Monday, May 28, 2012

eBay - gotta love it

if you're a seller!

Just for the heck of it, I've been keeping a watch on the auction for an ATS-3B that ended tonight.  I was watching a bidding war right before my very eyes.

The final winning bid was $317.00 - not bad for a kit that originally sold for $160.00.  Admittedly, it is assembled and comes with a carrying case.  But that is almost double the original price.

I mentioned before that I think that eBay is a very good thing for sellers.  You have to wonder how many items end up garnering a bigger selling price than they ever would in a classified ad situation.  The "macho" of not allowing yourself to be outbid? A feeding frenzy - like sharks drawn to prey? Or is it just consumer ignorance?

An ATS-3B for over $300, that NorCal Doublet the other week for $60. Admittedly, I'm not in the market for either item, so maybe if I was, those prices would not seem so inflated.

It will be interesting to see what that Palm Mini Paddle and Code Cube end up going for.  Right now, they're at $90.00 with about 40 minutes to go.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!

2 comments:

  1. The original ATS3 sold for $160 but I'm pretty sure the '3B was $190. So the built ATS3B on eBay was $127 over the kit price. Considering it probably took 6+ hours to build, that's 20/hr for labor - intense and tediou slabor, given the size of the parts. Plus, it's in a case?

    $317 for a 5-watt, 4-band rig that fits in a shirt pocket - all built, aligned and housed - sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

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  2. Yes, the 3B was $190.

    The other thing is that some folks just can't build (although I think the SMT stuff is easier than through hole a lot of the time!) - considering the whole package, $317 seems fair.

    I like eBay as a buyer as well - I've gotten a lot of good deals over the years. You just have to be selective and not get caught up in the frenzy!

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