How Much Cheaper Does A Piece of Hardware Have To Be ...

[oldandinthe way]

How much cheaper does a piece of hardware have to be to be worth buying on Ebay?

I've had some time on my hands and have been looking for toys - hardware to buy and repair on Ebay.

I bought a Minolta Z1 Digital Camera identical to one I've had for 3 years for $22, 10% of what I paid originally in a great deal. Problem with pattery door. Temporary fix - duct tape.

I bought an Olympus 5.1mp 3x zoom camera for a dollar. It supposedly wouldn't focus. Pressed the button to take it out of macro mode and it works perfectly. Just need to add an xD card.

Recently a broken Z1 sold for $75.

I've also looked at broken computers. A Lenovo laptop which wouldn't power up sold for more than I paid for the same model new at Office Depot. Broken taptops in general bring from 30-150% of retail.

Broken WD hard disks internal and external seem to bring about 50% of what a new with warranty disk brings,

How much do you feel used or as is hardware should cost relative to the original price or today's big box store price? Factor in the inflated shipping charge many Ebay sellers charge.

[zoobie]

yeah man...killer deal on that Olympus
when it's perceived to be broken, people will take just about anything for it
even after the auction

incidently, the seller is responsible to get the item safely into the buyers hands
how do you search?

[Abbadon]

I am not sure that I understand your question, you are a buyer, I am a seller, we both want something, the price can be determined upon my need for cash, greed, or even my good spirit.

You could buy cheap good things, or cheap trash, or just expensive trash, etc. it depends of how many rabbit legs you keep in your pocket.

I have sold computer equipment for half the price I paid for, mainly because I would not be able to sell it at the original price.

Now, in accounting, they teach that you need to make a profit, this is true in any economy, unless you live in a communist country where profit is considered a sin.

[jagabo]

There's no single answer. It depends on the rarity, desirablity, and condition of the item.

[oldandinthe way]

I am well aware that the value of anything is what a willing buyer and a willing seller are willing to agree on.

I am also aware that there are a lot of stupid people out there who in my opinion overpay for imany things.

I am a free-market capitalist so this is not an attack on the system or profit.

I am looking for a sense of this group as to what percentage of the price they could pay for a NEW item with warranty is appropriate for a used item with no warranty or warranted to not be DOA.

The items I am looking at are not rare and are for the most part still available in retail channels. Or are recently obsoleted models. Hence my seeking opinions.

zoobie

I periodically to searches for broken, as-is and similar descriptions within various categories to maintain a list of sellers with salvage merchandise. I then periodically check ALL of their listings. After a while I get a feel for the seller behavior, and buyer behavior. I make a lot of use of auctionsniper.com to bid for me.

I don't require quite the level of bargains those cameras represented. I went to about 40% of the Costco price on an open box SONY DVD recorder/vcr combo. But this was a current model, and I researched why they had a high return rate (no tuner).

Here's an example of recent laptop prices. This seller documents problems pretty well. There are in my opinion few bargains

http://computers.search-completed.ebay.com/_Laptops-Notebooks_W0QQcatrefZC6QQdfspZ1QQf...ofocusZunknown

[jagabo]

Generally, for a new item I won't pay more than 50 percent of what reputable dealer like Amazon or NewEgg charges.

[zoobie]

ic...ic

offhand, it seems that ebay listings that use the word "as-is" seem to value the item more than listings that use the word "broken"

"broken" seems a much more severe perceptual difference than "as-is"

[oldandinthe way]

In the example I posted every gallery picture and the main picture in the auction listing are marked broken even though the title is As Is.

I'm not sure such a distinction applies.

[bendixG15]

I think you are overlooking one item...

People don't want last years technology, its out of fashion.
They need the latest and the greatest. Thats where bragging rights come in.

I have old computers and digital cameras that are absolutely functional and I can't give it away to my friends or relatives. I mean, how much computing power do you need to do emails and play solitaire ??

Hey ... good luck.

[zoobie]

yep...I saw the broken on the pic but it's all about the search
you're the expert but at a glance, it just seemed the items listed using the word "broken" in the title seemed listed much cheaper

anyway, thanks
I wanted to pick up a bargain and you reminded me of this technique
I think I'll get one of those cams with the white lcd screen...with all the extras for $5

lots of bulk sellers but I think in my case, an individual seller is my best bet

[Abbadon]

ic...ic

offhand, it seems that ebay listings that use the word "as-is" seem to value the item more than listings that use the word "broken"

"broken" seems a much more severe perceptual difference than "as-is"

If that is the case, "as is" could be easliy translated as broken, but because it gives false hopes, people could think the article is actually not broken. If you have ever sold anything, you realise that sometimes pretty words can fool people.

