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geekhack Marketplace => Great Finds => Topic started by: jacobolus on Tue, 14 January 2014, 04:00:40

Title: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: jacobolus on Tue, 14 January 2014, 04:00:40
http://www.ebay.com/itm/251422059541
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: kishy on Tue, 14 January 2014, 07:35:51
That is not just a "3270", that is a "3270 AT" and is quite uncommon among old IBM computers. I sincerely hope that nobody trashes the computer just to get the keyboard.

If anyone gets this, please contact me about the computer. I am well aware of how much it would cost to ship but I'd love to have it if it can be had cheaply (and I have a US address at my disposal to make shipping a bit easier on the sender).
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: Wildcard on Fri, 17 January 2014, 08:55:11
So sad. Kishy if I was on the east coast I would have snagged this one for you.

Also if you ever need more Dolch parts I have 4 more units sitting in my office.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: E TwentyNine on Fri, 17 January 2014, 11:40:48
Auction ended early.  For all we know kishy found a way to snag it outside of ebay.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: kishy on Fri, 17 January 2014, 11:54:09
No, I'm afraid to say I did not...

I believe, looking at how it went, that it was ended early to prevent it going for starting bid when he realized it wasn't a hot item with lots of attention (note the Buy It Now was 500 bucks...).

I can only hope that someone DID make an out-of-ebay arrangement and will pop up in here but I'm guessing not. Quick searching does not find it on craigslist so I don't know.

I doubt it's worth it for me to approach the seller directly; since the asking price was so high I don't think I could swing the computer alone for as cheap as I'd like. My offer to buy the machine off whoever bought it "for the keyboard" is intended just to save it from being scrapped, take some pics and write a page on my website, then find a new good home for it afterwards.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: 127001 on Fri, 17 January 2014, 12:21:41
I contacted the seller asking if he'd be willing to split up the auction. He said he wanted it to stay complete and that he cancelled the auction because he wasn't comfortable with it only going for $77.

I'd personally just stay away from this guy.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: berserkfan on Fri, 17 January 2014, 12:42:38
I contacted the seller asking if he'd be willing to split up the auction. He said he wanted it to stay complete and that he cancelled the auction because he wasn't comfortable with it only going for $77.

I'd personally just stay away from this guy.

There's nothing to it. Just look at his feedback. 1. He's a noob.

Noob sellers always have their set of problems. EG they don't really know what they want or the value of what they have.

Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: fohat.digs on Fri, 17 January 2014, 12:54:26

Noob sellers always have their set of problems. EG they don't really know what they want or the value of what they have.


I don't know. When I started out on ebay I sold quite a few nice items for far too cheap until I learned my way around.

After accumulating a good base, I eventually started 2 additional ebay accounts. The idea was to use them for different things, and also so that if something happened such as a record buyer flaming me because of an argument about grading, etc, I would have a fallback. What really started this plan was trouble with international buyers and my realization that I might get trashed over something that was completely out of my control.

At this point, I have almost exactly 1000 feedback responses split between the 3 accounts (~600 ~250 ~150) with 100% positive on all. So perhaps it was a waste to divide my "reputation" rather than enlarge it. But once you get past about 50-100 total and maintain 100% + most people see you as solidly established, so I continue to use each of them without problem.

An honest seller with single-digit feedback and a goofy item description might well be a place to nab a bargain.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: E TwentyNine on Fri, 17 January 2014, 13:41:38
I contacted the seller asking if he'd be willing to split up the auction. He said he wanted it to stay complete and that he cancelled the auction because he wasn't comfortable with it only going for $77.

I'd personally just stay away from this guy.

Check the bid history on the item:

http://offer.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewBids&_trksid=p2047675.l2565&rt=nc&item=251422059541

If he said it was only going for $77, that means he was the shill bidder bidding it up to $199 before all the bids were cancelled.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: kishy on Fri, 17 January 2014, 14:46:16
I have spoken with the seller now (sent message before the posts further up). Indeed, it wasn't pulling in the kind of interest he was looking for.

Hopefully we won't see this in an e-waste pile in China on taobao next year. The keyboard is replaceable, there are tons of them out there (not to say I want it to be scrapped), but the computer, particularly with the combination of hardware it has inside to be a 3270 AT, is not easy to come by at all.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: ZeDestructor on Fri, 17 January 2014, 17:57:15
I have spoken with the seller now (sent message before the posts further up). Indeed, it wasn't pulling in the kind of interest he was looking for.

Hopefully we won't see this in an e-waste pile in China on taobao next year. The keyboard is replaceable, there are tons of them out there (not to say I want it to be scrapped), but the computer, particularly with the combination of hardware it has inside to be a 3270 AT, is not easy to come by at all.

I sent the guy a PM (after it got delisted) to see if he was hold on to it for a while, so I could later have the stuff shipped (when some friends of a friend get back in NY). I'm still waiting for a response.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: dgreekstallion on Tue, 21 January 2014, 09:50:23
I also sent a message. Looks like I am in line lol.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: ZeDestructor on Wed, 22 January 2014, 21:58:47
I also sent a message. Looks like I am in line lol.

The seller wants $400 minimum for it, and is unwilling to split it. My search for a 122-key, unmodified Model F continues...
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: E TwentyNine on Wed, 22 January 2014, 22:36:52
Well....when you get at least three different people sending you messages for an item you delisted, you might think you're sitting on gold even when you're not...
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: ZeDestructor on Thu, 23 January 2014, 07:24:14
Well....when you get at least three different people sending you messages for an item you delisted, you might think you're sitting on gold even when you're not...

I know I'm not paying more than 150 for a 122-key F. I also require it to be unmodified (original hardware must remain in original state IMO)
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: jdcarpe on Thu, 23 January 2014, 08:56:01
So if you split it with kishy, I wonder if he would pay $250 for the 3270 AT...
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: ZeDestructor on Thu, 23 January 2014, 09:47:53
So if you split it with kishy, I wonder if he would pay $250 for the 3270 AT...

I wonder indeed.....
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: kishy on Thu, 23 January 2014, 11:13:50
No. $75 tops plus shipping. I don't want the computer, I want to prevent it being scrapped by people who are plundering it of its keyboard...
That $75 is to compensate for properly packing it, handling it carefully, including the keyboard ISA card's cable/dongle, and the effort required to get it to the post office/courier/whatever. Shipping, as in "plus shipping", is the actual cost you pay the post office/courier/etc to transport it to my friend's place in Michigan.

So if you buy this whole thing and decide to scrap the computer, you can extract some money out of me in exchange for sending it to me, and I will clean it up, take some photos, if the hard drive works pull a copy of all that's on it, and then flip it for a very slight profit to someone who wants to give it a good home (plus write a page and take a bunch of pics).

Note that the adapter cable for the keyboard (DE9 to AT male and terminal DIN female connectors) must go along with the computer; it's no good without the ISA card anyway.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: Puddsy on Thu, 23 January 2014, 16:08:43
If I had seen this, I'd have grabbed it.
Title: Re: IBM 3270 with 122-key Model F for local pickup in Brooklyn, currently $1
Post by: dgreekstallion on Fri, 31 January 2014, 11:04:16
I'm still communicating with the guy.