No I rarely pay that much, and I am kind of running out of room so I have started to get a little picky.

Ebay and such has been crazy lately, very few click to buy deals at reasonable prices, which is usually my thing.

By the way, guys, any ideas why Iomega ZIP 100 external drives cost so much?

There are tons of them, they are very problematic ("click of death" issue) ... And still, someone continue to buy them for very high prices.

WHY???

Maybe businesses for some proprietary shit? I never knew anyone who has them, but at work a tape drive is still in use with an old HP work station. I'd guess it's a same for those ZIP drives. If businesses need one to keep something running, they pay whatever they have to.

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-01-18, 20:00:

Maybe businesses for some proprietary shit? I never knew anyone who has them, but at work a tape drive is still in use with an old HP work station. I'd guess it's a same for those ZIP drives. If businesses need one to keep something running, they pay whatever they have to.

ZIP drives for business? For what business? For Youtube blogging business maybe? 😄

Just guessing, since there is no reasonable use for them at home.

RandomStranger wrote on 2022-01-18, 20:11:

Just guessing, since there is no reasonable use for them at home.

It seems to me that they buy them just because they can. 😄

I don't need a lot, I fill holes when I see stuff cheap. I am in danger of eventually spending "real money" on a big box Amiga at some point.

I am feeling a bit richer these days and keep hitting analysis paralysis with the question "Do I make things worse for the penniless n00bs if I snatch up the cheap stuff, thus maintaining downward price pressure, or if I pay top dollar, thus making for upward price pressure, but in either case reducing supply???"

But I try to keep a bit of perspective, after all I picked up a GPU that's two or three times better than a Voodoo 5 6000 for only a buck a few months back.... but if I tripped over a Voodoo 5 at a yard sale I'd probably grab it anyway. Maybe I just like hitting yard sales and thrift stores 🤣

TrashPanda wrote on 2022-01-18, 10:46:

debs3759 wrote on 2022-01-18, 10:43:

Muz wrote on 2022-01-18, 09:32:

How you guys get the money in the first place?

It just appears in my bank account every so often 😀

Usually twice a month 🤣

haha, only twice? Pessimist 😀

BitWrangler wrote on 2022-01-18, 20:17:

I am in danger of eventually spending "real money" on a big box Amiga at some point.

I've been collecting Amigas since 1998, but I never found a cheap big box Amiga back then. The prices then, compared to now would be considered a bargain. I do have multiple A500 and A1200s a few A600s (most of them were like £5 to £10 each!) A seller at boot sale gave me a CD32 with an almost new A2000 keyboard and a SX-1 expansion unit for free! Still don't know why that happened, but I'm not complaining! I'll have to sell most of them off to get an Amiga 4000 though.

jheronimus wrote on 2022-01-18, 02:00:

"Deal hunting" does add something to the hobby, though. It's a great rush — finding something valuable for next to nothing, even better if there's a story to tell.

I have had that rush many times on ebay since I started collecting PC stuff, with a story behind them where I usually bore my friend who does not collect anything... Is there a lucky ebay score thread?

The rush of finding something valuable for a great price can motivate you for a long time during those dry periods. But the biggest satisfaction for me is to find new uses for stuff that I own that is stored away. I don't even have that much really, but I love it when I get something from the extras and reduce the unused items just a little more.

Nowadays I find it much more frustrating to try and find a mouse and keyboard that are from the era I want in a good condition without yellowing. The prices for stuff like that are going up and up and is kind of defeating the point of trying to restore a case to its former glory only to have it complemented by yellowed periferals. I've done retrobrighting but after a year or two it starts yellowing slightly, even when not exposed to sunlight or heat, so you can only do so much about that.

A quick aside, I also found the Amiga models to be quite affordable these days, is there anything special that would motivate someone like me (who was too young to use it at the time) to explore it? Or it just has the same games and general experience when compared to DOS in a 486 for example?

Brightraven wrote on 2022-01-18, 21:43:

BitWrangler wrote on 2022-01-18, 20:17:

I am in danger of eventually spending "real money" on a big box Amiga at some point.

I've been collecting Amigas since 1998, but I never found a cheap big box Amiga back then. The prices then, compared to now would be considered a bargain. I do have multiple A500 and A1200s a few A600s (most of them were like £5 to £10 each!) A seller at boot sale gave me a CD32 with an almost new A2000 keyboard and a SX-1 expansion unit for free! Still don't know why that happened, but I'm not complaining! I'll have to sell most of them off to get an Amiga 4000 though.

