The delusions of Craigslist sellers (esp. electronics).

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

I know we’ve done this conversation multiple times, but it never ceases to amaze me. What is it about selling second-hand electronic equipment that causes people to vastly (and i mean VASTLY) overestimate its value?

I mean, i recognize that, in economic terms, something is worth as much as some schmuck is willing to pay for it, but surely these sellers aren’t getting buyers at these prices. Are they? If they are, i think i might have to go into the used electronics business.

My 5-year-old desktop computer has served me well, but every component is well beyond its MTBF, the sound card recently died, and the old processor doesn’t quite cut it anymore. I have no urgent need to replace it immediately, but i’m keeping one eye out in case a bargain comes up. I’ve thought about buying the components and building one myself, but if i can get a half-decent put-together box for a reasonable price, i’ll probably go that route instead.

Anyway, i keep an eye on the local Craigslist, just to see what’s on the market. I’m looking for a desktop, because that’s what i prefer, and because i have a little netbook that fills my mobile computing needs.

Tonight i was trawling through the desktop computer entries, and i found one that looks like a possibility:

Dell desktop
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 2.4GHz
2Gb RAM
200Gb HDD
22’’ LCD monitor
$350

That’s all the details given. The HDD is a bit small (but i have plenty of HDD space that i could swap in), and i’d probably whack a couple more Gb of memory in there, and maybe a low-end video card (i’m not a gamer). But for $350 that seems like a pretty decent deal.

The Q6600 is a solid processor that rates about 2900 on CPU Benchmark’s PassMark test. It’s not a screaming, bleeding edge CPU, but i don’t need one. I already have a two monitor set-up, but the 22" LCD would allow me to jettison my 19" CRT. I’m probably not going to buy this particular computer, but $350 seems like a decent price for it.

Then i see this one:

HP desktop
Intel Pentium D940 (3.2 GHz, 4MB, 800MHz FSB)
4Gb RAM
500Gb HDD
256MB DDR ATI Radeon X1300 Pro
No monitor
$990

Sure, there’s a video card, more RAM, and a larger HDD. But are you kidding me with that price?

That is a three-year-old CPU that doesn’t even break 900 on the PassMark benchmarking software. The seller advertises that this computer was put together to serve his/her digital photography needs, which suggests that it’s been running pretty hard for the past 36 months.

Let me repeat that price: $990, for a three-year-old computer. With no monitor. I’ll bet i can log onto the Dell or HP websites and buy a brand spanking new Core 2 Duo, or even Core 2 Quad, with 4-6Gb of memory, a decent video card, and a 750Gb hard drive, with a 22" monitor and Windows 7, for less than two-thirds of that price.

Dude, the fact that you forked over $1,500 (or whatever) for that setup three years ago does not mean that it’s worth a grand today. I realize that getting annoyed with dipshits like this is a rather pointless exercise, but i’m just gobsmacked at the prices some people charge for shitty used electronic goods.

2

In a similar vein, I’ve noticed keyboards, mice, etc. in the knickknacks at Goodwill priced at twice what a new one would cost retail. :eek:

3

I’ve noticed that keyboards cost the same as the cheapest new retail store price. I also see stuff that is unusable any longer and needs to go. Like a serial backup tape device that has a capacity in the MB. You find empty juice bottles you would toss in recycling but because it was hauled to Goodwill it’s on the shelf for a dollar. I have to wonder how many empty bottles you could get them to take before they refuse them deciding you’re giving them all your recyclables.

4

I see it for pets. I saw one ad in which a woman had found a stray dog who was aggressive and had medical problems. But she indicated in the ad that she would be very picky about who she let adopt the dog. It had to be someone with no other pets and who had at lest an acre of land for the dog to run around on.

I’m sure there were tons of people with acres of fenced land who desperately wanted the aggressive sick dog.

5

I’m not surprised in the least. I see it all the time, not just on Craigslist, but even forums like RedFlagDeals. Much of the time I find pretty decent deals on some things, but I’ll always run across some clueless sap with some low-end gear he’s selling for more than what he paid for it five years ago and isn’t worth a tenth of that now. It’s a lot like seeing for sale flyers posted on community bulletin boards, especially in apartment buildings. I can never decide if they themselves are utterly clueless or they’re hoping prospective buyers are. Unfortunately I know a lot of people in my area are clueless.

