[Boatanchors] Hamfest Pricing (was: Shelby NC hamfest photos)

[RAY FRIESS]

You never know what you can get for what unless you're willing to take a shot.  The most any seller can do is say no.

Many years ago, I went to one of our yearly swap meets.  While walking the aisles, I came across this seller who was selling
a COMPLETE SB 104 station ..  when I say COMPLETE, I mean just that.   The transceiver, power supply/speaker, the matching
amplifier, the station monitor and oscilloscope.  I just KNEW he was going to want lots of one hundred dollar bills for it, but 
out of curiosity I stopped and inquired.  It turns out he was selling the equipment which had belonged to his dad, who died
a while back and it had been in storage since.  I asked him how much he was asking.  He thought for a minute and said make
him an offer.  I knew I wasn't going to get the station because he was going to want a huge price.   I mean, it was a COMPLETE
station.  So, being facetious and wanting to get the disappointment out of the way fast (like pulling a bandaid off quickly) I
asked him again, saying I already had an SB 104 at home, hoping he'd take the hint that I didn't HAVE to have another one.  I couldn't believe my ears when he said "How about $150 bucks?"  I thought I had heard wrong and asked
if that was just for the SB104 ...  he said, no, for the whole lot.   I wrote him a check on the spot and started loading the stuff
up.  Word quickly spread, even to hams in other states who talked about it on nets, about my "find."  There was a lot
of head shaking at how lucky I was.

Some of the things I didn't really need because I had them in the shack already, so I sold the scope to a friend.  The 
amplifier with it's tube and beryllium eat sink didn't work correctly and I didn't really want to mess with it, so I sold it for
more than double what I paid for the whole package.  I asked the buyer to let me know what he found when he repaired it.
He told me later that the grid ring was making contact with ground.  When he fixed it, it fired up full power.  

Anyhow ...  the lesson I learned is .. if you don't ask you won't buy and you never know how badly a fellow ham does NOT
want to have to take the stuff back home.  Afterwards, a ham friend of mine told me that he was able to snag two 30L-1
linears for 50 bucks apiece from a ham who was out in the parking lot, in the process of unloading them to bring them into
his table.  My friend took them home and rebuilt them for a song.



> Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2014 09:33:54 -0500
> From: ranchorobbo at gmail.com
> To: boatanchors at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Boatanchors] Hamfest Pricing (was: Shelby NC hamfest photos)
> 
> At the Indianapolis hamfest last July I came upon a guy unloading his
> pickup at around 6:20 a.m.  He hauled out an isolation transformer, a
> Stancor, that looked pretty big.  Turned out to be 1KVA which was more
> than most I see.  I had been looking for one like that.  I figured
> he'd want at least 50 bucks for it.  I mildly asked what he wanted for
> it.  He said, make an offer.   I ummed around looking at it and was
> about to say $20 expecting him to laugh.  Before I could say anything,
> he said, "How about 5 dollars?"  SOLD!  And glad I kept my mouth shut.
> Some sellers are so eager to just get rid of things they'll
> practically give something away to not haul it home.  Well, the Indy
> hamfest from a buying standpoint, was all down hill after that, hi.
> 
> Ebay prices at hamfests:  my observation of that is that the eBay
> price folks are what I call "professional hamfesters."  These are
> bottom feeders who go to estate sales, and think they are
> mini-Wal-Marts, and they can put a price on something and not
> negotiate.  Sometimes they even buy an item at a hamfest cheap and put
> it on their table at the very same hamfest.  They may or may not be
> hams.  Not to be confused with real businesses who purchase gov't and
> manufacturer surplus and have a brick and mortar business QTH and
> advertise and so on.  The professional hamfesters are the ones who you
> see at every hamfest, with their tables out and little neat price tags
> on everything, sometimes with a computer there to check inventory and
> prices, and these displays of stuff under glass, all used.   A regular
> ham will sell you a 6V6 for $2.  One of these P.H.s will want $15 or
> even $20.  Most hams who are simply cleaning out the shack and garage
> will set something out and dicker over the price.
> 
> 73
> 
> Rob
> K5UJ
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