[AMRadio] Halli SX-101A for $750?

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On Sun, Nov 20, 2011 at 9:49 AM,  <wb3fau at att.net> wrote:
> Some years  back, i  quit using Ebay, after  a few  bad  deals.  Too much  money,  items  never  as good as they  say,  and sellers reselling  after  you buy it.  There  are other sources,  you just   have to hunt for  what you  want.  i will go  with hamfests,  but i stay away  from  big events.
> With this  messed up economy,  there  are good  deals to  be found. 73 Russ.

There are good deals to be found all the time, Russ. Who knows this
better than us packrats? (o:

Ebay is a great tool to have available, but it has its limitations and
certainly isn't the be-all, end-all some see it as. I've never spent
more than $200 for a R-390A myself, and that was the last one; a nice
one-owner EAC. But of course, I never bought one on ebay.

The trick is arming yourself with knowledge and a healthy dose of
skepticism. Do the research, check out the sellers *and* bidders,
you'd be surprised how easily you can still spot some of the shills -
even though ebay has hidden their identities.

More and more, I find folks returning to the hamfest route for selling
old tube gear. Between the nickel-and-dime fee approach of ebay along
with the time involved in photographing, listing, answering questions,
and dealing with shipping, I don't mind a bit if it doesn't get some
mythical "top dollar" bid. My time is worth more to me every day,
since discovering they're not issuing any more of it.

As for the occasional nose bleed high bid, those will always exist.
Overall prices have dropped considerably in the last few years. Even
before the economy tanked. Should things turn around in the next year
and start to recover, I doubt we'll ever see the prices we saw just a
few years back. At least, not as the 'norm'.

C'mon up to NEAR-Fest sometime. There's a lot of old gear and a large
contingent of AMers as well. Friends always get ridiculously good
deals at my table, a win/win situation since it's one less thing I
need to haul back home!

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ/4