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Author Topic: Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller  (Read 1387 times)

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Offline berserkfan

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Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller
« on: Sun, 05 January 2014, 06:17:38 »
http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-5155-Portable-PC-Vintage-Unit-Only-AS-IS-2-/201013746153?pt=US_Vintage_Computers_Mainframes&hash=item2ecd5a59e9

http://www.ebay.com/itm/IBM-5155-Portable-PC-Vintage-Unit-Only-AS-IS-1-/390738547441?pt=US_Vintage_Computers_Mainframes&hash=item5af9d512f1

These are the portable versions of F XT with aluminium backplate. I have one, and there are adapters and converters for it as well on geekhack.

You should contact seller first, because his shipping is the main issue. The keyboard itself should not be expensive. SB $9.99 and most people will be scared off by the high shipping.
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Offline vivalarevolución

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Re: Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller
« Reply #1 on: Sun, 05 January 2014, 08:31:19 »
The seller is looking to offload the complete unit, so that accounts for the ridiculous shipping price.  From the seller's perspective, I imagine selling the items separately would hurt the resale value.
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Offline E TwentyNine

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Re: Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller
« Reply #2 on: Sun, 05 January 2014, 09:35:40 »
Nothing accounts for that ridiculous shipping price.

That "100% of the final sale price will support Goodwill Industries of Central Texas"  and yet he's looking to sell it cheap with high shipping kinda pisses me off, as I'm guessing that "sale price" doesn't include shipping.  Anyone can attach a charity to their listings.
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Offline mr_a500

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Re: Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller
« Reply #3 on: Sun, 05 January 2014, 09:41:27 »
Since these are complete units, it would be a shame to split it up to get the keyboard. The PC without the keyboard probably wouldn't sell and end up in the trash somewhere. Of course, people can do what they want, but personally I'd feel guilt for being responsible for trashing a historical computer.

Although I did buy a couple of 5155 keyboards without the computer (and they're great keyboards!), both times the seller didn't have the whole unit so I wasn't the cause of the split up. I do also have a complete 5155.

Whoa! I didn't see the shipping cost (doesn't ship to Canada). $96 is huge for US shipping. Triple that and you'd be getting near Canadian shipping price.
« Last Edit: Sun, 05 January 2014, 09:44:00 by mr_a500 »
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Offline vivalarevolución

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Re: Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller
« Reply #4 on: Sun, 05 January 2014, 09:43:13 »
Quote from: E TwentyNine on Sun, 05 January 2014, 09:35:40
Nothing accounts for that ridiculous shipping price.

That "100% of the final sale price will support Goodwill Industries of Central Texas"  and yet he's looking to sell it cheap with high shipping kinda pisses me off, as I'm guessing that "sale price" doesn't include shipping.  Anyone can attach a charity to their listings.

Oops did not read through the whole thread.
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Offline Hak Foo

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Re: Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller
« Reply #5 on: Sun, 05 January 2014, 11:33:49 »
Also, from what I understand, the 5155 case will take a standard Baby AT-style motherboard, so even if you don't want to preserve it, or it's DOA, you could do some fairly awesome stuff with it-- put in a much more modern but still retro set of kit.
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Offline E TwentyNine

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Re: Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 05 January 2014, 11:55:06 »
By the way, I reported both listings to ebay for exorbitant shipping fees. (Listing practices->Other->Shipping fees.)

Doubt it does much if anything, but the fact that he tacked on a charity while trying to hide the value of the item in the shipping fees pissed me off enough to report it.
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Offline berserkfan

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Re: Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 05 January 2014, 13:05:24 »
Quote from: E TwentyNine on Sun, 05 January 2014, 11:55:06
By the way, I reported both listings to ebay for exorbitant shipping fees. (Listing practices->Other->Shipping fees.)

Doubt it does much if anything, but the fact that he tacked on a charity while trying to hide the value of the item in the shipping fees pissed me off enough to report it.

Chances of ebay doing anything about it are about equal to my chances of stumbling on a BIN at $25 for an SSK.

Ebay now charges its fees based on final total price. So they don't care what the shipping is. They have no incentive to do anything.

Besides, seller may genuinely not have calculated shipping properly. Or else he wanted to play safe, and put in a very high shipping weight into the calculator.

That's why I named the title 'contact the seller'. If he insists on charging lots of 'shipping' even if he's only selling the keyboard, then you can conclude he's hiding item value inside the shipping.
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 05 January 2014, 13:31:28 »
Ebay changed its policy to charge fees on shipping some time ago, because it knew that some people would always try to pad shipping.

Heavy items are rapidly becoming prohibitively expensive for ordinary citizens to ship. If the price is high enough to absorb shipping, no problem. But you can't start an item at a low price with a too-low shipping fee, or you will get hurt someday.

Realistically, that "portable" computer (ha ha) which is actually very cool, will cost $25-30 via Parcel Post to a nearby state, $30-35 to a more distant state, and slightly more than that via UPS or FedEx.

If I were selling it I would charge about $40+ for shipping and that would not be a profit point.

Still, <$100 delivered for a piece of history like that is not bad at all.
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Offline dorkvader

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Re: Two Model F keyboards; contact the seller
« Reply #9 on: Mon, 06 January 2014, 01:48:08 »
Good deal for a GH'er in Austin to just pick one (or both) of them up at the goodwill there.
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