Books & publications etc.

[J. Douglas Hensley]

I wouldn't mind hearing how people feel about the growing tendency
of hams to refuse to give details or information about their equipment
being offered for sale.  This week, for instance, I responded twice to
a boy who was asking $1100 for a transmitter.  All he would say about
it is that he had it and that's what he wanted for it.  You would think
the
dimwit could figure out that people need to know what they are buying.

2nd example, after advertising for information on the Collins reflector,
one of self-proclaimed leaders responded to let me know he had just
such information.  Affter severa; emails which included a request to
join same in order to gain access, he refused to respond or say anything.

Perhaps this is part of the decaying process that incentive licensing
started long ago or perhaps this is because so many people have
joined the ranks that the market place is now truly a street level affair
prominated by not only a few good sellers but bimbo's and heretics
as well.

73 and sorry if this bends your ear the wrong way,

Doug

On Wed, 1 Mar 2000 20:21:00 -1000 Jeffrey Herman <jeffreyh at HAWAII.EDU>
writes:
> On Wed, 1 Mar 2000, Warren D. Anderson wrote:
>
> > Everybody is quite aware of the high selling prices on eBay
>
> Yet we hear of gear going for incredibly low prices, too.
>
> > is why I chose to use those prices to illustrate how ludicrous the
> > seller's asking price is.
>
> I've never run across anyone who wasn't willing to bargain; a
> prospective buyer is free to make a counter-offer. What we don't
> need is a price-cop making a commentary on each and every ASKING
> price he sees on here. (And just about every price is an *asking*
> price; I did not see "firm" accompany Brian's price.) If you feel
> Brian (or anyone else) is asking too much, a nicely worded PRIVATE
> email would go a lot further than committing defamation of character
> in a public forum.
>
> > Citing a freebie is hardly germane; there are lots of no-bids on
> > eBay and there are many more "not interesteds" on the private
> side.
> > I have never been comfortable with taking free radios.  I prefer
> to
> > trot out Osterman's latest book and show his estimation and then
> tack
> > on some more for market inflation.  Its called integrity.
>
> I prefer to give away a radio and accept nothing in return. I
> recently
> gave a way a Globe Scout xmtr. Someone else gave me a DX-60.
>
> > Except for "preying on newbies," which is an opinion,
>
> "Newbies," too, are capable of making counter-offers. As consumers,
> they have gained a lifetime of experience in shopping around, doing
> their homework in researching the value of an item prior to
> purchase,
> whether it be a car, washer, refrigerator, furniture, computer.
> Some-
> one interested in buying BA gear wasn't born yesterday in regard to
> radio equipment; usually a BA'er has been licensed for quite
> sometime.
> They might have entered the hobby in the solid state era (and thus,
> have experience shopping for a bargain), or were licensed as a young
> pup and want to rebuild the station they had decades ago -- those in
> that category surely know the range of values of a rig.
>
> > If the seller believed in his prices,
> > he has the ability to put pictures on eBay and find out what the
> > market value really is.
>
> Again, eBay is far from being the "blue book" of BA gear.
>
> Always keep a copy of the "Associated Press Stylebook and Libel
> Manual"
> next to your keyboard so you'll know just how far you can go in
> regard
> to public name-calling without getting yourself in trouble. You
> really
> do owe Brian an apology.
>
> (My apologies to the rest of the list; this topic has created over
> 2,000 mailings listwide [433 mailings per post]. This will be my
> final comment in this matter. Please, no more price cops!!)
>
> Jeff KH6O