Explain this electronics web site to me.

General Questions
#1

I have a side job answering questions about televisions and home theater. During my reseach, I often come across web sites like this one that offer old outdated televisions as new for outrageous prices:

http://www.bestvalue4u.com/site/658787/product/MITSUBISHI%20-%20VS50111

Now, that TV was a 1998-99 model and is worth about umm…nothing. Yet the website lists it for sale for $1800. Does anyone actually buy these things?

Mitsubishi haven’t made this model for years. How do they have a new one? Or is it a scam?

#2

I think it’s simply a website that hasn’t been updated in years. Note the link on the bottom to translate the site using “Altavista Babel Fish,” which is a site that doesn’t exist anymore.

#3

Ow. That flood of text made my brain hurt. Must… insert… paragraph breaks!

#4

The Internet Archive’s oldest copy dates from May 2, 2005 with the most recent from 2008. The old copy looks the same as the current one. Who knows how long that web page sat there before it was spidered. It is definitely a stale page.

#5

I hate the various Internet yellow pages for this. I was trying to find a shop the other day, and 3/4 of the ones listed have gone out of business.