[JimJohnD]

I always thought the 'standard' was Broken = Won't work, As-Is = works but may not look good.

Broken should be priced for 'parts'. As-Is should be a little less than what they get for 're-manufactured' equipment.

[Abbadon]

I have participated in public auctions, and the general rule there is this:

If you win a bid, you pay for it and receive it as is, the article could or not work. No returns accepted.

[wtsinnc]

What something is worth is what someone will pay for it- nothing more, nothing less. I've bought and sold on Ebay for years and have been astounded as to how much some of the items I had for sale brought. After "learning the ropes", I stopped using the "Buy It Now" option and just let the open market decide the value. Whether or not an item represents the latest or near-latest in technology doesn't matter to a collector or to someone who has a particular affinity or need for (that) item, whatever it may be. With that said, it is crucial to maintain a good community reputation (positive feedback) if you expect to get the best possible response to your listing. If you decide to list something for sale, keep in mind what you would be looking for in terms of item description, full disclosure regarding condition, and total cost including realistic s&h fees and provide those very same things in your listing. You will find, as I have, that including photos of the item will almost always result in less confusion and a higher selling price. Good luck !

[edDV]

I maintain a "watch list" on ebay items of interest to see where final prices land. Amazing the spread for similar items. Anything with problems goes very cheap. "New" often goes for above retail price even if no warranty is offered. Go figure.

You need to use the automated bidding these days because all the action is in the last 30 seconds.

I prefer local Craigslist. You can inspect the item before purchase and avoid shipping charges.

[oldandinthe way]

edDV

An article in the Wall Street Journal some time back described the market on Ebay as miles wide but only an inch deep. That is if you had ten of a given item, the price would fall apart before you sold half of the items.

Today it appears that Ebay prices for technology have real staying power.

There are an enormous number of sellers selling, Costco, Best Buy, Circuit City and Walmart returns. And the prices seem to begin above retail and deteriorate to 50 or 75% of retail for as is or broken equipment.

When Walmart ran its $350 Acer laptop "secret" sale, Ebay and Craig's list were full of $500 identical laptops (the config was a Walmart Exclusive), and folks bought them.

I accept the fact that no one has gone broke underestimating the stupidity of the American people. But am curious what the otherwise sane people think is a good rule of thumb.

Since I don't really need anything, and have no passion for technology, I wait for a truly good buy. The exception when I need obsolete equipment to keep an old system running I may pay a fair price.

[Seeker47]

Generally, for a new item I won't pay more than 50 percent of what reputable dealer like Amazon or NewEgg charges.

This is a really good question . . . but you wouldn't know it by the prices things are normally listed for on Ebay (I'm talking mostly commodity items here, not rarities or collectibles), or the prices people seem willing to pay on the auctions. Leaves me quite puzzled, more often than not.

Case in point: I'm about to buy some RAM. The best deal I can find for it on Ebay -- new, since that makes a difference, and I'm not real interested in buying this item used -- looks like it would save me about 10 bucks over ordering it new from Kingston or Crucial. Now why the hell would I bother with an Ebay auction, to save 10 bucks ? C'mon Now !

And this is not atypical, for a lot of stuff I might have bought on Ebay.

[Nelson37]

I consider an Ebay or other used item purchase to be a significant risk of complete loss. So it all depends on how much I want to risk.

If I am purchasing items for resale, replacing failed items is just not worth the risk. If I save $40 bucks ten times but then just once have to buy a new one, drive an hour round-trip, spend two hours on-site, plus have an unhappy customer, I haven't quite broke even.

Things I need for parts, or for which I have the parts to repair, might be worthwhile but the shipping alone ain't worth it.

I really should start putting my old crap on there, got bags of old RAM and oddball parts that probably would get a few bucks.

If you got a bucket of steaming horsecrap, all you gotta do is knock on enough doors.

I always understood "as-is" to mean no guarantee it works or is complete. Parts.

[adcvideo]

I have bought and sold on eBay for years. I always describe my merchandise accurately hence my 100% feedback, but that hasn't always been the case with goods I have bought from sellers.

I bought a used laptop for a good price, just missing RAM and DVD drive, and HD. Good deal? Well no, it was missing a good many cables and proprietary pieces (Apple, sigh). My rule of thumb, when buying on eBay is to always bid as if it were broken, and pay accordingly.

There are so many little things that can go wrong with electronics -- bad solder, oxidized contacts, minor shorts due to dust. Its a gamble to pay anywhere near 50% of new cost.

Cheers
adcvideo

[orsetto]

eBay is mondo beyondo: no rhyme or reason to how people respond to it. The most glaring examples are laptops (any OS) and Apple iPods: people go completely irrational and a significant number of these will sell for 5-10% above retail at Best Buy, etc. I don't understand those specific frenzies at all.

