Does price matter anymore?

[Chris F.]

In the past couple of months, my already-poor sales of used electronics
has dropped right through the floor. Absolutely nothing is selling anymore.
I'm going to lower my prices even more in an attempt to get rid of my stock,
but it occurred to me that maybe it doesn't really matter. Perhaps consumers
are so determined to buy new, that they'll ignore even the best bargains on
used electronics. A fellow tech I recently talked to, is now trying to sell
off his 27" stereo sets for just $75 - and he still can't get rid of them.
Even folks at charities like the Salvation Army are getting picky about the
sets they take FOR FREE. Well, at least there's one guy who will always take
my stuff - he comes by once a week with his big white truck.....
I thought things were bad last year, but it seems like the writing is
really on the wall now. Oh for another job, so I could just dump my stuff
and move on to something better.

 

[Chance]

Yup people don't even take their old sets to have them looked at
anymore. Which is great for a curb scavenger with a bit of techinal
know how. I have a 25'' zenith with remote that I fixed some bad
solider joints in the tuner. I'm trying to sell for $50 I've only had
one call and it's in the paper now. I couldn't tell you how many TV's,
Pc's, PC moniters, and stereos I have found by the curb that were 5
minute fixes. I once found a set of AR 2X speakers that were perfect
except for dirty pots, needless to say they are staying in my
collection. I once got a 17'' PC moniter that the only thing wrong
with it it needed a focus adjustment. It's still as good as a new one
and thats been close to 2 years ago. It's really sad now a days we all
know the stuff they bought to replace the stuff we've ressurected won't
last half as long and have the build quality of the stuff they threw
out.

Regards,
Chance

 

[Chris F.]

a new one

and thats been close to 2 years ago. It's really sad now a days we all
know the stuff they bought to replace the stuff we've ressurected won't
last half as long and have the build quality of the stuff they threw
out.

I sometimes wonder if that's actually part of the reason people buy new
stuff. Think about it; in this day and age, people don't want to commit to
anything - a job, a car, a religion, or even a marriage - so why would they
want to commit their TV stand to the same set for 15 or 20 years? Like so
many things in life, people want something they can acquire easily, have
some fun with for a while, and then dump when they get tired of it.
Commitment has become a dirty word to todays hedonists - and someday they're
going to be very sorry. And the only sympathy they'll get from me is an "I
told you so".

 

[Travis Jordan]

In the past couple of months, my already-poor sales of used
electronics has dropped right through the floor. Absolutely nothing

The cost of replacement parts exceeds the value of the equipment in many
cases.

I'm throwing away a perfectly usable 300w APC UPS because the cost of a
new battery (yes, even on eBay) is greater than what it costs me to buy
a new UPS at Staples.

 

[Michael Kennedy]

I'd sell the ups on ebay or use it for a 12v inverter

- Mike

 

[Ray L. Volts]

In the past couple of months, my already-poor sales of used electronics
has dropped right through the floor. Absolutely nothing is selling
anymore. I'm going to lower my prices even more in an attempt to get rid
of my stock, but it occurred to me that maybe it doesn't really matter.
Perhaps consumers are so determined to buy new, that they'll ignore even
the best bargains on used electronics. A fellow tech I recently talked to,
is now trying to sell off his 27" stereo sets for just $75 - and he still
can't get rid of them. Even folks at charities like the Salvation Army are
getting picky about the sets they take FOR FREE. Well, at least there's
one guy who will always take my stuff - he comes by once a week with his
big white truck.....
I thought things were bad last year, but it seems like the writing is
really on the wall now. Oh for another job, so I could just dump my stuff
and move on to something better.

Then again, why put even $75 into an old NTSC TV when the set won't even be
able to receive NTSC broadcasts a couple years from now? When their old set
dies, they're putting that $75 into the new HDTV flat panel they already
wanted. As for the Salvation Army, perhaps they're concerned about
incurring disposal fees for old unsold units that crap out before they can
move them.

