Stuff

[Rinkie & Ron Pollack]

Might as well add my 2 cents worth.

First of all, in response to the original "what should I do?" question, the
(reluctant!) seller needs to prioritize:  Maximum return, or least effort,
or somewhere in between.

In defense of the prospective buyer who offered $1000:  It seems that what
it was worth to him!  If he wanted it for more than that, he would have
counter offered a higher bid.

I do buy estates when I can, and there is an enormous amount of work
involved in sorting, cleaning, transporting and shipping items. I don't
approach SK families, but wait for them to approach me. Most people want you
to "take everything or nothing," and there is often expense involved in even
disposing of junk properly.

As far as Ebay prices are concerned, again, anything is worth what a buyer
is willing to pay.  I suspect that this seller, who has lots of homebrew
stuff from the 30s, will find that it does not have much monetary value, but
some collector may prize it.

I recently went to bid on an estate with lots of home brew accessories and
test equipment and a few interesting items.  The most interesting was a
National HRO 50.  It was scratched, missing tubes, and the matching speaker
was painted yellow (possibly with a broom!).  The widow had been told of an
Ebay value for a completely restored unit, so did not accept my offer.  The
ham who had told her of the "value" said he would take everything to a swap
meet for her.  I don't know if he ever did, but I cautioned her that if
that, and one or 2 other interesting pieces, were sold, that the remainder
would have no interest to me at any price.

So, there are several ways to look at anything.  If the seller wants to
maximize the dollars, by all means Ebay will do it.  You will have to deal
with the bidders, the packing, shipping, fees etc.  And, you'll be left with
the items that have no interest, and may not have any way to dispose of them
except giving or throwing away.

If you just want to "clear it out," I guess I'd get in touch with a few
collectors (they're all over!) and ask for bids.  Perhaps a few collectors
with different interests would share.

Final note:  As I've mentioned here before, my modest collection is a small
fraction of what my estate will be, and whether my family realizes a few
bucks more or less from its disposition will probably make no difference to
anyone in the long run.

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