When I was doing in-home PC repair for a business I started up years ago to try and make some extra money, there was one guy I got into a discussion with who very literally didn’t have the first clue about anything to do with his computer other than to turn it on and load a few basic programs. He had no clue what the concept of RAM was, hard disk drives, or anything. His knowledge terminated at the end of his keyboard cord. He’d see me around occasionally and tell me about something he’d found on the internet and ask, “…is this a good deal?” These are the marks that get exploited.

6

Out of curiosity (and completeness), I punched that configuration in to Dell (6 GB, Core 2 Quad), and the price came out to $998.

You owe me Z$350 trillion.

7

I’m not interested in the 99 people that know what it’s worth. I’m just waiting on the call from the one that doesn’t.

That was the essense of the response I got from a seller on eBay once when I asked about something they were selling for more than it would cost at WalMart.

8

Oh, I can beat that. There’s a junk yard auction sale near here and one of the stalls had used computer equipment, so I went over to take a look. The first thing I saw was a 2GB hard drive for $30! Wow, two whoppin’ gigs of memory space! I could have bought four of 'em, duct taped them together, and come up with the world’s most useless data stick!

9

Even the first computer doesn’t seem like a good deal, thats about what you’d pay for a brand new dell.

10

People also get emotionally attached to things and don’t want to sell them for less than what they percieve their worth to be due to that emotional connection. It becomes, “Oh, I love my digital camera! I took so many pictures of my daughter/my cat/my lover/my penis with this camera! I’m sure whoever buys it will love it just as much as I do! That is surely worth $100 for a 4 year old digital camera with a crack in the screen!”

11

MTBF???

12

Not sure if you’re having fun, or serious. Also not sure if Dell links are permanent, but i found this system:

Core 2 Quad Q8300
6Gb RAM
640Gb HDD
20" HD monitor

$699

I could add an ATI Radeon HD 4350 512MB for $60 at Dell, or probably get one cheaper from NewEgg and install it myself.

OK, so it’s more like three-quarters of that guy’s price, rather two-thirds. Still, it shows how ridiculous his price is, if that wasn’t already obvious.

13

Mean Time Before Failure.

It’s a figure that gives you some idea of how long a piece of computer hardware might last before it dies. Obviously, because it’s an average, it should only ever be used as a general guide, and hardware will often fizzle out before the MTBF. But, once your hardware gets well beyond the MTBF date, the chances of it giving up the ghost at a moment’s notice increase dramatically.

My system is about five and a half years old, and in that time has been powered up a lot, so i won’t be surprised if it dies sometime soon. The most important part, the data storage (i.e., hard drives) are newer, because i swapped in bigger drives, and also don’t like taking chances with my data. The crucial data is also backed up on external drives and optical media. If the computer sputters and dies tomorrow, i won’t lose anything important, even if it fries the hard drives that are inside the box.

14

I have a 25 inch CRT Television I’ll sell ya for $ 1 per inch :wink:

15

Not for those sort of specs.

Admittedly, Dell’s deals change daily, but the cheapest desktop on their current deals page is $399, and it’s a dual-core Athlon X2 (nowhere near as powerful as the Intel Q6600; benchmark of 1436 v. 2900) with no monitor.

I really think that probably explains a lot of these sorts of “deals.” It doesn’t matter if 99 people know it’s a rip-off, because you only need one sap to fork over the cash for the whole thing to be worthwhile.

16

About half the time, in fact…

17

That sounds exactly like a person on another local board I follow. She couldn’t understand why nobody was biting on her year old digital camera. Yes, it was broken but surely somebody would be willing to take a chance on it for $90 because she paid $140 for it new?! Amazon had the same model for $75.

18

My favorite are the big old standard definition CRT TVs people think they’re going to get 90% of what they paid five years ago. Here’s a hint: you know how you’re selling it because you just got a great deal on a flat screen HDTV? You’re not the only one. Everyone on earth is dumping their CRTs, it’s not exactly a seller’s market. And even if you were the only one selling, you should probably consider pricing it less than what a similarly sized flat screen would cost. Just a thought.

19

the real question is: why would you want a dell? :dubious:

20

I knew some genius would make this observation. I’m just surprised it took more than three posts to happen. In response:

  1. It’s irrelevant to the topic at hand.

  2. While i am contemplating building my own computer, and i recognize the limitations of computers purchased from Dell in terms of components and upgradeability, the fact is that Dell produce fairly decent computers at pretty low prices that are easy to configure and purchase on the internet.

My current computer is a Dell, and has run virtually flawlessly (except for needing a replacement main fan; $20) for five and a half years. Dell customer service pretty much sucks, but their products are not bad for the price.