 

[Travis Jordan]

I'd sell the ups on ebay or use it for a 12v inverter

- Mike

Actually Mike the inverter idea is a really good one!. Although I
recognized that the battery is a 12V 7AH gel cel it hadn't sunk in that
all I need is a cigarette lighter cord out of my junk box and I'll have
some emergency power. Not much power of course, but better than nothing
should the hurricanes hit us again this year.

Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Chris F.]

Only one problem with that idea....... every APC UPS I've seen must be
connected to a 120V source to start up - you can't start them from the 12V
battery alone. So unless you have a normal inverter to start it with, it's
pretty much useless in a power outage.

 

[Chris F.]

Then again, why put even $75 into an old NTSC TV when the set won't even

be able to receive NTSC broadcasts a couple years from

now? When their old set

A set made in 2004 is considered old? If that's the case, I should donate
most of my stock to the nearest museum.

dies, they're putting that $75 into the new HDTV flat panel they already
wanted. As for the Salvation Army, perhaps they're concerned about
incurring disposal fees for old unsold units that crap out before they can
move them.

Yeah, they've been predicting the death of NTSC for years now, in fact it
was supposed to have been phased out at least 6 years ago. I think it's
pointless to push everything towards HDTV; like Andy Rooney said, what's the
point of a better delivery system, if there's nothing on worth watching?
There will long be a demand for NTSC sets, as long as people hang on to
their DVD's and VHS cassettes. I intend to keep a hoard of old NTSC stuff
long after the format is gone, because I simply refuse to follow the trend.
Even if I can't watch current broadcasts anymore, like I said, there's
nothing worth watching anyway.

 

[Travis Jordan]

Only one problem with that idea....... every APC UPS I've seen must
be connected to a 120V source to start up - you can't start them from
the 12V battery alone. So unless you have a normal inverter to start
it with, it's pretty much useless in a power outage.

Good thing I didn't go looking for that cigaratte lighter cord yet!

Thanks for the info. I'll just put the UPS back in the junk box.

 

[Stan]

And what about AM Broadcast Band radio? Any future for that? FM also?

Goes against the grain to have to 'pay' a monthly subscription to listen to
satellite radio etc.

If some broadcaster 'wants' me to listen they can attract by making it free
for whenever, or if, I wish to turn it on!

I'll even tolerate 'some' commercials; although on TV the existing 20
minutes per half hour of programming versus 9 minutes of
announcements/commercials (not including the channels that are ALL
selling/advertising!) for which I pay either the cable or satellite company
are becoming a bore. i.e. very little on worth watching and it is constantly
interrupted by said advertising; often the same advert several times each
hour. Bah, humbug.

Less on shortwave now too!

However: One of the more interesting is that CBC (Canadian Broadcasting
Corp.) Radio One, (basically CBCs 'Home Service' for each of the regions of
this huge country, after about midnight Eastern Time, carries half hour
items from various networks around the world (in English). These typically
include Holland, Germany, Australia, BBC, Sweden, Poland and many others.
Often leave it on bedside radio at very low volume until 6.00 AM (local
time) next morning, when it reverts to local broadcasting. CBC is available
on the internet at < www.cbc.ca/ > which itself is a sign of the times.

Cheers.

 

[J]

In the past couple of months, my already-poor sales of used electronics
has dropped right through the floor. Absolutely nothing is selling
anymore. I'm going to lower my prices even more in an attempt to get rid
of my stock, but it occurred to me that maybe it doesn't really matter.
Perhaps consumers are so determined to buy new, that they'll ignore even
the best bargains on used electronics. A fellow tech I recently talked to,
is now trying to sell off his 27" stereo sets for just $75 - and he still
can't get rid of them. Even folks at charities like the Salvation Army are
getting picky about the sets they take FOR FREE. Well, at least there's
one guy who will always take my stuff - he comes by once a week with his
big white truck.....
I thought things were bad last year, but it seems like the writing is
really on the wall now. Oh for another job, so I could just dump my stuff
and move on to something better.

