[Milsurplus] Belton Swapfest

[J Forster]

Very little. I've seen that a number of times. It is especially hard when you see the widow taken advantage of by dealers. As I've said a couple of times, I'm helping out a widow with the estate of her SK husband, who was also a friend from college days.

Recently, a dealer offered her about $1200 for 'everything upstairs', including a nice R-390, a Collins 51 series Rx, about 6 other receivers, some ARC-5 stuff, some camera equipment, two bookcases full of ham and electronic books and several very nice 20s era BC radios. That doesn't even include the small stuff like loads of ceramic tube
sockets, variable capacitors, boxes of crystals and other stuff.

That dealer will not be invited back.

-John



Mike Morrow wrote:

> >> One old ham had two R390As in his pickup which he sold for $550 total
> >> in 10 minutes, that individual later resold them for $400 each
> >
> >    WHAT AN INSULT TO THE "old ham"
>
> It happens all the time.  I was at the Memphis Dixiefest a few years ago.  There was a fellow there who often appeared at hamfests in the mid-south selling old receivers in the flea market.
>
> A woman (widow?) was selling her husband's gear at one table, and one item was an excellent and complete (with all covers) R-390A/URR.  She had a more than reasonable price of about $350 on it.  I watched the fellow mentioned above talk her down to $250.  Then he took the receiver to his table and immediately put a $650 price tag on it.
>
> I wouldn't buy anything from such a person if he was almost giving away something that I needed really bad.  There are a fair number of these types out there in our hobby.  They are unclean and obscene...not for making a profit, but for taking advantage of people the way that woman above was!
>
> Mike / KK5F
> (What's sadder than seeing a widow at a hamfest flea market trying to sell her late husband's gear?)