Author Topic: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!  (Read 4433 times)

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Offline QuincyJones

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In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« on: Tue, 14 June 2016, 05:50:07 »
If you live in London you may be interested in half a ton of keyboards that's up for sale on the bay. Just the top ones look interesting alone. I'd love to go picking but live too far away. You're bound to get at least a handful of decent things in there.

You're welcome!

« Last Edit: Tue, 14 June 2016, 05:54:51 by QuincyJones »
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Offline Data

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #1 on: Tue, 14 June 2016, 07:19:43 »
Rubber domes...  As far as the eye can see...

« Last Edit: Tue, 14 June 2016, 07:22:33 by Data »

Offline QuincyJones

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #2 on: Tue, 14 June 2016, 07:44:30 »
Rubber domes...  As far as the eye can see...

Show Image


Aye but there must be at least 300 keyboards there. Even selling at £1 a kb that would be a huge profit for very little work - cleaning / plugging in and quick testing.
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Offline fohat.digs

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #3 on: Tue, 14 June 2016, 08:18:30 »

Aye but there must be at least 300 keyboards there. Even selling at £1 a kb that would be a huge profit for very little work - cleaning / plugging in and quick testing.

I don't know how it is in Merry Olde, but around here it would be a lot of work to move a quantity of dirty used keyboards at a dollar each.
"However, even though I was born in the Mesozoic, I do know what anyone who wants to reach out to young people should say: Billionaires took your money. They took your chance to buy a home. They took your chance at a good education. They stole your opportunities. Billionaires took the things you want in life. If you really want those things, you have to take them back.
That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
- Marc Sumner 2025-05-30

Offline chyros

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #4 on: Tue, 14 June 2016, 10:23:15 »

Aye but there must be at least 300 keyboards there. Even selling at £1 a kb that would be a huge profit for very little work - cleaning / plugging in and quick testing.

I don't know how it is in Merry Olde, but around here it would be a lot of work to move a quantity of dirty used keyboards at a dollar each.
The recyclers I visit can't shift boards like that at any price, they actually cost them money as they have to dispose of them which costs them. Hence why they don't mind parting with them, especially old and heavy ones, to me ^^ .
Check my keyboard video reviews:


Offline rowdy

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #5 on: Sun, 19 June 2016, 00:28:18 »
eBay link please?

Dell, HP and Logitech on the top, who knows what else underneath.
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline jcoffin1981

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #6 on: Sun, 19 June 2016, 03:16:30 »
Who knows if any of them are damaged or if they were chucked for upgrades.  However, if you want to harvest old switches or keycaps you may get lucky.  But you would want to know what you are getting yourself into first.  300 pounds would be a lot for a bunch of crappy Logitechs with spilled soda.
KPB V60 Gateron Browns and Leopold Keycaps.  Poker 3 with Gateron Browns and Poker keycaps.  Poker 3 with Cherry MX Browns, ABS keycaps and white LED's.

Leopold FC660M- my new favorite, right out of the box.

Offline QuincyJones

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #7 on: Sun, 19 June 2016, 06:26:21 »
eBay link please?

ebay.com / ebay.co.uk / ebay.fr / etc
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Offline emdude

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #8 on: Sun, 19 June 2016, 06:28:42 »
I think he means the link to the listing itself. :))
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Offline Magna224

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #9 on: Sun, 19 June 2016, 07:39:11 »
I got a big bulk lot of keyboards once. I bought like 200lb of keyboards from a  recycler and I told them I was interested in old keyboards so they threw in a model M and some dell quiet keys in addition. I got a couple sets of cherry compatible keycaps and that model M but nothing else of value. It was worth the like $15 they charged me and the 30 min drive. They were really cool though and told me any time I could just drop by the shop and go through their stuff and buy it by the lb. The browse around the shop and back I did when I was there I didn't spot anything else so I never went back. I found it odd though looking through a few hundred keyboards and only finding one model M though. I guess the luck just wasn't with me maybe you'll come out with a treasure trove.
If you live in AZ you can try my keyboards. I usually keep plenty of different ALPS and MX and buckling springs.

Offline fohat.digs

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #10 on: Sun, 19 June 2016, 08:18:56 »

I found it odd though looking through a few hundred keyboards and only finding one model M though.


I would say that is about right. Finding 1 good keyboard per hundred is doing OK. If yellowed Dell AT101s or AEKs meet your definition of "good" then maybe you will do a little better.

"However, even though I was born in the Mesozoic, I do know what anyone who wants to reach out to young people should say: Billionaires took your money. They took your chance to buy a home. They took your chance at a good education. They stole your opportunities. Billionaires took the things you want in life. If you really want those things, you have to take them back.
That's the message. That's the whole message. Say that every day, not just to reach America's frustrated young white men, but people of every age, race, and gender.
Late-stage capitalism is a wealth-concentration engine, focused on vacuuming up every dollar and putting it in as few hands as possible. Republicans are helping that vacuum suck.
How does a tiny fraction of the population get away with this? They do it by dividing the other 99% of Americans against themselves."
- Marc Sumner 2025-05-30

Offline Magna224

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #11 on: Sun, 19 June 2016, 08:55:08 »

I would say that is about right. Finding 1 good keyboard per hundred is doing OK. If yellowed Dell AT101s or AEKs meet your definition of "good" then maybe you will do a little better.



Oh those are on my list too! I have quite a few in my closet. The model M was the only interesting thing at all besides keycaps. That's what depressed me the most. Over the years I've probably found over 20 mechanical keyboards one at a time in the wild yard sales/thrift stores so when I finally found a big lot I was beyond excited. Too bad it didn't pan out. If I could buy another ~100 keyboards for $15 I would do it again though as long as there was one confirmed mechanical. My lot was completely blind from a recycler minus those few they threw in one of which was the only keyboard I cared about. That model M I later sold for $15 to a kid to cover my costs plus I got to keep all the keycaps and an adapter so it was just a bit of my time.
If you live in AZ you can try my keyboards. I usually keep plenty of different ALPS and MX and buckling springs.