Yah, I've had Amigas since the early 90s, I've got an A1200 and two A500s and some bits and pieces. I don't think A4000s ever got "cheap" for a few years after production ended they were still sought after for video work and as they retired from that, and no new Amiga in sight, they were hungrily taken up by Amiga fans. I think A2000s did bottom out at around a couple of hundred quid mid-late 90s but I was too broke at the time. I've kept my eyes skinned for local deals on them for two decades, but there's been a couple I just missed. Well one at a decent price I missed and one quite recently that I hummed and harred about for too long because it was a tank of gas away and the dilbert selling it just kept giving me teasers instead of real info on it. (I don't know if he was really clueless about Amigas or what) Though I don't really really know if I missed anything or not, he was asking $1000 "Because I checked on eBay and that's what they're going for" meanwhile all he gives me is two fuzzy pics of the box, tells me it's "tested" with no qualification like maybe only the light comes on, won't/can't tell me what cards are installed etc.. gah. Anyway, didn't wanna blow $50 gas to find out it was only a ratty system unit with only the PSU and motherboard in there and him sticking near $1000 when what goes for that is usually whole systems with kb/mouse and accessories, decent HDD and RAM expansion at least.

Brightraven wrote on 2022-01-18, 21:43:

jheronimus wrote on 2022-01-18, 02:00:

"Deal hunting" does add something to the hobby, though. It's a great rush — finding something valuable for next to nothing, even better if there's a story to tell.

I have had that rush many times on ebay since I started collecting PC stuff, with a story behind them where I usually bore my friend who does not collect anything... Is there a lucky ebay score thread?

Heh that's kinda what I have used the Bought these (retro) hardware today thread for, don't see much point in mentioning stuff I could have got any day of the week as long as I kept writing zeros on the cheque so to speak.

BitWrangler wrote on 2022-01-18, 22:46:

I think A2000s did bottom out at around a couple of hundred quid mid-late 90s but I was too broke at the time. I've kept my eyes skinned for local deals on them for two decades, but there's been a couple I just missed. Well one at a decent price I missed and one quite recently that I hummed and harred about for too long because it was a tank of gas away and the dilbert selling it just kept giving me teasers instead of real info on it. (I don't know if he was really clueless about Amigas or what) Though I don't really really know if I missed anything or not, he was asking $1000 "Because I checked on eBay and that's what they're going for" meanwhile all he gives me is two fuzzy pics of the box, tells me it's "tested" with no qualification like maybe only the light comes on, won't/can't tell me what cards are installed etc.. gah. Anyway, didn't wanna blow $50 gas to find out it was only a ratty system unit with only the PSU and motherboard in there and him sticking near $1000 when what goes for that is usually whole systems with kb/mouse and accessories, decent HDD and RAM expansion at least.

Wow I think that's a lot of money to pay for an Amiga 2000. I used to find them for € 75-150 in the 2000s and they were common too. Now they go for twice or triple that amount and nice unmodified examples are rare. It's the defects and upgrades that make those things really expensive. I already paid € 100 for a good rev. 6(?) motherboard many years ago, because the old one had damaged traces from battery acid leakage. The Amiga 3000 and 4000 have always been rarities in my country. For me all the Amigas are overrated, I don't understand why people find them so interesting (especially at current prices). Even Atari ST's are now becoming quite pricey. Who would have thought that? Those were literally everywhere for sale in the 2000s. If you want an early personal computer with a GUI, then buy an Apple Lisa 2, which came on the market 2 years prior to the first Amiga 1000, so it has some genuine historical value.

Deal Hunting really just depends where you are located. In my part of town there was a huge E-Waste incentive years ago that ate up most of the CRTs and older computers. Occasionally you'll find something if you put out a "wanted" ad but most of it is either gone or already in the hands of other enthusiasts who "know what they have". I think many people forget that not every place in the world is this goldmine for deal hunting. Often many places are already dried up.

Ebay is just easier You just gotta ask yourself if its worth to you what the seller is asking.

Found Compaq M computer working with video card in Rome, Italy for over 200 shipped. Prior to this, I was hunting all over watching the 'net for complete computer or a power supply for long time. Power supply board is a replaceable part which is unusual since majority of computers everywhere else has a power supply in a metal box that is separate part. Reason I bought this came with power supply in it, plan to document the power supply so anyone can have the schematic and verified pinout.

Before that about 1 year back,
First deskpro/m with parts was paid more than 300 in parts and installments when I can afford, except "after-mentioned" power supply board still not found , I was able to make adapter cable using ATX power supply and powered it up.

Wanted a Deskpro of any model as I was drooling over one when I saw some at a local store called "Microage" established in 1970's in downtown around very late 1990's, the business moved but still in business decades later, ripping off lot of money as usual.

