IBMFan wrote on 2023-02-13, 09:58:

feipoa wrote on 2023-02-13, 09:14:

I suggest not making public light of similar listings until they are sold. Doing so ahead of the sale benefits the seller and encourages others to do the same. Before long, members will be asking their pals to casually mention [on the forums] a rare item they have for sale on eBay.

I don't see a problem with this if a buyer has the money to pay for it. That's the whole point of bidding, if you want the item more you are going to put in a higher bid. If you don't have the means then you are out. Of course it's bad for lowballers but good for people looking for specific items.

The issue is that this caused some eh...problems before. A couple times even iirc. We had a lot of drama over it, even though it started out fairly decent.

Tetrium wrote on 2023-02-13, 10:05:

The issue is that this caused some eh...problems before. A couple times even iirc. We had a lot of drama over it, even though it started out fairly decent.

Without knowing exactly what happened I can't really decide if this is a "real" problem or just the fact that it cuts into someone else's business interests.
I understand that more potential buyers = more competition but I also know that big time resellers and people who spend half their lives on Ebay have every significant keyword set on their watchlist. They don't need to look at a Vogons thread to find good deals.
And there are people like me who are just interested in these rare item auctions and how they go.
It's also funny to expect that a huge bomb like a working V56k appearing on Ebay could ever go unnoticed on retro threads. Hell, even the news were filled with it the moment it all started. 😁

In the past, when there was a little leeway for pointing out interesting eBay listings that were not your own, it became a bonanza, was abused, and a moderators nightmare.

No advertising, for yourself or others, has been a forum rule for quite some time now. Of course, you are feel free to advertise on other forums which support this interest. The intent of this thread is to track the market value of sold items.

Affiliate link spammers ruined it iirc. Years ago, one of the most popular threads on vogons was (the now) 'infamous' ebay thread... got out of control... for obvious reasons...

Shame the thread was nuked from history, would have been interesting to see "then and now" pricing, I expect some people would be crying to see the prices some of the things went for even 5 years ago... go back 10/20 years and they would be crying even more...

spiroyster wrote on 2023-02-13, 10:46:

Affiliate link spammers ruined it iirc. Years ago, one of the most popular threads on vogons was (the now) 'infamous' ebay thread... got out of control... for obvious reasons...

Shame the thread was nuked from history, would have been interesting to see "then and now" pricing, I expect some people would be crying to see the prices some of the things went for even 5 years ago... go back 10/20 years and they would be crying even more...

It was considered junk. And I mean literal junk as in something with absolutely no value (or scrap value at best). A few people even wanted to pay me for helping me get rid of their 386.

It's not like these days where 'trash' and 'junk' have become more synonymous to something that isn't top dog.
When concerning prices, things are also different nowdays as hardware that is 10 years old is still somewhat useable. heck, my Phenom 2 lasted me 10 years and while it felt sluggish, I could still at least run nearly every program I threw at it. My Deschutes 350MHz however aged way faster, so it was literally more use-less when wanting to run modern software on it.

I remember Philscomputerlabs explained it very well, there's always a curve where something dips to its lowest point, after which prices will start rising again and this phenomenon is also not new.

Yes, that thraed was indeed interesting. And it would have indeed been interesting being able to read it now. But I think it's for the better overall. A few people got so mad about their affiliate links being nerfed they started to ehh....link to certain ... images and other things that were really on the dark side (and had nothing to do with retro computing). They were doing it out of spite.

And also it seemed to attract the wrong kind of people to the forums, at some point I have gotten tired of all the 2 post accounts sending me unsolicited WTB requests for hard to come by items I had written about (or not even that) and it was getting annoying. I bet most were just trying to scam me, offering me a 'fair price' trying to make me feel emphatic about how sorry they were or something instead of someone asking me in private about drivers or just generic info requests which I find much more enjoyable.

It's not even about the tread or the subject for me personally but about all the trash that came with it (and trash here I don't mean literally 😜 ).

feipoa wrote on 2023-02-13, 09:14:

That 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 sold for $15,000 USD. https://www.ebay.com/itm/325521605074 […]
Show full quote

That 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 sold for $15,000 USD.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325521605074

I remember many years ago there was some controversy about these cards, something to the effect of one individual trying to buy them all up for around $5000-6000 each, then inadvertently destroying them due to insufficient technical repair skills. I think that was 8-ish years ago. This is all I remember. Looks like some survived. Anyone know how many of the 6000's are still in working order?

3-fold price increase in 8-ish years.
3dfx_Voodoo5_6000.png

I suggest not making public light of similar listings until they are sold. Doing so ahead of the sale benefits the seller and encourages others to do the same. Before long, members will be asking their pals to casually mention [on the forums] a rare item they have for sale on eBay.

i find this (pc/console tech) to be one of the strangest high value collecting scenes

i know we can apply the usual cliches of each to their own and if they have the money its up to them etc - but this seems strange to the point of seeming wrong / out of place, maybe suspect

how much money would you need spare to think it ok to spend $15k on this, even if i had millions it just wouldn't strike me as worth it - nor would most other pc/console rares like stadium events nes cartridges etc

yet if someone else buys it for £30k years from now it will have proved an investment!

gerry wrote on 2023-02-13, 12:29:

i find this (pc/console tech) to be one of the strangest high value collecting scenes […]
Show full quote

feipoa wrote on 2023-02-13, 09:14:

That 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 sold for $15,000 USD. https://www.ebay.com/itm/325521605074 […]
Show full quote

That 3dfx Voodoo5 6000 sold for $15,000 USD.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/325521605074

I remember many years ago there was some controversy about these cards, something to the effect of one individual trying to buy them all up for around $5000-6000 each, then inadvertently destroying them due to insufficient technical repair skills. I think that was 8-ish years ago. This is all I remember. Looks like some survived. Anyone know how many of the 6000's are still in working order?

