[Milsurplus] Why Such Little Bidding On BC-348-Q?

[wa5cab at cs.com]

I'll table my personal opinion of the BC-348-JNQ for the moment :-) and 
make two guesses.  

First, a sizable percentage of people still think the going price ought to 
be around $70 (but in 2009 dollars).  Opinion based on comments I've read 
here but mostly on the Boatanchors list on this same server.  Opinion not 
limited to BC-348's and not limited to military sets.  I think of it as the 
"Stuck in the Sixties" syndrome.  

Second (and unrelated to or independent of the first) a sizeable percentage 
of eBay bidders always wait until the last few minutes to bid.  My wife 
sells full time on eBay (well, I do too, but these days mostly only fixed price 
multiple item).  We generally end all of her auctions at Noon.  Averaged 
over at least the past three years, whatever her total is at Midnight the 
night before the auctions end, at Noon they will usually end at 145-155% of 
that.  The bad economy that began the week following Election Day 2008 didn't 
change that significantly.  It only dropped the Midnight and Noon figures both 
around 35% +/-.  And surprisingly, not so much what things sold for but 
more from how many items sold.

In a message dated 12/16/2009 9:42:32 PM Central Standard Time, 
kk5f at earthlink.net writes: 
> Jack wrote:
> 
> >On that auction place, there is a BC-348 listed that has
> >an aircraft number N 7286 marked on the front panel.
> 
> That number had me curious too when I saw it a few days ago.
> 
> This BC-348-Q appears from the rather good photos that were
> part of the listing to be in very decent and completely stock
> condition, including the DM-28-Q.  Yet, the "buy it now" price
> (INCLUDING SHIPPING!!) was less than $280.
> 
> I remember such receivers in well-used condition going for
> about $70 (plus shipping) from Fair Radio and others in the late
> 1950s through 1960s.  Adjusting for inflation, the auction price
> of this item is equivalent to $45 in 1968.  One certainly could
> not have easily found a BC-348 selling for that little back then.
> 
> My real question:  Why do you suppose this remarkable bargain
> went unsold for several days until just before the auction was about
> to close?  Bad economy???  Or perhaps a general loss of interest
> in classic military radio gear???
> 
> I would have predicted it to have been sold within the first four
> hours of the initial listing.
> 
> Mike / KK5F
> 

Robert & Susan Downs - Houston
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