Offline rowdy

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #12 on: Sun, 19 June 2016, 21:59:04 »

I think he means the link to the listing itself. :))

I think you're right!
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline emdude

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #13 on: Sun, 19 June 2016, 22:02:38 »

I think he means the link to the listing itself. :))

I think you're right!

:rolleyes:
Current drivers: IBM Model M SSK

Offline QuincyJones

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #14 on: Mon, 20 June 2016, 13:10:26 »
I think he means the link to the listing itself. :))

oh... i knew...
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Offline rowdy

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #15 on: Mon, 20 June 2016, 21:50:05 »
Shouldn't this be in great finds?

PS. Still don't have the link.
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline QuincyJones

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #16 on: Tue, 21 June 2016, 06:51:13 »
PS. Still don't have the link.

ebay.co.uk and search. the keywords are obvious!
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Offline spremino

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #17 on: Wed, 22 June 2016, 14:38:19 »
I bought like 200lb of keyboards from a  recycler and I told them I was interested in old keyboards so they threw in a model M and some dell quiet keys in addition.

It seems like they knew which keyboards were worth something, hence it was not by chance that you found nothing of value in those 200lb.
A long space bar... what a waste of space!

Offline ander

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #18 on: Wed, 22 June 2016, 16:52:33 »
If you live in London you may be interested in half a ton of keyboards that's up for sale on the bay...

THANK YOU for forgetting to include a link to this. Sincerely.
We are not chasing wildly after beauty with fear at our backs. – Natalie Goldberg

Offline QuincyJones

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #19 on: Thu, 23 June 2016, 06:02:10 »
If you live in London you may be interested in half a ton of keyboards that's up for sale on the bay...

THANK YOU for forgetting to include a link to this. Sincerely.

You're welcome - it'll give you a chance to use your keyboard to type and search rather than simply clicking a mouse on a link!
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Offline rowdy

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #20 on: Thu, 23 June 2016, 21:53:24 »
PS. Still don't have the link.

ebay.co.uk and search. the keywords are obvious!

140580-0

:(
"Because keyboards are accessories to PC makers, they focus on minimizing the manufacturing costs. But that’s incorrect. It’s in HHKB’s slogan, but when America’s cowboys were in the middle of a trip and their horse died, they would leave the horse there. But even if they were in the middle of a desert, they would take their saddle with them. The horse was a consumable good, but the saddle was an interface that their bodies had gotten used to. In the same vein, PCs are consumable goods, while keyboards are important interfaces." - Eiiti Wada

NEC APC-H4100E | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED red | Ducky DK9008 Shine MX blue LED green | Link 900243-08 | CM QFR MX black | KeyCool 87 white MX reds | HHKB 2 Pro | Model M 02-Mar-1993 | Model M 29-Nov-1995 | CM Trigger (broken) | CM QFS MX green | Ducky DK9087 Shine 3 TKL Yellow Edition MX black | Lexmark SSK 21-Apr-1994 | IBM SSK 13-Oct-1987 | CODE TKL MX clear | Model M 122 01-Jun-1988

Ị̸͚̯̲́ͤ̃͑̇̑ͯ̊̂͟ͅs̞͚̩͉̝̪̲͗͊ͪ̽̚̚ ̭̦͖͕̑́͌ͬͩ͟t̷̻͔̙̑͟h̹̠̼͋ͤ͋i̤̜̣̦̱̫͈͔̞ͭ͑ͥ̌̔s̬͔͎̍̈ͥͫ̐̾ͣ̔̇͘ͅ ̩̘̼͆̐̕e̞̰͓̲̺̎͐̏ͬ̓̅̾͠͝ͅv̶̰͕̱̞̥̍ͣ̄̕e͕͙͖̬̜͓͎̤̊ͭ͐͝ṇ̰͎̱̤̟̭ͫ͌̌͢͠ͅ ̳̥̦ͮ̐ͤ̎̊ͣ͡͡n̤̜̙̺̪̒͜e̶̻̦̿ͮ̂̀c̝̘̝͖̠̖͐ͨͪ̈̐͌ͩ̀e̷̥͇̋ͦs̢̡̤ͤͤͯ͜s͈̠̉̑͘a̱͕̗͖̳̥̺ͬͦͧ͆̌̑͡r̶̟̖̈͘ỷ̮̦̩͙͔ͫ̾ͬ̔ͬͮ̌?̵̘͇͔͙ͥͪ͞ͅ

Offline emdude

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #21 on: Thu, 23 June 2016, 22:11:03 »
In reality there is no lot of keyboards, and he got you to waste a couple minutes of your life looking for nonexistent rubber domes.
Current drivers: IBM Model M SSK

Offline QuincyJones

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #22 on: Fri, 24 June 2016, 12:07:09 »
ohh... this is the metric ton(ne).

and do young people really give up this easiy nowadays and lack the ability to think laterally? no wonder mp's are resigning everywhere now.
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Offline TopreFan333

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #23 on: Fri, 24 June 2016, 13:48:58 »
I thought this was going to be a thread about using dollars to go shopping in London now that the pound is dropping like a stone.

Offline zcmy

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Re: In London? Go get half a ton of keyboards!
« Reply #24 on: Sun, 26 June 2016, 02:20:03 »
I thought this was going to be a thread about using dollars to go shopping in London now that the pound is dropping like a stone.

Well, the Pounds taking a pounding. Might be cheaper to ship these out of the country to recycle now that it's dropped.