Comes with some two drives, a Bell & Howell tape deck in leather, as well as lots of printed manuals and the original redbook that came with the unit. Here's a link for anyone interested: https://www.ebay.com/itm/255637857744
- VCF South West - June 14 - 16, Davidson-Gundy Alumni Center at University of Texas at Dallas
- VCF West - Aug 2 - 3, Computer History Museum, Mountain View, CA
- VCF Midwest - Sept 7 - 8 2024, Schaumburg, IL
- VCF SoCal - Mid February 2025, Location TBD, Southern CA
- VCF East - April 2025, Infoage Museum, Wall NJ
-
Please review our updated Terms and Rules here
-
From now on we will require that a prefix is set for any items in the sales area. We have created regions and locations for this. We also require that you select a delivery option before posting your listing. This will hopefully help us streamline the things that get listed for sales here and help local people better advertise their items, especially for local only sales. New sales rules are also coming, so stay tuned.
The South I'm selling an ultra-low serial (#000977) 1979 Bell & Howell 'Darth Vader' Apple II system on eBay..
- Thread starter JSR
- Start date
Covers: Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and West Viriginia.
- Status
VERAULT
Veteran Member
Is this the one you made the thread about looking to find one a couple months back?
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/wtb-bell-howell-darth-vader-apple-ii.1238655/
https://forum.vcfed.org/index.php?threads/wtb-bell-howell-darth-vader-apple-ii.1238655/
VERAULT
Veteran Member
Im not accusing. Just asking because it was so recent.
But if it is. thats a quick flip.
But if it is. thats a quick flip.
VERAULT
Veteran Member
Oh it is the same one. You reference the serial number in it.
VERAULT
Veteran Member
I have resold stuff I bought, but never right away. I hold onto most of it for a few years first.
But yeah Plasma, Post #33 is pretty incriminating. And apparently he bought it from a guy who did the same flip on fleabay doubling the price. So this was a $500.00 computer 3 months ago. Maybe it will just keep doubling indefinitely like a force of nature
Last edited:
NeXT
Veteran Member
ITT: OP got busted not only flipping a computer they had been asking around to find because they "Used to enjoy working on one when I was a kid.", but also lying that the intent was to hold onto it. Even if this was just a case of ADD the optics look really bad.
Protip: It's not bannable to buy and flip but getting caught doing so and leaving a trail of how much you marked it up often gets you privately blacklisted and ignored from most communities the next time you ask for something. Highly collectable machines are usually only sold to people who are trusted not to flip or break it up for profit. Doing so breaks their trust.
Protip: It's not bannable to buy and flip but getting caught doing so and leaving a trail of how much you marked it up often gets you privately blacklisted and ignored from most communities the next time you ask for something. Highly collectable machines are usually only sold to people who are trusted not to flip or break it up for profit. Doing so breaks their trust.
Last edited:
Could also be he just spent too much on it and now he needs the money for rent (seen that happen a few times). He has other equipment for sale as well.
Advertising the inflated price on the forum you purchased it from is pretty stupid. I have seen people trying to flip equipment they begged for months earlier for decades.
Advertising the inflated price on the forum you purchased it from is pretty stupid. I have seen people trying to flip equipment they begged for months earlier for decades.
SomeGuy
Veteran Member
Hmm, has it been freshly packed with drugs?
It would be another story if they started bid at $0.99 and it wound up selling for that much.
Starting at an absurdly high price is a good way to get an item ignored going forwards on eBeh, even if the price is reduced later. No idea what this would actually sell for.... if they had started at $0.99, we would have found out.
It would be another story if they started bid at $0.99 and it wound up selling for that much.
Starting at an absurdly high price is a good way to get an item ignored going forwards on eBeh, even if the price is reduced later. No idea what this would actually sell for.... if they had started at $0.99, we would have found out.
VERAULT
Veteran Member
i think he could gey $2400.00 those things are going for alot lately. not sure about $3400.00 i gave up on the b&h... and im sure alot of you have seen the repainted apple ii pluses for sale. i wont trust one without the AV psu sticking out the rear.
twolazy
Veteran Member
This kinda stuff is making me lately reassess the hobby. Kinda on the fence of selling everything and walking away completely... Seems more and more lately to just be about money and look at me I got rare stuff.
I usually dont charge much at all for stuff to other users, and spend time helping for what? For them to make a profit? Had one guy in Jan I met, sold him a bunch of stuff for 20 dollars so he could have a "decent dos machine". Find out he just sold it all for round 600 bux. Then add in stuff like this, and other stuff being priced at insane prices...
Dont be surprised if you see me list a ton of stuff soon...
I usually dont charge much at all for stuff to other users, and spend time helping for what? For them to make a profit? Had one guy in Jan I met, sold him a bunch of stuff for 20 dollars so he could have a "decent dos machine". Find out he just sold it all for round 600 bux. Then add in stuff like this, and other stuff being priced at insane prices...
Dont be surprised if you see me list a ton of stuff soon...
VERAULT
Veteran Member
dont let people take the enjoyment you get from these machines away from you. People are always going to be people (codeword for not good)...
twolazy
Veteran Member
Thats whats really has me peeved. I spent hours with this (the 486 i sold) guy helping him build something for him to just take 30+ hrs of my time, let alone stuff I sold just cost of shipping, for him to turn around and sell it. And this flipping crap really is the same thing.
