The AM Forum

I've noticed at least with the things I watch, that the bottom has fallen out on ebay. It really looks like a buyers market now. Yes we all know the stories of overpriced items and so on but I'm curious if anyone else has noticed the trend?

I've done alright on there with the buy low and sell high attitude but I am not getting rich. Right now if you can find a good item at a low price, the price stays low and your lucky if you can get rid of it to get your money back.

Nope.  Haven't noticed that.  I haven't bought any radios this summer, just small stuff, accessories and parts mostly.

glad to hear it, weeds out the flippers

That's me ;D ;D Mostly with crap I don't want to keep.

 Everyone is a flipper.

 I know of a guy who buys farm machinery at auctions, takes them home, fixes them up and  sells them on ebay for a very good return. Is that bad or is it only bad when it comes to ham radio gear ;D ;D ;D

with the economy so far down, there's fewer folks who can afford to bid top dollar for stuff.  If you're worried about your next paycheck, you aren't on Ebay buying stuff.

And it will continue. We haven't seen anything yet. We will look back on these days with a smile.

It took longer than I initially thought for eBay to show signs of weakness. We have been in a decade-long major topping action in the economy.

The economy and stock market really peaked in 2000. Then came the stock sell off that beat up a lot of people, IRA's, general investments, etc.  The general pubic then moved into real esate in a big way and got slammed in 2006 to present.

The next public phase - right now there is a flight to "unquality."  This is unusal cuz it's usually a flight to quality when times get bad. People are disgusted with stocks, real estate and now low yields of CD's and government debt instruments (like bonds and T bills) and are plowing money into municipal and corporate bonds at higher, but riskier rates. This will be the next thing to collapse and will make the last 2007 selloff seem like a picnic.

Gold has been the exception, though is showing signs of topping lately. I underestimated gold's strength and thought it would rally AFTER this deflation was over, as in the past.

Keep as liquid as possible with cash or cash equivalents (US TBills or T-Bonds) for the next few years. These will yield little in interest but your principal money will be in the safest of investments for now.  Cash has appreciated tremendously over the last few years as compared to real estate, stocks, etc. There will come a time to buy raw land and other beat up assets for huge discounts compared to today. Not many will have cash left, to do so. Service businesses will do best - retail businesses will have it tough with many failing.


With eBay, we are seeing the fallout of a liquidity squeeze. Cash is king and more scarce, so people become more conservative and hold off spending it.

The biggest effect will be the nasty social moods in all areas - politics, strikes, and general social unrest. Many who think they are voting out the bums this November - these next set of guys in office will look even worse. It's not the fault of the politicians necessarily, it's the major bear market, deflation AND social mood we are in now that affects everything.  Obama will probably be voted out, but the next president will be tarred and feathered in comparison.


It will get better later (like in 2015 and beyond) with China leading the way.


[/crystal ball]

T

 

Yes. Selling on ebay pretty much isn't worth the trouble now. I know plenty of people who have moved on to list their stuff on bulletin boards where there's more focus and reputation.

The economy is hurting but Uncle Sam is trying to keep things moving by borrowing from tomorrow. We were attacked on 9/11 in order to screw  up our ability to be the world's policemen.

China will do a much better job policing the world. Things will be fair.

Start rearning Cantonese and Mandarin now so you will be fruent like Tommy Vu.

"Flippers".


Yes, if you buy something at a low price and sell it for a profit you are evil.

(Evidently, according to some.)


Buying something, and putting something into it (value added), then just making your money back, seems to piss people off just as much...

If you buy something, put it in  a closet, never use it... makes people upset.

Not buying something from someone, makes them sad....

So what else is new?




Only in very specific cases has ebay slowed down sales wise.
Always happens at the end of summer, and people's eyes turn toward Wal-mart for J.H. Christmas presents.

I've been trawling e-bay for a year and a half now building up the
junk box...it feels to me that it's been easier to score lows in
the last couple of months, for example

UTC choke (10H, 325 mA, 2.5kV hipot): $20
Kenyon T-669: $10
Stancor P-8025: $10
total shipping: $50

I don't drive so this is kind of a bargain  :-\

It's been an ongoing process over the last 2-3 years, Terry. I've watched prices steadily drop from "collector" prices back toward more typical prices for old gear. Not that it isn't valuable to us, it's more that 'us' continues to shrink while the supply of stuff continues to grow. Ironically, Ebay helped uncover and save a lot of this stuff from the scrap heap over the last decade plus. There just aren't enough interested parties still looking, to maintain the higher prices.

Unless you have some R@RE LQQK item that the egos or audiophools will fight over, you'd be better off listing your stuff here on 'fone for the gang instead of on ebay and posting links to it there. No listing fees, fewer email/shipping hassles, and far fewer deadbeats to worry about. Send G an extra $10-$20 if you sell some stuff and keep on playing radio.  ;)

Probably true.  They are not constrained by such issues as rights of anyone;  unless they are absolutely policitically reliable, they they have whatever rights they say they have.  The Chinese tend to shoot and/or arrest everyone involved and sort them out later, with the 'later' time frame being very variable.  It can go up to and including a lifetime, which they can also vary.  And, of course, they don't have the issue of nosey reporters and people with camera devices getting info and publishing it.