Personally I've had a pretty decent run with sellers over the past five years. Only once was I royally screwed, which was partly my fault for not researching just how OLD the item really was: I took his word for it it was a current model. A couple of other times I was somewhat disappointed for various reasons, in each case I made a return if the seller was agreeable or just relisted it myself at minimal loss. For convenience sake if I can't easily get something locally I might bid up to nearly the bricks and mortar price, depending on how costly the item is and my gut instinct re the seller. (My recent purchase of a large batch otf TY 8x DVD-R media would be a good example.) Otherwise I try to curb my bidding at about the 60% of retail mark unless the item is uncommon/discontinued/collectible. One important psychological point no one has raised yet is the amount of money you may have in your PayPal account when you notice a listing that interests you? An informal survey of myself and several friends indicates we're all MUCH more likely to go overboard if we know we have the "do re mi" at the ready, and much LESS likely to bid high if we don't.

I've been astonished how high people will bid for questionable items if the category is hot enough- I used to buy, repair and resell quite a few broken Pioneer DVD/HDD recorders until last year when bidding on them just got altogether stupid: I mean, $180 for a broken Pioneer 531 is ludicrous considering it might need up to $120 in parts not to mention the utter aggravation of reinstalling its program guide via Unix. Usually in my own listings I will use any euphemism I can think of for "broken" in the subject heading, or not mention broken at all until the body of the listing, because "broken" in the title is usually eBay poison. It KILLS your hit level. But if you don't mention it until the body of the listing, it gives you the opportunity to explain whats broken and ups your action a bit.

[oldfart13]

I have used "Buy It Now" pricing on a very few items that I knew were worth real money but generally, I do let the auctions run their course. I can't tell you how many times I have gotten emails from people pleading to let the auction end early so they can buy the item at a (for them) reasonable price. I inform them that is against Ebay policy since they make their money on the final price and I get penalized, not the buyer. I haven't been doing much business on Ebay of late though as my shipping costs have gone through the roof. Even as a buyer I have to be leery of some items because of the shipping costs. That remote for my Daytek 950-S DVD recorder costs $30 out of Toronto but the shipping is an additional $20 so I lose big time over people buying and doing local pick up. So now I don't bother bidding on items like that. I can wait and get someone who is coming up to this area bring it with them as is the case with the remote but that doesn't happen very often. There are liquidators, pawn shops, yard sales, estate sales, etc. going on all the time. You might check them out. I have acquired some stuff really cheaply like that especially computer and other electronics gear as well as friends giving me their old equipment when they upgraded. Can't get cheaper than free....

[zoobie]

that's the beauty of eBay...to get you all involved in an exciting auction
there are eBay-a-holics who don't even think of going to a walmart or target...they have been programmed (variably) to just go to eBay and get involved

incidently, with so many cams with broken lcd's, what's to stop someone from buying two $10 broken cams and putting them together for one fully functioning $200 cam?

ops...

[oldandinthe way]

incidently, with so many cams with broken lcd's, what's to stop someone from buying two $10 broken cams and putting them together for one fully functioning $200 cam?

ops...

Putting two broken camera together to make one is common. But broken LCDs are tough. Parts cost too high to repair, mounting is difficult. Need to find broken camera with functioning LCD and swap cases or back with a camera with broken LCD. It has been done. Many of these cameras with broken LCDs are purchased to replace defective battery doors on functioning cameras.

And broken cameras don't always go cheap.

[lordsmurf]

eBay is where a fool and his money are soon parted.

[Seeker47]

I maintain a "watch list" on ebay items of interest to see where final prices land. Amazing the spread for similar items. Anything with problems goes very cheap. "New" often goes for above retail price even if no warranty is offered. Go figure.

I believe they also offer a "Want List" feature, but I was leery of how it might be implemented and never went so far as to investigate it. One may have an interest in rare component "X", but not wish to advertise this (just be notified in advance when any relevant auction listings turn up), as that would be a natural magnet for scammers and spammers.

[zoobie]

I just figured the lcd was probably glued on and you'd have to heat or bust the back up to break it off...which would be fun

I guess replacing the whole back is preferred

I'll grab one of those little cams where the lcd is broken but you can still get the pics to your box

then glue a plastic cover over the broken lcd

but I want a deal...$5..ha ha

[ahhaa]

I sold a lot during the 'Golden Age' of eBay, some strengths are still there- one is the ability to find rare/obscure stuff. Say you wanted to collect everything made for the Commodore Amiga. Or trannies for a Power Wagon.

My favorite was a DIY windpower generator built around a Volvo brake hub; it led me in so many directions, it was like discovering the Whole Earth catalog!

Non-digital cameras are good, especially their accessory lenses...