Vintage computer auction - rarity?

[xlar54]

For some reason I remember reading that this one is extremely rare.  Do you guys concur, or am I mistaken?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250307955726

[RobertB]

For some reason I remember reading that this one is extremely rare.  Do you guys concur, or am I mistaken?

Yes, I concur.

              Truly,
              Robert Bernardo
              Fresno Commodore User Group
              CommVEx v5 info - http://www.commodore.ca/forum and click on ComVEX

[airship]

I really don't know. There were several luggable CP/M machines competing against each other back in the day. Kaypro and Osbourne were the ones you seemed to hear about the most, but I'm not sure (a) how many of each were sold, (b) how many of those survive, or (c) how desirable they are to collectors.

There seem to be two on the eBays right now, and neither has any bids despite the fact that total price + shipping for each is about $40.

This is the second listing (or more) for the one you link to, and a completed listings search doesn't show any recently sold Kaypro 1s.

[Andrew Wiskow]

Only 2 hours left and 0 bids with a starting bid of only $9.99.

I guess it can't be that rare...

[Golan Klinger]

That model and the all blue one come up for sale on Craigslist and such around here very regularly. There was one last week that was part of a 'please come take this crap from my garage' lot. There were a few other interesting items in that guy's garage and he said his listed only represented a fraction of what was in there. I didn't take him up on his offer as I'm already drowning in stuff but I can't help but wonder if I missed out on any C= stuff...

[airship]

I didn't take him up on his offer as I'm already drowning in stuff but I can't help but wonder if I missed out on any C= stuff...

...My name is Mark and I'm a Commodore addict. 

[Andrew Wiskow]

...My name is Mark and I'm a Commodore addict. 

"HI, MARK!" 

[Golan Klinger]

I'm attempting to downsize my hardware holdings and at the same time, if I saw someone selling the stuff I'm selling I wouldn't be able to resist buying it. Top that for crazy.

[Andrew Wiskow]

I'm obviously in good company here. 

[xlar54]

How bad am I?

Im seriously thinking about THIS auction:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Vintage-PC-XT-AT-Commodore-Printer-Keyboard-Monitor_W0QQitemZ180298267250QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item180298267250&_trkparms=72%3A1205|39%3A1|66%3A2|65%3A12|240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

JUST for the Commodore 128D.

I spoke to the guy - he doesnt think the 128D even works.

Im still thinking about it.

[airship]

xlar, I don't think you're crazy, unless you don't live anywhere that's even close to Kentucky (local pick up only).

Golan, I keep buying unusual junk just because it's unusual, not because I'll ever use it. I just got a Cardco Numeric Keypad for the C64, but I only use my C128. I don't even have a C64 plugged in. I bought a 40-column Fidelity printer that uses a cash register roll and ribbon, for which I then spent more for 3 ribbons than I did for the printer. I don't even know if it works, and I'm sure I'll never use it, but I bought THREE ribbons because they were cheaper that way than just buying one. I'm thinking about buying a DIFFERENT tiny printer from Citizen, for which I'll need different ribbons. I bought a Cardco Cassette Interface because once upon a time I posted here about maybe hooking up a reel-to-reel to the cassette port of a C64, just to make it look like a mainframe. I don't own a reel-to-reel. Yet.

When I bought my EPROM programmer (finally), I bought 75 EPROMs. Not a dozen. 75. In different sizes. And a UV eraser. Then I bought a pair of 24/28 pin adapters with switches so I could install JiffyDOS. But I don't have any 1541s hooked up to my C128. The JiffyDOS is for a C64 and 1541, in case I ever decide to hook them up. Which I don't have room to do. The adapters came from England.

I own almost no software that will actually run on my three C128s (2 in the garage) or 3 C64s (all in the garage) because I'm really more interested in reading about what they'll do than I am in actually making them do it.

Must I go on, or do you have the idea now?

Okay, Andrew, your turn. Oh, wait, we don't have to hear from you. We know your story. You run the only remaining C64 dial-up BBS in the world.

[Golan Klinger]

This is definitely starting to take on the characteristics of an [insert vice] anonymous meeting. I feel this uncontrollable desire to confess about the nonsensical purchase I've made in the last little while. There are couple of real head scratchers on that list.

[Blacklord]

This is definitely starting to take on the characteristics of an [insert vice] anonymous meeting. I feel this uncontrollable desire to confess about the nonsensical purchase I've made in the last little while. There are couple of real head scratchers on that list.

Ok - I'll fess up - last weekend I bough three IBM 5160's (XT), 4 flat 128's, 3 breadbox 64's, 1 boxed TRS-80 CoCo & a whole heap of books - I think that makes me an addict & I DON'T wanna be cured!

[airship]

Well, I think all of our stories have been in the realm of 'acceptable' except Lance.

He needs treatment. 

[Golan Klinger]

Did he just admit to buying a TRS-80? It may be time for an intervention.

[Blacklord]

Well, I think all of our stories have been in the realm of 'acceptable' except Lance.

He needs treatment. 

And I'm getting some more stuff from the same place next weekend, so there!

[Andrew Wiskow]

Xlar, my favorite part of that auction you posted the link to was this:

Serious bids only. Deadbeat bidders get pins stuck in voodoo doll.

