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How *not* to sell me your old computer

Welcome to craigslist. It gets more fun when you are dealing with cars.

Disclaimer: I bought a computer off of Mr. Rittwage about 2 years ago. Product was as described, I wish more sales went like that!
 
Funny, our local TradeMe.co.nz site is full of wildly-optimistic vendors selling very yellowed hardware. My two favorites:

"Boxed" to imply in the auction that it's unused, when it just means I found the original box and put this completely-stuffed-up item in it.

And "condition unknown" or "I don't know if it works," really meaning "I plugged it in and smoke came out."
 
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I have found I get more than average for my occasional Ebay sales by testing and reporting results, even if the item does not work and showing a few pictures when it does.
 
Quite a bit of hardware on ebay sold as non working tends to work (laptops anyway), quite a bit sold as powering on does not. Go figure.

I don't know whats worse for this hobby, inflated ebay prices or the "ounce of gold" anything made before 2000 is supposed to have in the CPU. Then you have the idiots who blow things up trying to test items they know nothing about just to get another $5 out of it.
 
Do not forget the most important disappointment : seller claims computer is "tested and working", only to discover by yourself that it was not tested at all or it barely achieves to power on !
I prefer "not tested" or "as is" than "tested and working" without actually performing any decent test.
I am talking from experience on hundred of ebay purchases. Most vintage machines cannot be tested without entering a costly test cyle, so I dont blame on people selling stuff with the 'non tested' label.
 
Yes, that is useless. The "power light" test. Most of the ones I run into seem to be just junk they don't test and honestly, they probably don't understand how to test it, so I'd rather they don't.

The crazy amounts they think the stuff is worth is the most frustrating thing. The article was written last night after I had a guy contact me with a Model III, no power (at all, he admitted), covered in grime, missing broken-off keys, and the grey paint completely worn off the whole wrist area (common). I was feeling nice since it's the holidays and offered to pick it up from his house for $50 since I enjoy restoring them. I thought I was being generous, but no... His response was that one just sold on eBay for $300, and he only wants $200! I know to just stop the conversation right there because we are too far apart. The lack of response set him off where the text messages got more and more insulting (with me never responding at all after he gave me the price). I am the bad guy here somehow... trying to rip him and his family off. I just had enough...

When I do sell something, I really try to be completely honest about the exact condition. If it's broken and *I* can't fix it, it's some custom chip I don't have, and I'll tell you that it's just for spare parts and I've tried everything. Actually, I usually just give that stuff away. If it's working, I sell for a fair price off the bat. For selling, my pet peeve is when the very first question is "What is the least amount you'll take for it?". My answer = The price I asked for. If you don't like my price, don't contact me. It's the same reason I don't try to contact you if you are asking a silly high price - I know you won't want to hear about it. :)
 
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The funniest part of this whole thread is not that this is what really happens, because it does, but that it transcends computers, just about every type of collecting is the same. Cars, music, stereo equipment ...
 
Excellent write up. Personally, I'm just glad that some people out there believe old/vintage computers and related items are worth selling. People are free to ask as much as they want for an item as long as they are in no hurry to actually get it sold.
 
SomeGuy said:
Excellent write up. Personally, I'm just glad that some people out there believe old/vintage computers and related items are worth selling. People are free to ask as much as they want for an item as long as they are in no hurry to actually get it sold.
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Yeah, I usually tell them to let me know if they change their mind, but they never do... I guess they just eventually throw it away rather than admit they were wrong.
 
I like the trick where they have real photos on their mobile, which they then post to CL/etc. by taking a SCREENSHOT and uploading that. Why is this a thing??

Bonus points if the photo is landscape and they're holding the phone upright so it gets compressed to 480x200px and I get to see huge boxes of white space above & below it (along with their battery life, network, clock, notification bar, etc.)
 
Oh, yea, some people need to learn to crop. I don't need to see half of their garage with the item in one corner. Also if the monitor is not included, don't use just that as the first picture even if it shows the machine working.
 
If you're selling something in the original box then the original box is part of the item, not the shipping box. An original box is useless if it's wrapped in half a roll of brown tape and covered in UPS labels.
 
What a great thread! Where I live, people think vintage means early to mid 2000s.. I get a lot of people responding to my "wanted vintage computer and game console" ads with Iphones, PS2, Xbox, Wii, and windows XP/Vista computers. If these people would actually read the whole ad they would see that I am looking for equipment from the 1980s and older.
 
3dfxman said:
What a great thread! Where I live, people think vintage means early to mid 2000s.. I get a lot of people responding to my "wanted vintage computer and game console" ads with Iphones, PS2, Xbox, Wii, and windows XP/Vista computers. If these people would actually read the whole ad they would see that I am looking for equipment from the 1980s and older.
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Yes. This.. and I appreciate it if they can be as vague as possible. :)
 
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