[Milsurplus] parting rigs

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

On 9/1/06, Military1944 at aol.com <Military1944 at aol.com> wrote:

> Personally  I think it stinks. Obviously if one has set and psu then  to buy
> just the lead is great for them, but what about the poor sod who has just
> bought the guys set and psu. Here you are coming along and buying the lead from
> under his nose. Of course your going to pay over the odds for the lead, its
> all  you want, let the other silly sod buy the set and psu, why would he want
> the  lead after all ?

Your view seems to remove any responsibility to the 'poor sod' not to
get into something he can't realisitically complete, as if all sellers
should be expected to sell things by some given table of prices to
assure those who are less willing to pay or less resourceful can still
get whatever they want. It also assumes the same buyer in an auction
should be given first right of refusal on all separate items. If you
want a complete set, buy a complete set from someone who is selling
one that way. Seems pretty simple. Placing the responsiblity on the
seller to look out for the 'poor sod' who might just be a cheapskate
seems a bit like socialism to me. Self-Responsibility should be
required reading in today's schools, along with the Handbook of Common
Sense.

> I for one would rather buy the whole kit, take out what I needed to  complete
> the set here then sell on the extra bits, as just that, extra bits.

I would as well (if possible), and you are free to do just that, if
you choose to. But I don't think that should include sellers
structuring their sales to suit you, me, or anyone but themselves.
It's their gear and sale, after all.

> I would not bemoan anyone selling a set, a psu, a lead, a valve that all
> just happened to be for the same type of set, its when the guys advert for his
> set clearly, and somewhat proudly, states 'I have the psu for this set  which
> I'm selling separately, along with the spares separately,  the handbook, the
> mic, the fuse cap etc etc'.

I agree, this is a bit annoying. But I often chuckle when the stuff
sells for a lot less than complete sets are bringing on average.

> The game of splitting stuff not only panders to the greedy seller but to  the
> lazy lead buyer and perpetuates the ever increasing  timely and costly
> search process. I for one will not split any items I dispose off,  not  unless I'm
> offered a load of cash of course !!

How is the lead buyer 'lazy' simply for capitalizing on a good deal,
or for buying the one item his set up is missing? Sounds to me like
the lead buyer is anything but lazy if they're willing to search out
the missing pieces they need and are prepared to pay for them if/when
found. Seems like the lazy buyer is the one who expects a complete set
to drop into their lap, for a reasonable (to them) price.

As far as the separate sales vs complete sales to wealthy buyers, I
disagree here with Dave's statement. Not because I'm wealthy, but
because price or income shouldn't exclude someone from exercising
their right and choice to purchase something they want. It works the
same way for piecemeal auctions.

Case in point: a nearly complete RU-16/GF-11 station showed up on ebay
a few years ago. It appeared to have been never issued as the units
were like new and all components except for some of the dual band
receiver coils had matching serial numbers. All connectors but 3,
never soldered to. There must have been a dozen or more auctions, all
ending withing minutes of each other: receiver, transmitter, coils,
tuning head, each control and junction box, etc. The same buyer ended
up with each and every piece, won all the auctions, despite some hefty
sniping bids on certain pieces by others. Why? Because the buyer
wanted the complete station and was willing to pay for it. Thankfully
too, since it was such a find. I ended up with it sometime later and
am *very* thankful that it was kept together by this "wealthy buyer".

As for the 'greedy seller'? He had donated this gear and more to the
CAP to be auctioned, the proceeds to buy some new radio gear for their
needs. So the fact that he sold the pieces separately may have brought
in more money overall, but I don't believe it was for greed. In the
end, the buyer still got the entire station offered, and the CAP got
some much-needed new gear.

I've missed out on more than my share of items because I wasn't able
or willing to pay a higher price. Many times I lost out to Max Cotton
(art13a) for a ARC-5 item on ebay and felt let down by the experience.
I've also lost out to Dave, Mike, and other 'wealthy buyers' (they bid
more than me) in the past. Somehow I don't think it's anyone else's
fault that I can't or won't pay as much as them.

~ Todd,  KA1KAQ