Huge sale of vintage computers in the US on Ebay - nothing to do with me

[Corey986]

VCM while the list is expensive. He will deal if its an item he's been sitting on. I usually buy hard to find S100 stuff from him and make him an offer. If he doesn't like it, he counter offers, sets the buy it now and I take it or leave it. So far I have always taken his price which in the end aren't bad. I needed a spare personality module so I could reprogram my current mm5204 one for my Sol-20 Helios system (when I get it running), he had it and was willing to deal.
I don't begrudge anyone a profit, he has to layout the money and sit on the inventory till it sells. Not an easy thing to do in this economy.

Cheers,
Corey

 

[TX_Dj]

Of course it's from Sellam. I don't recall ebay being this flooded with actually interesting hardware for years.

The seller in question has been listing items at exorbitant pricing long before Sellam's predicament. Several of the items he has for sale have been perpetually listed at his high asking prices for several years now.

As someone pointed out the last time he came up in conversation, he *does* get people to bite at his inflated prices.

I've always suspected he has someone hounding him to sell off his collection, so he does like I suspect I would do in that situation... "Look honey, everything's listed, but nobody's buying."

There are very few items in my collection that I would part with for near the price that I've picked them up for. I mean, not much of my stuff is bonafide "rare", but for the items that actually are, I'll be damned if I take less than I feel they're worth. If anything, the recent $688,000 Apple I sale should make anyone realize that is the case.

I have suspected this seller of swooping up many of the recent low-priced S100 cards and relisting them for > $100-400 each. And, I don't think he's the only one, either. There's a seller that is now listing a Computalker board for $499, which is the exact same one we all saw end for around $100 or something (fuzzy memory) not long ago, from one of the sellers that barythrin is opposed to buying from.

 

[NeXT]

The seller in question has been listing items at exorbitant pricing long before Sellam's predicament. Several of the items he has for sale have been perpetually listed at his high asking prices for several years now.

I'm aware. I once blew a $300 tax credit on an apricot from the guy which still had the $25 blue wax goodwill price on it, i the goddamn picture to boot.
Even when I left negative feedback he got it removed by ebay. >:/

ITT: We indirectly discuss the two or three people on ebay who make up the crusty anus of the vintage computer world.

 

[Paralel]

I'm aware. I once blew a $300 tax credit on an apricot from the guy which still had the $25 blue wax goodwill price on it, i the goddamn picture to boot.
Even when I left negative feedback he got it removed by ebay. >:/

ITT: We indirectly discuss the two or three people on ebay who make up the crusty anus of the vintage computer world.

So, the price he paid was in the picture, and came with the price on it, but you left him negative feedback because you simply paid what he asked for it? Talk about exceptionally sour grapes. In this instance it doesn't sound like he did anything wrong. If that was the thrust of your negative feedback it's not hard to see why it was removed.

 

[arrow_runner]

Why did you leave neg feedback?

 

[Maverick1978]

This issue here seems to be one of character. Usually is when this particular seller is discussed. Here's my take - he has the right to ask for and/or receive whatever someone is willing to pay for his items. Capitalism at its purest. Further, it's not our concern whether he has these items for a collection or for attempt at profit. BUT... is it morally correct that he be jump on items that people offer "free to good home" like the aforementioned 5160? No... in my opinion, that's not right. Although it's an easy justification that "eventually," any item he receives in this manner will get to a good home. Just not for the "price" that he purchased it for.

So far as Sellam's collection.... I see both sides of it - those not wanting to purchase their friend's collection, and those that would rather purchase it to keep it out of the hands of resellers. FWIW, I'm in the latter. Fact of the matter is, people that know nothing of Sellam or his legal issues with TVR are purchasing items from TVR in good faith. No matter the outcome of Sellam's lawsuit, the people who have already purchased items from TVR are going to get to keep the purchased items - there is absolutely, positively no way that the Court will open itself up for potentially dozens of counter-lawsuits by trying to recoup sold items in order to satisfy Sellam's single lawsuit (bear in mind that TVR is selling world-wide - only a fool would assume that all sold items stayed within US borders and would be subject to US law). If Sellam wins his case, he'll probably receive back anything unsold, and/or a cash settlement for that which has been sold.

