[Boatanchors] Wow! Skeptics, Cynics and all other sorts

[Todd Bigelow - PS]

Gerry Steffens wrote:

> I guess I am a bad person.  I bought an E.H. Scott console radio at public
> auction for $17.  I later resold it for $850.  Bad?  Horse feathers!  That
> was some 20 years ago.  And I still don't feel the least bit guilty.

<snip>

I don't think that getting a good deal is the same as expecting one or lying to
someone in an attempt to get one. This is probably where more of the 'widow
rip-offs' are centered. And yes - I was hosed by a 'nice old OT' in his
seventies who sold me some ART-13 gear with shock mounts and cables, only to
receive them with no shock mounts or cables/connectors. He also represented them
as 'unmodified, excellent condition' and one had been gutted and so modified
that it is a parts unit only - and was painted blue! The other was missing its
tubes. The vast majority of OTs I know are as honest as the day is long, and
that goes for hams in general.

I got a great deal on some gear in an antique shop some years back which
included a rather large Collins transmitter. I had no clue what it was at the
time, but by the same token I don't feel it my duty to tell everyone to charge
me more or educate everyone at a hamfest on what their gear would sell for on
epay. I figure most have access to the 'net or someone who can look things up
for them if they're that worried about top dollar. Most people just want to sell
their stuff, not retire off it.

That being said, I've helped others price gear before and helped with
radio-related estates, too. I generally get paid well for my time, maybe lunch
or an old radio or picture of the OT in his shack. You know, the valuable stuff.
I don't mind helping friends or the helpless, but I'm not in the business of
educating the world, either.

What's wrong with getting a good deal? Nothing in my book, provided you don't
have to lie or cheat someone to get it. Chances are you'll get the opportunity
to give someone a similar break further down the road. And we all know that the
'sharks' out there don't care who they lie to or how they get it, so long as
they can turn a fast buck. I don't fault anyone for selling their gear for
whatever they can get for it or for whatever deals they find, because I'm not
God. I think the real rotten apples will get sorted out over time. Many of us
already carry a list of such individuals in our noggins.

I think the flame started from the presumption that it 'should be' free. Hey,
sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't. I'd just not choose to assume it would or
should be, myself. At the very least, our keyboards got a good workout!

Gerry, I got s similar deal on a Zenith console a few years back. Won it for
$25, all it needs is new speaker cloth and a new cord. Good thing I bid, too -
the next high bidder only wanted it to tear apart and use to fix other stuff!
Eventually I'll get it finished.

As one OT once said to me "If I find a gold piece laying on the ground, am I
somehow obligated to give it away?". I'm thinking that's an individual's
choice....

73 de Todd/'Boomer'  KA1KAQ