# I found a new career: Overpricing stuff on eBay **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 21, 2018, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874 "2018-04-21T22:05:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874/21 "2018-04-24T02:21:59Z")
Actually, prices for the old computer junk I have laying around has gone WAY up so I probably should just list that. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874/22 "2018-04-24T02:53:55Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > A surprising amount of these things are purchased by set designers, who want EVERYTHING, including the digital cameras, appropriate for the date in which the movie or play is supposed to occur. I once sold an Apple 1200 baud modem to the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. I asked them what possible use they could have for such an ancient piece of equipment, and they said that they had an experiment running with the same modem, and the wanted to have a backup in case of failure, and didn’t want to risk some software incompatibility with a different device. I also sold my Parametric Equalizer to Ray Kimber. I said are you the “Kimber” of Kimber Kable, and he said “yes." ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874/23 "2018-04-24T03:31:22Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > Won’t work. eBay has a 100% money back guaranty. So does PayPal. Your business plan fails miserably. Okay, I’ll _imply_ it’s specifically for an iPad. The brand will be the one on the package from Walmart. I’ll buy another 3-pack to get the name and I’ll transfer the stylus directly into the envelope so I can honestly claim it’s new. Not significantly sleazier than the ad in the OP where the seller is listing at more than 1.5 times what the maker charges and insane shipping ($69.85 to the UK!). ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874/24 "2018-04-24T03:38:26Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I also sold my Parametric Equalizer to Ray Kimber. I said are you the “Kimber” of Kimber Kable, and he said “yes." I used a lot of sucker cable at another job, but my conscience won’t let me get into that racket on my own. FTR, my customers believed all the horseshit claims so we provided a brand name, but mostly the low end stuff because cable is cable. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874/25 "2018-04-24T14:02:29Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > You’re right about iPhone users. I cannot tell you how many brand name chargers I bought before I convinced my daughter she could do alright with the cheapies. […] Do beware of cheapie chargers. The specs for USB (I don’t know about Apple) are more complicated than the casual observer might guess, and cheap chargers won’t comply. Even cheap cables can cause problems. It’s different than the old days when a wire was just a wire. A Google engineer has famously reviewed USB-C cables, and in one case a cheapie cable [fried his equipment](https://www.engadget.com/2016/02/03/benson-leung-chromebook-pixel-usb-type-c-test/). I have no doubt the same kinds of issues could occur with third-party chargers for Apple devices. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874/26 "2018-04-24T18:22:23Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > and (4) comically outrageous prices like the $2000 book, that no sane person would pay. > > I attribute (3) to an attempt at a cash grab from the careless and gullible. (4) I simply cannot explain. #4 is simple, most of the time it is due to a book having _some_ sort of collector value, and two sellers both using a program that will set their price as the highest. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874/27 "2018-04-24T20:54:26Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I once sold an Apple 1200 baud modem to the Keck Observatory in Hawaii. > > I asked them what possible use they could have for such an ancient piece of equipment, and they said that they had an experiment running with the same modem, and the wanted to have a backup in case of failure, and didn’t want to risk some software incompatibility with a different device. > > I also sold my Parametric Equalizer to Ray Kimber. I said are you the “Kimber” of Kimber Kable, and he said “yes." My “claim to fame” in this department was selling an old Russian folk tale book to Pixar Studios, and a book that was purchased by its own author. I won’t say what the latter item was because this was a nonfiction book that was a decent best-seller that came out around 2000 and is still in print; my guess is that for whatever reason, she wanted a like-new copy and didn’t want to pay $35 for it, so she hopped over to my board and paid $15. As for the book that went to Pixar, if they come out with a movie called “Ilenka” in the years to come, I had a part in it. 🆒 As for obsolete computer equipment, I found this totally cool video last night. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/kQcClC1KP-o/maxresdefault.jpg "Real-time audio spectrum analyzer from 1981") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQcClC1KP-o) ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2018, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874/28 "2018-04-24T21:36:40Z")
Hey! I used to know the guy who wrote that software. Steve Bjork wrote a lot of stuff for the CoCo. He also wrote the licensed port of [Zaxxon](https://youtu.be/XkiF-oMBTTc). Fun with [artifact colors!](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Composite_artifact_colors) ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2018, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874/29 "2018-04-25T01:20:25Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > (4) I simply cannot explain. (3) and (4) seem to always be from third-party sellers. People used to use automatic pricing mechanisms, that would price their item above what they could buy it for. Either so they wouldn’t get orders for items they didn’t have in stock, or so they could buy it if they made a sale (don’t remember which). Back in the day, these automatic pricing mechanism would sometimes bid each other up to insane amounts if there was no real item underlying several sellers. That’s been fixed now: people don’t do that anymore. Perhaps they only float up to a limit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-found-a-new-career-overpricing-stuff-on-ebay/812874.md?page=1)