Time to get into modern art. Start welding crap together. Call the shop a
gallery, bribe some local newspapers... Your message could be disposable
society... that's not cliche or anything.

-JB

 

[Franc Zabkar]

In the past couple of months, my already-poor sales of used electronics
has dropped right through the floor. Absolutely nothing is selling anymore.
I'm going to lower my prices even more in an attempt to get rid of my stock,
but it occurred to me that maybe it doesn't really matter. Perhaps consumers
are so determined to buy new, that they'll ignore even the best bargains on
used electronics. A fellow tech I recently talked to, is now trying to sell
off his 27" stereo sets for just $75 - and he still can't get rid of them.
Even folks at charities like the Salvation Army are getting picky about the
sets they take FOR FREE. Well, at least there's one guy who will always take
my stuff - he comes by once a week with his big white truck.....
I thought things were bad last year, but it seems like the writing is
really on the wall now. Oh for another job, so I could just dump my stuff
and move on to something better.

IMO, items that should sell well are turntables and amps with RIAA
phono preamp stages. I'm currently converting about 300 LPs to CDA and
MP3 format. Of course, if your old equipment is anything like mine
(30+ years), you will need to lube all the pots and switches. I
suppose you could also package each stand-alone turntable with a
soundcard-ready RIAA preamp.

Another useful item may be those old furniture-style TV cabinets, eg
those made by Philips/Kriesler. Swap out the electronics and you'll
have a modern set with a vintage feel.

- Franc Zabkar

 

[lsmartino]

Chris F. ha escrito:

Only one problem with that idea....... every APC UPS I've seen must be
connected to a 120V source to start up - you can't start them from the 12V
battery alone. So unless you have a normal inverter to start it with, it's
pretty much useless in a power outage.

Are you sure?

I have several APC UPS models which can be started from cold using the
internal battery. The models are BE500R, BK250 and BK380.

In the other hand, I have a TrippLite UPS model BC250 which cannot be
started from the battery. It should be connected to a 120VAC source
prior to startup.

 

[Chris F.]

I guess I haven't seen too many APC units. Those units you mentioned must be
the exception rather than the rule....

 

[lsmartino]

Chris F. ha escrito:

I guess I haven't seen too many APC units. Those units you mentioned must be
the exception rather than the rule....

It could be. The BE500R is a very recent model, while the others two
are a bit old... probably from year 2000 or before.

 

[David Nebenzahl]

J spake thus:

Time to get into modern art. Start welding crap together. Call the shop a
gallery, bribe some local newspapers... Your message could be disposable
society... that's not cliche or anything.

Only problem is, all this new crap is almost all plastic, so no metal to
weld to.

 

[Mike Berger]

There's a major midwestern university in my community. With lots of
students, there's lots of transient people buying and selling their
consumer electronics every semester. 27" stereo TV's are commonly
available for $ 50.

The Salvation Army and other thrift stores are much more selective
than they used to be:

* The Salvation Army used to train people in TV and appliance repair.
Those programs disappeared a few years ago. So now they require that
donations be in good working condition.

* The cost to dispose of the unsellable items is very high. The
Salvation Army pays commercial rates. Our local store gets drop
offs, and they have to dispose of at least 50% of what's left
there overnight. Just because they got it "for free" doesn't mean
it has any value.

* Wired communities have local newsgroups or craigslist that makes
it much easier to find used stuff. So there's a lot less need to
go to a shop.

 

[Mike Berger]

Yeah, I used to listen to a lot of international news and old american
Jazz on shortwave. Now there's hardly anything but high powered
christian evangelist stations.

Less on shortwave now too!

\

 

[Mike Berger]

You'd have to have some pretty unique vinyl to need to transcribe it
these days. Even most of the really obscure music I had on LP appears
on CD these days. I'm still holding onto a handful of laserdiscs,
though, which haven't appeared on DVD yet.

Magnavox cabinets were made by Baker Furniture for a few years in the
seventies. Throw the TV away but keep the fine wood cabinet.