VERAULT
Veteran Member
Someone on this forum?
twolazy
Veteran Member
From the Vogons discord. Wouldnt be surprised if he is a member here.
Haha, that would be an epic fail. Trying to advertise it to sell with profit on the very same forum he bought it from a few weeks earlier
This isn't the case. I did not purchase the item from the forums. Please read my reply below, which should explain things. I own two of these systems. One was purchased on eBay, the other, from a private owner a couple weeks ago.
Last edited:
Protip: Maybe it would have been better if you had asked me about it raher than jumping to bandwagon conclusions and badmouthing me, here.. I really don't appreciate being called a liar, or a cheat. Please read my reply in the thread below.
Last edited:
Wow... I post a simple link to an eBay auction i'm holding for a system I no longer need, and this thread fills with crap about me of being everything from a liar to a cheat... so, let's set the record straight, here.
I own two Bell & Howell systems. Both glossy keys.
For my birthday / father's day, back in May, I decided to pick up a Bell & Howell Apple II, like the one I used when I was a kid. Glossy keys and all. So I asked around to some private sellers, and began looking on eBay for a unit.
Fortunately, on eBay, I found one...which I purchased, back in mid-late May. It cost me about $1800, in total... the price of the unit ($1600) plus state sales tax, shipping & handling fees. That's the one with the low serial number that I then asked on the forums about.
The power supply on this unit was bad, so, I had that refurbished/restored at my own expense (thank you ReactiveMicro for the fast turnaround) which cost another $100...Which brings us to $1900 total invested by this point.
I later found the same seller had parted out the "red book" owners manual, and that they were selling that as a separate auction...ugh After taxes, fees, shipping and handling, I paid about another hundred dollars for that.. Which brings us to $2000 total investment by this point.
I also invested a lot of time and materials into refurbishing this unit. Two cans of compressed air, two cans of QD contact cleaner, melamine pads and a bottle of Armor-All at Home Depot. After tax, and labor factored in, that's about another hundred or so. The boards were given a QD bath, and made show-ready in the event I decided to sell it someday. So now we're at $2100 total investment.
In the meantime, I also located a private seller up in Lombard, Illinois. This was after the auction. He had one, along with a large lot of other Apple II systems. So, a couple weeks ago, my son and I drove up to Lombard to purchase the entire lot for $1000. At this point, I now own two Bell & Howells. The Bell & Howell unit HE had, I actually like MORE than the one I got on eBay... So, I decided to keep the new one as a shelf queen, and put the old (low serial #) unit on eBay at a fair price. I am keeping the one I like best -- the second, newer one (on the left in the picture) is in slightly better cosmetic condition, and has a working power supply in good shape.
This is why i'm selling the first one. I HAVE TWO OF THEM. I only need one.
I have an auction price set of $2975 for the unit I invested $2100+labor into, and added two drives to, plus the Bell & Howell tape drive, plus the paddles, plus the expansion cards, plus the software, plus the manuals.. all of which combined make up for the difference in price---Hence the $2975 starting price, which I feel is fair. More than fair, considering eBay charges sellers 12.5% of the items value at closing, plus listing fees.
That is why I am selling it.
Does anyone have any further questions?
I own two Bell & Howell systems. Both glossy keys.
For my birthday / father's day, back in May, I decided to pick up a Bell & Howell Apple II, like the one I used when I was a kid. Glossy keys and all. So I asked around to some private sellers, and began looking on eBay for a unit.
Fortunately, on eBay, I found one...which I purchased, back in mid-late May. It cost me about $1800, in total... the price of the unit ($1600) plus state sales tax, shipping & handling fees. That's the one with the low serial number that I then asked on the forums about.
The power supply on this unit was bad, so, I had that refurbished/restored at my own expense (thank you ReactiveMicro for the fast turnaround) which cost another $100...Which brings us to $1900 total invested by this point.
I later found the same seller had parted out the "red book" owners manual, and that they were selling that as a separate auction...ugh After taxes, fees, shipping and handling, I paid about another hundred dollars for that.. Which brings us to $2000 total investment by this point.
I also invested a lot of time and materials into refurbishing this unit. Two cans of compressed air, two cans of QD contact cleaner, melamine pads and a bottle of Armor-All at Home Depot. After tax, and labor factored in, that's about another hundred or so. The boards were given a QD bath, and made show-ready in the event I decided to sell it someday. So now we're at $2100 total investment.
In the meantime, I also located a private seller up in Lombard, Illinois. This was after the auction. He had one, along with a large lot of other Apple II systems. So, a couple weeks ago, my son and I drove up to Lombard to purchase the entire lot for $1000. At this point, I now own two Bell & Howells. The Bell & Howell unit HE had, I actually like MORE than the one I got on eBay... So, I decided to keep the new one as a shelf queen, and put the old (low serial #) unit on eBay at a fair price. I am keeping the one I like best -- the second, newer one (on the left in the picture) is in slightly better cosmetic condition, and has a working power supply in good shape.
This is why i'm selling the first one. I HAVE TWO OF THEM. I only need one.
I have an auction price set of $2975 for the unit I invested $2100+labor into, and added two drives to, plus the Bell & Howell tape drive, plus the paddles, plus the expansion cards, plus the software, plus the manuals.. all of which combined make up for the difference in price---Hence the $2975 starting price, which I feel is fair. More than fair, considering eBay charges sellers 12.5% of the items value at closing, plus listing fees.
That is why I am selling it.
Does anyone have any further questions?
Attachments
Last edited:
- Status