing really wrong about that aside from ethics.

I agree about his rep regarding markups.
But hey, he is entitled to do so. It may be smarmy selling tactics, but this is a free wheeling capitalistic society that allows one to make a maximum profit on goods sold.
Things are only worth what people are willing to pay for them. As a collector, sometimes I pay ridiculous amounts for something, BECAUSE I DESIRE TO HAVE IT NOW.
I am not interested in waiting another couple years until I find that object of my desire again, with the chance that someone may take it from me with a higher bid at auction
or some other such thing. I am not really sorry for feeding the frenzy of ever increasing prices. I know that many on this forum think otherwise,
that used goods are only worth a pittance, and they will not pay a penny more. "Good, cheap deals" are their reason to stay in the hobby of collecting.
I too like a good deal, but I don't expect that to be the norm, ever.

 

[legalize]

I bought from this guy once and things were not properly packed and the unit arrived damaged. Based on that experience, I will never buy from him again.