Ebay & Me

[n2ize]

Today I made my first Ebay purchase. I have bid there before but never won anything. I have won things for other people, like a camera my brother was looking for but for myself, nada. Usually I spot something interesting, decide how much I would be willing to pay, place a bid and just say the heck with it, if I win I win. Just about always I lose the bid in the last couple hours, minutes, seconds.. This time, much to my surprise, I won. I was looking for an old fashioned Elgin windup watch and I found one, bid and won. Just got done placing the order.

Which leads me to this. I was browsing around ebay looking at all the different antique/vintage stuff people are selling. Some of it going for considerable amount of money, sometimes more than its worth (most hams are well aware of that phenomenon).;).. But lots of other stuff as well, from watches to clocks to electrical appliances, etc. A lot of the things I remember my folks had around the house when I was a child at one time or another. I'll look at an item and say, "wow, I remember we had one of these when i was a kid...but ours was in much better condition". The only peculiar thing is none of it exists anymore because my folks always had a peculiar way of trashing and tossing away all the cool and worthwhile vintage stuff we once had while keeping all the worthless junk that nobody will ever want. Had it been the other way around I could have made a fortune on ebay.... Just kidding, I am just the opposite of my folks, I save all the good old stuff and refuse to part with it.

[KG4CGC]

It's because of your new lucky avatar that you won in a contest that you didn't even know you entered.

[N8YX]

I just scored an OEM AM filter for my FT-301for roughly 1/3 that of a new Inrad version. Bid high and early was what won that one. Other times I'll make use of a sniper service, or use both techniques in conjunction.

Some of the older gear listed on eBay is worth snagging if you can get a decent example for a reasonable amount of money.

[wa6mhz]

I win about 3% on what I bid on. And I STILL have about 2800 wins. Right now, I am ahead on a hand mic that I will be paying WAY TOO MUCH for. That is the usual scenario on Ebay. I pay about 5 times what the thing is worth. RARELY do I get a Bargain on something. But that is the price I have to pay if I want it, cuz there are so many FILTHY RICH RAT BASTARDS out there who bid it up and outbid me. This mic would go for about $5 at the swapmeet, but on Ebay I am up to around $25 for it. It may go higher than that if I get outbid. I only want it cuz it will match a radio I have that needs a mic.
Many of these mics are identical, except for the logo. Can't put a SWAN mic on a Hallicrafters rig, or a HEATHKIT mic on a Gonset! Gotta have the Mic match the radio. And thats what happens with these mics. A Turner 350, labeled as a Turner 350, goes for about $5. Put a Hallicrafters or Heathkit logo on it and it goes up to 6 times in value!

Another thing I won, and paid WAY WAY too much for is a Pieceofshit Heathkit SB-200 carcas. That should be coming in this week. No tubes, no tuned circuits, bad caps, no switches, blown meter. Basically all that is there is the transformer and cabinet. Now, I paid $125 for a PERFECT WORKING SB-200 last year and that is in great shape, ready to go. But I wanted ANOTHER SB-200 to "PLAY" with, and convert to 6 meters. After the bidding and shipping, I was up to over TWO HUNDRED BUCKS for this junker!!!! But atleast I WON it, and it is on the way to me. Unknown what shape it will arrive in. The seller is a newbie to Ebay and he probably just wrappped it in newspaper and put it in a tattered cardboard box, so it will arrive COMPLETELY THRASHED! I don't expect much of it to be usable. But if the transformer is still good, then I paid 4 times what it was worth.

Where there are DEALS is with the stuff from China. HTs going for $30. Parts dirt cheap! As an example, we needed an adapter, "F" to "SMA", for our company products. Pasternak wanted towards $50 each for them!!!!! HOLY MACKERAL!!!
But I found 2 for $4 with FREE SHIPPING from China! Now THAT is a Deal!

Ebay is a Jungle, but a jungle full of GOLD! just gotta pay dearly for it, and take your chances it will arrive safe.

[N8YX]

I absolutely agree with you on the mic business, Pat.

ProTip: TR5/TR7 owners who want a nice desk mic for their rigs should check out the Astatic 878/1104 series. These were made with and without preamps; the non-amplified 878 is exactly the same as Drake's 7077. Except the logo and price: I've seen the Drake version fetch close to $200 while the Astatic-branded mic rarely goes for more than a third of that amount. Even new.

[W3WN]

Sometimes you get lucky. I've bid a few times on a Ten Tec 215 electret mike (the "banana" mike that was originally an Electro-Voice design, used on the early rigs). I've seen these go for up to $75, especially when the RB's get them bid up.

But yesterday, I won an auction for one. $19.95 plus shipping. Go figure.

Most of what I've acquired via eBay has been in good shape. There have been a few exceptions, most notably the stuff that just got thrown into a way-too-big box with little or no packing (I got one Two'er sent that way). Most sellers are pretty good about packaging. A few aren't, especially those trying to cut corners and maximize net pocket money.

[WØTKX]

I have three of those banana mics. Two EV labeled, one Ten Tec.
Rather like them, as they work as hand OR desk mic...
And the rocker switch is cool.

The most expensive was $35, and it's a pristine "TT" label.

[n2ize]

It's because of your new lucky avatar that you won in a contest that you didn't even know you entered.

Thanks. I'm going to put this one on in place of the one I have now.

[n2ize]

Just won a bid on a couple of pocket knives. I knew these had a high probability of being a win since there was only 1 other bid. I tried to snag another wind up watch but I got beat by a dollar. The final price turned quite a bit lower than I expected. I miscalculated my chances on that one. In any event to heck with it. I'm gonna let it ride at this point, Try again next month.

[XE1/N5AL]

The best deals that I've had on Ebay were when a seller listed an item, with a buy-it-now price, without really knowing its worth. You have to be lucky to see the item and read through its description before anyone else gets a chance to grab it. I once won a item worth about $2,000 for only $50.

The worst deals I've had were when the seller didn't now how to pack an item for shipment. One clueless seller put a moderately fragile item in a box without any padding or packing material whatsoever. Needless to say, it arrived smashed to bits.