As for "my story" (besides running the only Commodore-run dial-up BBS), about a year and a half ago, I drove out to Oxnard, in Ventura County, to pick up the remaining hardware and software from the Civic 64/128 User Group there.  That's about a 250 mile (400 km) round trip from where I live.  I drove out there with my station wagon with a car-top carrier attached, thinking that I would have plenty of room for whatever they had.  I didn't.  I ended up making two more trips out there to get everything.  So that was a total of 750 miles of driving to get the whole load.  I then spent a year "redistributing" almost everything so that it could get out to people who could use it.  Some of it I sold, some of it I gave away, and in the end, I probably lost money considering how much I spent on fuel to get it all...  But hey, it's for the love of the hobby, right? 

Oh, and last year in August, I hauled away a U-Haul truck full of Commodore and Amiga hardware from a guy's house in Portland, Oregon.  The guy had been hoarding the stuff away for years, and Robert kindly gave me the "tip" since I was up there helping my parents move out of their home.  I then drove the load of stuff to Astoria, visited a bit with Dave Mohr (aka Lord Ronin), and ended up giving him everything.  Partly because he wanted it, and partly because my wife probably would've killed me if I had brought it all back with me. 

[airship]

How come there's nobody here in Iowa begging me to take truckloads of free Commodore junk?!?

[Andrew Wiskow]

How come there's nobody here in Iowa begging me to take truckloads of free Commodore junk?!?

In the case with the group in Oxnard, there was nobody "begging me" to take the stuff...  I just had an idea that some now-defunct user groups might have some "leftover items", so I decided to write to some of the old club presidents.  The group in Oxnard was the only one that responded, and as it turned out, the "haul" was much bigger than I had expected.  It was really a case of being in right place at the right time. 

[xlar54]

But you know, despite the wacky pricing, if it not for something like Ebay, alot of this stuff would end up in a landfill.  What is needed is a value/rarity list for Commodore equipment, that reasonable people would stick to when putting out an auction.  Would help answer the question "whats my ... worth?", and would help it sell quicker.  Much like stamp collecting or coin collecting.  As it is, its luck of the draw, whatever-I-can-get-out-of-it.

Toying with the idea, here's my stab at it (USD), assuming used (fair) condition, cables, but without original boxes (add 10-20%).

Machines: (excluding PETs)

VIC20 - 10.00
+4 - 25.00
C16 - 35.00 (relatively rare on ebay it seems)
C64 - 20.00
SX-64 - 80.00
C64C - 30.00
C128 - 40.00
C128D - 90.00
C65 - 500.00+ (?)

Drives:

C2N - $5.00
1541 - 8.00
1541C - 15.00
1541-II - 20.00 (due to multi-use of power adapter / 1581)
1551 - 40.00 (never seen one... guessing at this number)
1570 - 30.00 (rare?)
1571 - 15.00
1581 - 80.00
CMD HDs - $100-$300

Display:

Monitors (Composite Only) - $10
Monitors (Comp & RGBI) - $30

Other:

REU (all) - $60-$80
Printers - < $10 (consumables are hard to find)
Modems (300/1200 bps) - < $5

Software:

For heavens sake... please acknowledge that D64 images exist of almost everything... keep it low unless you have all original manuals, boxes, etc

My $0.02.  Many of you have been doing this for alot longer than me, so feel free to red-pen my numbers.  Certainly people will pay for what its worth to them, but this ought to give folks an idea on what the hardware is really worth on the ebay market.

[Andrew Wiskow]

I prefer my method for determining what something is worth.  Post it on eBay with a starting bid of 99¢.  Whatever it sells for, that's what it's worth.

BTW, based on this method, a boxed C2N with manual is worth 99¢.  :|

[Golan Klinger]

How come there's nobody here in Iowa begging me to take truckloads of free Commodore junk?!?

I probably shouldn't tell you this but that large auction of CMD equipment that happened a few weeks ago was all from a load of free stuff that was available in Iowa. It was posted to Homestead and Jim Brain picked it up from Badger, IA.

[Blacklord]

1570's aren't rare (at least not in Australia). I'd put a higher price on a VIC20 than a breadbox 64 too (not rare, but less of them).

[xlar54]

I prefer my method for determining what something is worth.  Post it on eBay with a starting bid of 99¢.  Whatever it sells for, that's what it's worth.

BTW, based on this method, a boxed C2N with manual is worth 99¢.  :|

True...   This is more of an average to know when waiting for the next auction might be a better idea.

[Golan Klinger]

What is needed is a value/rarity list for Commodore equipment, that reasonable people would stick to when putting out an auction.

Why? The whole idea of an auction is that people will bid what the item is worth to them and that's why price guides are more often wrong than right. For instance...

C64 - 20.00

SID chips alone usually sell for more than that.

SX-64 - 80.00

Low.

C65 - 500.00+ (?)

You're way off. The last one sold for $7500 and the previous two were $5000 each.

1551 - 40.00 (never seen one... guessing at this number)
1570 - 30.00 (rare?)

I've never seen either sell for that little.

1581 - 80.00

Prices for 1581s are depressed right now but the five that I've sold in the last month were all for $100. This time last year I was getting $150 easily and $200 every now and then.

CMD HDs - $100-$300

$100 for a CMD HD? Good luck with that.

There are always deals to be had but most prices are generally higher than you've listed and figuring out an average selling price is like herding cats.