This is, of course, assuming that Sellam even has a detailed listing of all items that were in his collection from which he could hope to recoup damages from. Which IIRC, by his own admission, he doesn't have. Though if TVR has to keep detailed records like they do here in Florida, then every item that came from Sellam's collection will be documented as having come from that commercial storehouse. But eh....

As I've said in other threads regarding Sellam, sad all around...and truly, the definition of tragedy, as he caused his problems himself.

 

[Shadow Lord]

Mav,

Is a court actually hearing his case? Last update I saw was that he was going to sue. To me it seems that if he is serious about it the first thing he should have done is get an injunction against all sales. As sales are ongoing I don't think that has happened. As you point out he will NEVER get back what has been sold to a third party. He may get the cash from TVR but not the actual item. So he needs to stop the sales to protect as much as he can.

 

[barythrin]

I'm not 100% up to date on everything but his first attempt ended up getting screwed up by lawyers and judges being friends. He was gathering additional info and posted a lot of it which I think we all were around to see most of the early stuff but also had a bunch of other bad stuff happen which he had to deal with and derailed progress on the computer lawsuit in the mean time. That's part of the reason TVR I think was trying to sell things so fast.

 

[TX_Dj]

Personally, I've largely avoided speculation about Sellam's situation, mainly because I didn't even know who the guy was before this recent "episode".

Having been in a similar situation as (rumor mill tells me) he was in, and also knowing that a knowledgeable collector can not only put the right pieces together but also *demonstrate they work properly*, I know that you can sell items for better money than "turns on, unable to test further, does not include power chord(sic)". As much as it pained me in 2001-2002, I sold off the vast majority of my collection (despite the VC marketplace faltering on eBay at the time) just to pay my bills.

The realist in me says he could have done far better, selling just enough to cover the expenses until such time he was able to collect on the monies owed from other parties.

Even still, in my situation, when I finally could not sell anymore (or enough to cover my expenses), I ended up having to leave a lot of non-rare items behind. I didn't get mad when the landlord disposed of those items in whatever manner, even though there were enough parts there to build enough Apple IIe complete systems to get $6000 or more pure profit at today's pricing.

I feel real bad for the guy, for one because he lost that bit of his collection, but at the same time I can't help but not feel too badly for him, since he had the inventory to scrape a little off the top and pay his bills and avoid the predicament.

Either way, I wish him the best of luck.

 

[NeXT]

So, the price he paid was in the picture, and came with the price on it, but you left him negative feedback because you simply paid what he asked for it? Talk about exceptionally sour grapes. In this instance it doesn't sound like he did anything wrong. If that was the thrust of your negative feedback it's not hard to see why it was removed.

Rewind to 2008.
Same system. $40
Open auction and I put my then small summer savings into a bid for a computer I have have been trying to find for a little over a decade. Of course, outbid in the dying seconds because ebay doesn't know how to properly run an auction and extend the time when a bid is placed before closing. Most likely because sniping brings in a lot of money both through taxes and to the clients selling tools to snipe.....but anyways.
Fast forward to 2011. Same system surfaces. Nothing has changed aside from the new $300 + $75 shipping cost. Take a wild guess who is selling it.
Don't you dare tell me you have never grumbled under your breath about a similar situation.
Said once before and I'll say it again. You do not see an old computer as an asset or value it by it's metals content. For the most part, it's a computer. It isn't what you will use to have a second income or pay off the car. Unlike audiophiles the really dedicated vintage computer enthusiasts are in it for the fun, not the money.

Sure. I paid almost $400 for a computer. So what? I had my fun. I still am having my fun with it. Would I resell it for what I paid? Absolutely not. I want the next person in line to have just as much fun as I did with it and not have to feel like they have to somehow recover their losses on the pricetag. I've always been this way with everything I've sold.
Will capitalism allow that? No.