[Milsurplus] Dayton Findings, Ebay Pricings

Mon May 20 22:36:26 EDT 2013

My mother owned a real estate company down in NY and I got the "pleasure" of 
having to get a few houses cleared out that had significant collections.  
Unfortunately not radio or electronics though but where we see china and crystal 
and books and antique furniture and zillions of classic jazz albums as just more 
junk most others would see our stuff as junk having to be hauled away.

Of *course* we are all entitled to have our toys to play with in our 
retirement!  But I've also heard that it was akin to torture to be physically 
incapacitated, bed-ridden and on oxygen and having all your collection being 
right around you.  Of course the gentleman I am talking about preferred to 
remain at his home until his death rather than going to a nursing home.

I'm not advocating selling to make money; rather, I'm wondering if there is a 
better plan, some way to be passing on some gear to the next generation (or 
skipping a few down) along with some mentoring. It's not about the money, it's 
about the love of engineering and the interest which keeps kids in the lab after 
hours and drives them to achievement.

I've supported several such young engineers and been pleasantly surprised what 
has become of my donations.

Peter

On 5/20/2013 10:06 PM, J. Forster wrote:
> There is another point of view.
>
> Not everybody has kids or grandkids that 'need' the latest toys or houses
> or cars or whatever. Such 'need' has no end.
>
> OT: The pols in DC are doing their best to mandate intergenerational
> transfer of wealth with taxation and new entitlements. That is why the
> younger generation support such administrations. They still believe in
> Santa Claus. That is delusional.
>
> So, if a person, who has worked and saved all his/her life wants to have
> their toys, who has ANY right to say they cannot.
>
> To the ham or experimenter who has walls of gear and enjoys it, isn't that
> 60 dB better than playing cards at nursing home or golf or watching "Judge
> Judy" or "Days of Our Lives" or driving for "meals on Wheels"?
>
> What good is retirement if you cannot do the stuff you really enjoy?
>
> IMO, none at all.
>
> YMMVAL,
>
> -John
>
> ===================
>
>
>
>
>
>> It is a very common attitude to hold on to huge collections rather than to
>> pare
>> down with increasing age.  The market value of many things radio related
>> are
>> much less than those collectors realize, and shipping has gotten so
>> expensive
>> for heavy items that people don't want to pay that as well.  Plus, the
>> packing
>> can be tough to do properly and take time and effort.
>>
>> If current trends continue, a lot of this radio gear will be worth less
>> and less
>> as fewer and fewer hams are interested in it, or even know how to make it
>> run.
>>
>>
>> On 5/20/2013 9:30 PM, COURYHOUSE at aol.com wrote:
>>> I see too  many old men die  with stuff rotting in  storage  sheds and u
>>> store it  lockers.
>>> Ed#
>>>
>>>
>>> In a message dated 5/20/2013 5:40:58 P.M. Mountain Standard Time,
>>> clare.owens at gmail.com writes:
>>>
>>> Hi  Dave,
>>>
>>> You are striking a chord in me with your comments.   Especially this
>>> one:
>>>
>>> "It's just a thing. You need liquid assets- not an  albatross on a shelf
>>> costing you money."
>>>
>>> I think it would strike  close to home for some on this list to rephrase
>>> that as "an albatross  sitting on a shelf or in a commercial storage
>>> unit
>>> costing you  money."  I want to be able to see and touch my "stuff" by
>>> just
>>> turning  my head to the left or at most by going downstairs to my
>>> garage.
>>> Obviously  it's anybody's privilege to spend whatever amount for any
>>> item or
>>> to spend  whatever additional amounts on its upkeep and/or storage but
>>> it'd
>>> be  foolish to expect the cost of those efforts to make much if any
>>> change
>>> in  the item's perceived value to the rest of the world.
>>>
>>> When I die one of  my sons will want a few of the items in my collection
>>> and
>>> if any of my  other sons or grandchildren want any they can have them
>>> and
>>> the rest will  go to a live auction.  It's in my will and nobody will be
>>> depending  upon any perceived value when it all goes.  I just hope that
>>> the
>>> collectors who survive me will get as much enjoyment out of my stuff  as
>>> I've had from it.
>>>
>>> Clare
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Mon, May 20,  2013 at 12:51 PM, David Stinson <arc5 at ix.netcom.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>    Re: Price and Markets
>>>> (originally posted on Boatanchors,
>>>>    reposted here in reponse (**) to Robert's post)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> -----  Original Message ----- From: "Russo, John"
>>>> <jprusso at buffalo.edu>
>>>>
>>>>> ....And the Ebay prices on  most of the cleaner fleamarket pieces. I
>>> would
>>>>> guess 90% of the  clean boatanchors did NOT sell because
>>>>> of the overpricing.  ....
>>>>> I'm not sure I'll be able to sustain this hobby luxury much  longer.
>>>>>
>>>> Hams are getting older- fast.
>>>> Many  of us have indulged and carried our children far longer than we
>>>> should  have, leaving some short the assets to retire.
>>>> Others have been  stripped of their assets by the "Big Medicine" mafia.
>>>> These folks  dream that their collections- which are of value
>>>> to them and about  .001% of people with money to spend-
>>>> are going to save them.
>>>>    They do not understand elementry marketing.
>>>> Ebay commands "ebay  prices" because it offers a market of
>>>> literally millions of buyers.  That gives Ebay "pricing power."
>>>> Even at a place like Dayton, your  gems are going to be seen
>>>> by, at most, what- a couple of thousand?  Double that number.
>>>> Triple it if you like; it's still a "fart in a  whirlwind" when it
>>>> comes
>>> to
>>>> Ebay's pricing power.
>>>>
>>>>    **Second- as more of us join "the choir invisible" with no
>>>> replacements
>>>> coming behind us to soak-up the gear,
>>>> "supply and  demand" drives prices down even more.
>>>> High prices on new "plastic  computers with antennas" (I don't call
>>>> them
>>>> "radios" cuz they ain't  one)
>>>> freeze-out many young people. High prices on "real" radios at  places
>>>> like
>>>> Dayton keep them out.
>>>>
>>>> Mathematics is a  cruel mistress. She does not give a diddly-damn how
>>>> we
>>>> feel
>>>> or  what we think is "fair." Her rules never change.
>>>> One can scream how  "it isn't so" and curse and blame
>>>> and shake his fist at the  thunderstorm but in the end,
>>>> he's still gonna get wet.
>>>>
>>>>    But hams are not only older- they are ever more stubborn.
>>>> We all know  many guys who will haul that ratty R-390 priced at "$1500
>>>> firm" back  and forth, robbing themselves of the assets they could have
>>>> deployed  years earlier and which would have made them more in the end
>>>> .
>>>> They  will keep on doing it, red-faced and griping about "cheap hams"
>>> until
>>>>    The Almighty gets tired of the comedy show and their kids throw the
>>>>    receiver in the dumpster.
>>>>
>>>> Don't be a chump. There is only one  "fair price-" the one you and a
>>>> buyer
>>>> agree upon. Get your money out  of that "thing" and into something else
>>> that
>>>> will do you good. Sitting  on the shelf with the "I'll never take less
>>> than
>>>> this, by God!"  attitude is costing you money and grief.
>>>> It's just a thing. You need  liquid assets- not an albatross on a shelf
>>>> costing you  money.
>>>>
>>>> 73 DE Dave AB5S
>>>>
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