[Milsurplus] Dayton Findings, Ebay Pricings
J. Forster
jfor at quikus.com
Mon May 20 22:42:30 EDT 2013
There are very few young engineers out there that would have any interest
in a high end 'scope or synthesized signal generator. All they wan is an
iPhone App.
As to a nursing home, I think prision might well be a better place. From
what I've seen and heard you'd have more freedom.
YMMV,
-John
=============
> 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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