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For those of you using a typical search on ebay such as "IBM Model M Keyboard" here are a few alternatives that might get you a steal, depending on your patience and competition:
Search in title & description for: +keyboard +"model m"
This gives you results of Lexmark and Unicomp Model Ms, as well as sometimes finding something titled "old keyboard" which is described more thoroughly in the auction a Model M.
My most recent find with this search was an
'86 1390120 that I nabbed for $15 shipped while on vacation via
sniping, and
this '95 Lexmark w/trackball for $11.50.
Search in titles for: "IBM Keyboard" or if you're crazy, try the descriptions and remove the quotes. You may wish to add things like -thinkpad -lenovo -laptop etc to slim down your results. Additionally slim them down with a price limit, such as $1-20.
Believe it or not, I've found a lot of gems with this search, such as:
this "IBM Keyboard", a NIB '95 for something crazy like $19 shipped, a
"vintage, clicky style keyboard," and this
"Old IBM Keyboard."Another idea which I had some luck with was setting saved searchs for specific auction such as:
1390120, or +keyboard +"Model F" - in the title and description, with a price limit, and then have the search emailed to you with updates. Early on I got a very nice price on a poorly titled 1390120 this way.
Want Benjamin Franklin's advice?:
If you are only looking for one Model M; just buy a nice one, or splurge and buy one NIB. Think of the dollar per hour for one nice keyboard and they're practically free. In another thread, I suggested emailing sellers and asking for actual shipping if there is something nice with a ridiculous fee. You must respect the seller and do this before the auction is over of course. The best single piece of advice that I could think of is to use patience; better deals come up every day. Combine that with
never early bidding (snipe instead), and you'll save money. I also found a
1390131 in the classifieds section here at GH, and the seller threw in an AT Model F for $5 more; can't beat that.
Any other ideas? What does everyone else do to find the elusive "Old Keyboard" deals?