If things are getting better pricewise, maybe I can finally finish the final amp.

I agree ebay prices are falling.

You still see the pairs of 2A3's listed for $199, but just the other day I saw a pair of NOS 6B4G's go for under $20.

And a couple weeks ago I bid on an NOS GE 838 tube and got it for $5. No one else bid. That's unusual even in this market.

Most of the audio tubes that have three digit asking prices no longer sell.

You still see people trying to sell UTC S series filament transformers for $99, but those also don't sell either.

I never have understood the high prices on 2A3's, 211's and 805's etc.

The prices were very high, but there are always tons of them listed on any given day.

There is not really a shortage of these tubes, but for a while there was some kind of mania out there for them in the audio world.

That seems to be abating a bit.

Are 2A3's the beanie babies of the electonics world?

Thanks for the advice Todd, I am trying to reach a broader market with the stuff I sell and right now the stuff I have listed is at cost and when I include the free shipping and all the other related fees, I'm taking a huge loss :'( :'( Anytime I have stuff listed on eBay and copied here, any member of this board could send me a PM and make an offer. If there are no bids, I could end the sale. Better than 99 percent of the ham related items I purchase on eBay are from estate sales and the sellers don't have a clue what they have other than what others are getting for the same items. So why do I do it, I must be crazy ;D ;D ;D

As far as the people that purchase from me is concerned, I have no idea if they are hams, flippers, or what?? So far I have a perfect record on there and hope to keep it that way.

I recently sold a bunch of unnecessary stuff including a Drake R-7, a TR-7, a DSR-1, and a bunch of audiophile stuff like type 50 tubes, UTC audio transformers, a 211, and a NOS Western Electric 350B.

The R-7 went to Japan - $1500, which I was pleased with.  Almost all of the tubes and UTC audio transformers went overseas - Korea, China, Russia, and Italy.  I got good money for the stuff that went overseas - my 350B went for $800, a pair of NOS 50s $400 (Russia and China respectively) but I was a bit disappointed at the $600 for the TR-7 set that had all filters, the noise blanker, etc.  The large stuff that went domestic certainly went for quite a bit less than the overseas stuff.  Different markets, but I see the overseas buyers particularly China have the money compared to US buyers.

Yep, Asia really appreciates US quality, at least the older stuff.

FB on the transformer sales. Back in the 2004 area I went through all my excess parts junk like you did. I made about 70 sales on eBay within two weeks and raised about $6K.  One sale that stands out was selling a pair of LS UTC 55 watt audio transformers, They went for $800 EACH to Japan. The guy was thankful as heck that he got them for that price too. He was Tom-Vu-Tube-Audiophile I guess.

T

Certain things still pull the big bucks there and will continue to. Audio pieces-parts seem to be at the top. A while back I peddled some 845s and was shocked with what they brought. One pair of NOS Amperex went to Ca. for almost $1600, and a single RCA sold to a Ruskie for close to $1K. Sold a few more lightly used, possibly new for similar prices. Been toting these around since the early 80s, they came in a lot with a bunch of other stuff for $250 including a box of RCA 74B ribbon mics that I sold off years ago. Seems the Chinese 845 copies aren't as desirable or as good as the good ol' US-made tubes.

Then again, there are actually some people in the audio market who use the stuff in their business and make money with it, as opposed to worshiping it. RCA 77 & 44 mics still bring in the big $ with these folks, many of whom have no use for the RE-27.

But as far as the garden-variety things like MVR tubes, plate transformers, KWM-2As and so on, prices just aren't what they used to be, and probably never will be again. Unless it's something small that can go via Priority mail in one of their free boxes, I tend to avoid ebay preferring the 'fest approach instead. It would have to be something really rare or at least, scarce, to warrant the hassles and slow blood-letting of fees through both ebay and paypal.   

Wow John, $1500 for an R7 you made a killing. TR7 for $600 is a fair price.

The R-7 was almost perfect, with the original box, all options/filters, original manual/service manual, etc.  The Japanese pay top $$ for top stuff.

Im enjoying the low prices and have picked up a number of receiver and transmitter accessories and options for real cheap. Makes up a bit for missing Nearfest.

I got a kick out of one tube I was trying to sell on there, it  was a very nice condition 833A and I clearly put in the description what the reserve was. People kept biding trying to find the reserve.

I think some people just like to be bid so they are part of something or don't read the description. Well anyhow it didn't sell and so I guess I'll kept it.

There are many people who don't read the descriptions, don't read the instructions, don't read the rules, etc. and then there are many, who do read the descriptions, instructions, rules, etc., and the information totally flies over their head or, for whatever reason, don't believe the guidance applies to them.