3-fold price increase in 8-ish years.
3dfx_Voodoo5_6000.png

I suggest not making public light of similar listings until they are sold. Doing so ahead of the sale benefits the seller and encourages others to do the same. Before long, members will be asking their pals to casually mention [on the forums] a rare item they have for sale on eBay.

i find this (pc/console tech) to be one of the strangest high value collecting scenes

i know we can apply the usual cliches of each to their own and if they have the money its up to them etc - but this seems strange to the point of seeming wrong / out of place, maybe suspect

how much money would you need spare to think it ok to spend $15k on this, even if i had millions it just wouldn't strike me as worth it - nor would most other pc/console rares like stadium events nes cartridges etc

yet if someone else buys it for £30k years from now it will have proved an investment!

With prices like these, someone making new 3dfx cards would be an interesting development (I am aware of at least someone making new cards, or at least he did until a certain leader somewhere in the east went hitler mode).

Tetrium wrote on 2023-02-13, 12:38:

With prices like these, someone making new 3dfx cards would be an interesting development (I am aware of at least someone making new cards, or at least he did until a certain leader somewhere in the east went hitler mode).

yes I wonder what effect that would have, surely it would reduce the price and make the 'vintage' cards permanently less collectible (as they are no longer the last ones) as it essentially increases total supply

Taking a glance at pricecharting for what happened to consoles that had the repros and "minis" made, it mayyybe flattened the price climb a bit but they climbed again after. Seems like it's more like free advertising for the real deal.

That's interesting. Unfortunately I'm not aware of pricecharting equivalents for (PC) hardware (etc), as that would be good to see too.

Another niche area in such trends is the open source repro. My favorite kind!

Take the MT-32 (and my accompanying anecdata). The market rate for those about doubled between 2018 and 2022. Yet today, based upon a quick look at ebay Sold prices, I think it's pulled back a bit. Still high, but I think there's a trend disruption. I'm part of that stat, because - as someone who would have, eventually, sold a kidney and bought an original unit - I got to instead spend a fraction of that to make my own, arguably better-performing and more featureful unit, the mt32-pi*. I don't think I'd swap it for an original if offered, and to me, that implies a significant shift in that niche market's definition. That is, they won't "become cheap", but nor have they the same supply-limited impetus to $kyrocket as they formerly did.

Dare I say it, it's made the market price for the original hardware more reasonable and sustainable.

*yes yes, the kidney is now for the Pi!, but that's another matter.... 🤣

You guys better sit down for this one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/394476762767

I gasped when I first saw this. Then reasoning quickly took over and I decided it cannot be real.

Cyrix 5x86-120
$685 USD in auction. Not even S1R3.

Is there something particularly special about this one ? Im a bit out of the loop in regards to rare Cyrix CPUs.

On a side note there is another K5 PR200 in auction again.

TrashPanda wrote on 2023-03-06, 00:56:

Is there something particularly special about this one ? Im a bit out of the loop in regards to rare Cyrix CPUs.

On a side note there is another K5 PR200 in auction again.

I don't have any data on G5FB602G, but the others G5FB602 chips on my list with a character other than G, have supposed 4x mode. So this CPU probably supports 4x mode, but from my experience, a 4x chip that is either a) not 133GP marked, or b) not devoid of a speed designation, will not run long-term stable at 133 MHz.

Damn, if I'm spending anywhere near that on a 5x86, I'm having a custom jobbie, MediaGXm die bond wired to a 486 carrier so I can have 3x60 and MMX 🤣

Hokay, why do Rendition Verite cards seem to be beating Banshees and headed into Voodoo3 territory ????

BitWrangler wrote on 2023-03-06, 06:21:

Hokay, why do Rendition Verite cards seem to be beating Banshees and headed into Voodoo3 territory ????

Because the good V2200 ones are stupidly rare...only ones I can find are 4mb versions, still waiting on a 8mb v2200

feipoa wrote on 2023-03-06, 00:48:

You guys better sit down for this one. […]
Show full quote

You guys better sit down for this one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/394476762767

I gasped when I first saw this. Then reasoning quickly took over and I decided it cannot be real.

Cyrix 5x86-120
$685 USD in auction. Not even S1R3.

i like the way the description mentions gold recovery 😀

gerry wrote on 2023-03-06, 10:13:

feipoa wrote on 2023-03-06, 00:48:

You guys better sit down for this one. […]
Show full quote

You guys better sit down for this one.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/394476762767

I gasped when I first saw this. Then reasoning quickly took over and I decided it cannot be real.

Cyrix 5x86-120
$685 USD in auction. Not even S1R3.

i like the way the description mentions gold recovery 😀

Well that chip was destined for recovery either way 😁

Its gonna need some rework on the pins.

TrashPanda wrote on 2023-03-06, 00:56:

Is there something particularly special about this one ? Im a bit out of the loop in regards to rare Cyrix CPUs.

That one is specified at 120MHz. The 100MHz Cyrix 5x86 are easy to get, the 120MHz specified ones are more rare. Whether that's worth the price - well, for someone it seems it was.

Heh, I spent like $25 on the Cyrix 5x86 120 chips I have.

Sad thing is, I think one of them may have half-died. Nedd to test it in another board.

The 133 is the one that is super hard to find. Had a chance to get one but hesitated a few minutes too long and somebody else bought it.