[R-390] R-389 Sold For $3550.00 on eBay
Cecil Acuff
chacuff at cableone.net
Mon Nov 14 12:17:09 EST 2005
Hi Guys,
Well in the good ole days most of this stuff had to be sold off the
back of the tailgate and at Hamfests which limited the market and exposure
for potential sale of the item. (keeps prices low) I remember going to a
local hamfest here on the coast and a local guy always could be depended on
to have a pickup backed up inside the pavilion with R-390's stacked up on
the back for sale. That was back when you couldn't give away tube gear.
(late 70's early 80's) He went home with the stuff usually...we were all too
busy drooling over the Kenwoods and Icoms...
He's still around and has a warehouse full of 390's and a nice KWS-1 that I
foolishly traded him as a kid. (for an NC-183D my disease started early)
He's just sitting on the stuff with no real interest in it but try to buy a
piece and he wants the sun and the moon.(if he'll even talk to you) None of
it's restored and been stored for the last 30+ years. He's said to have a
couple hundred 3TF7's and probably as many 26Z5W's but he's unapproachable.
Back to my other thoughts about Ebay....
All Ebay has done is expand that exposure and marketplace globally which
drives prices up. Are we to fault Ebay for putting a seller and a buyer
together halfway around the world or across the country for that matter.
Depends I guess whether you are a seller or a buyer of a particular piece of
equipment. As a buyer I can find things that were not available to me in
small town USA. As a seller I can find a buyer in small town USA that's
looking for the widget I just happen to have.
An example....my wife has been buying China from a lady in N.J. through
Ebay. (been married 25 yrs and have never bought China...it's a big deal to
wives) It's expensive stuff normally but she is buying seconds that comes
directly from the factory store in N.J. The lady she is buying from makes a
trip to that store twice a week and picks over the pieces and buys what she
thinks will sell...as well as things that are on my wife's needs list to
finish her full 8 place settings. I'm delighted because she is buying this
stuff at a fraction of the cost she would have paid from a retailer and we
can't see anything flawed in any of the pieces. I'm sure the lady we are
buying from is making 100+% profit but my wife would never have had that
opportunity if it were not for her selling the stuff on Ebay. I think it's
a great thing...and wish I had thought of it..(that and post-it notes)..I'd
be rich.
Now that said I disagree sharply with Shill bidding practices and have
protested to Ebay about their policing of that practice. I have mixed
feelings about the folks that have made a business out of selling on Ebay.
Especially those who look solely for amateur SK estate purchasing
opportunities to be sold on Ebay. (radio-mart I suspect) Many of our
widows don't have a clue what to do with all the junk we acquire over a
lifetime and just want to see it gone when that time comes. There are folks
that will help with that....I consider many of them to be opportunists
preying on the unsuspecting for personal gain. (read cheats) Are they
providing a service...I guess some would say so. I guess it depends on how
fairly they deal with the Widows.
I enjoyed the good ole days too....I certainly felt great when I came home
from the local hamfest 25 years ago with a complete Heathkit separates
station for $150 manuals included...still have the pictures of my 2 year old
son sitting in my lap twisting on the knobs. I don't mind paying a fair
price for electronics gear on Ebay. Which I have done in the past and will
do in the future. I do have a problem with the guys that are selling things
they know nothing about but are only offering it because of the profit
potential. Good part is I don't have to buy from them....but somebody
will....there's the rub. I think the market is fair in most cases....I sold
two R-390's on Ebay. One went for $860 the other for $1525. Considering
the condition of both radio's and what was included in each sale I think the
market treated me fairly. Would I like to have sold the latest one for
$2500....sure wouldn't you. Would I have sold either one of them for half
that at a Hamfest....no way! Too much work invested and they probably
wouldn't have sold. Probably still a little high for the typical crowd
looking for buys like in the ole days.
The hamfests I have attended in recent years have turned into mostly
computer parts fests....a real disappointment. I personally think they
should not be allowed to sell that type stuff at hamfests....
One last comment on Ebay....
The cost of tube radio gear may have gone up in price since Ebay came along
but...you can't beat the price of nice high quality test equipment on Ebay.
It's the place to buy test gear!
Just my $0.02 worth....don't take any of it personal....I didn't intend it
that way...
Cecil...
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gregory W. Moore" <gwmoore at moorefelines.com>
To: "Bruce Hagen" <b_hagen at sbcglobal.net>; <r-390 at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, November 14, 2005 8:37 AM
Subject: Re: [R-390] R-389 Sold For $3550.00 on eBay
> GM, Bruce,
>
> As much as I believe in Free Enterprise, etc, etc, and do feel that if
> someone wants to sell an item, and someone else is willing to pay X number
> of dollars for it, regardless of how outrageous that X number of dollars
> might be, I feel that EBay has done one large disservice to the Amateur
> radio/Milspec collector/Greenkey groups as such.
>
> There are a large percentage of sellers on there who are middlemen
> (middlepersons?) and nothing more, like a bunch of vulturous used car
> salesmen. They know nothing about equipment, the use therof, or the
> value, but they know how to write a good story (The eternally reappearing
> black panel R-390 is a good example of the "good story")
>
> The other problem is the "breakers", I have seen, as I know you all have,
> perfectly good pieces of equipment chopped and sold as parts. This, of
> course, always makes me wonder if, just like a chop shop for cars, the
> stuff is stolen, or obtained thru nefarious channels.
>
> I also don't like the darn shill bidding that goes on, and the programs
> making automatic bidding possible... maybe I'm just a disallusioned
> dinosaur, but that's the way I feel. Of course, with the cost of shipping
> stuff nowadays, there just aren't any bargains...
>
> of course, this is just my IMHO..
>
> 73 de Greg "GW" Moore WA3IVX/NNN0BVN
>
> Bruce Hagen wrote:
>
>> So much for my thoughts of buying one just to have it along side of the
>> 390!
>> Wow!
>>
>> Bruce Hagen
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net
>> [mailto:r-390-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On
>> Behalf Of ToddRoberts2001 at aol.com
>> Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2005 8:37 PM
>> To: r-390 at mailman.qth.net
>> Subject: [R-390] R-389 Sold For $3550.00 on eBay
>>
>> All I can say is Wow! Is this a new record for an R-389? I think the
>> most I
>> have seen one go for in the past was about $2200 -$2500. 73 Todd WD4NGG
>>
>> http://cgi.ebay.com/Collins-R-389-URR-VLF-Receiver_W0QQitemZ5827538496QQcate
>> go
>> ryZ4673QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
>>
>>
>> Or by item number - 5827538496
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>
>
> --
>
> Happily turning electricity into RF energy for almost 40 years,
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