Cheers,

On the subject of not paying too much, I need tact lessons on how to deal with a couple of types or maybe different sides of the same type of sellers...

#1 He's got "too much to list" photos of multiple items, piled haphazard, giving the impression that he's got no time, doesn't know what anything is and just wants rid of it, until you say "I'll give you $20 for that green one" and all of a sudden he knows what it is in great detail and wants 90% of retail despite lacking box, cables, manuals etc.

#2 He might give individual good pics, enough description to figure out what it is, say it's all going cheap, send him an offer, so you send him an offer, then he's all pretend offended because some dipshit listed it at $2000 on eBay or Amazon and you didn't get very close to retail when it's 3 years old, looking well used and dusty and hasn't got manuals, cables etc... If you approach with, "well what do you actually want?" it's all "I don't know man, just what you think is reasonable. I'm ready to deal" then same thing, fake offended, way too low, don't you realise what this precious crap I can't be bothered naming my price for in the first place is worth.

*sigh* way too many of these clowns around, is there a "right" approach, or just freaking ignore them because nobody is getting anywhere with them.

BitWrangler wrote on 2022-01-19, 03:36:

On the subject of not paying too much, I need tact lessons on how to deal with a couple of types or maybe different sides of the […]
Show full quote

On the subject of not paying too much, I need tact lessons on how to deal with a couple of types or maybe different sides of the same type of sellers...

#1 He's got "too much to list" photos of multiple items, piled haphazard, giving the impression that he's got no time, doesn't know what anything is and just wants rid of it, until you say "I'll give you $20 for that green one" and all of a sudden he knows what it is in great detail and wants 90% of retail despite lacking box, cables, manuals etc.

#2 He might give individual good pics, enough description to figure out what it is, say it's all going cheap, send him an offer, so you send him an offer, then he's all pretend offended because some dipshit listed it at $2000 on eBay or Amazon and you didn't get very close to retail when it's 3 years old, looking well used and dusty and hasn't got manuals, cables etc... If you approach with, "well what do you actually want?" it's all "I don't know man, just what you think is reasonable. I'm ready to deal" then same thing, fake offended, way too low, don't you realise what this precious crap I can't be bothered naming my price for in the first place is worth.

*sigh* way too many of these clowns around, is there a "right" approach, or just freaking ignore them because nobody is getting anywhere with them.

Not sure you can argue with sellers who have unrealistic expectations in their mind about the value of dusty old junk. They get these expectations from trawling eBay and seeing what other unrealistic sellers are selling their dusty junk for, not that its selling for that much as it will only sell for what the market can bear. But numbnuts number one seller doesnt get this and expects you the buyer to meet their delusions, as soon as you dont you become the bad guy trying to rip them off, note they wont ever shift from these expectations.

I've dealt with a few .. by ignoring any and all sales they might have regardless of what they are selling and possibly warning others to stay clear of them.

The ultimate truth being that they are attached to that junk, they dont want to sell it and the longer they have it the less inclined they are to "deal" so to speak.

If it's expensive there better be good photos. There are some ebay sellers (cough*wiredforservice*) taking pics on a flip phone in their basement then asking 3x the normal price.

Plasma wrote on 2022-01-19, 04:10:

If it's expensive there better be good photos. There are some ebay sellers (cough*wiredforservice*) taking pics on a flip phone in their basement then asking 3x the normal price.

If its out of focus and they are not willing to provide decent pics then they get added to the ignore this seller list.

not overpaying if 'market rates' are the average and i just wouldn't buy things like voodoo cards at all

in fact i tend to buy cheaply, staying away once prices breach the middle point

but overall there are times when i look back and think that while each item was cheap, in total was it really worth it

ThinkpadIL wrote on 2022-01-18, 19:53:

By the way, guys, any ideas why Iomega ZIP 100 external drives cost so much?

There are tons of them, they are very problematic ("click of death" issue) ... And still, someone continue to buy them for very high prices.

WHY???

maybe trying to get data from old disks before its too late, but i suspect more just "wow so retro" collecting inspired by lgr type vids and the scene generally

gerry wrote on 2022-01-19, 10:13:

ThinkpadIL wrote on 2022-01-18, 19:53:

By the way, guys, any ideas why Iomega ZIP 100 external drives cost so much?

There are tons of them, they are very problematic ("click of death" issue) ... And still, someone continue to buy them for very high prices.

WHY???

maybe trying to get data from old disks before its too late, but i suspect more just "wow so retro" collecting inspired by lgr type vids and the scene generally

Yeah, right ... It is such a nice cute violet plastic box ... Must be some sort of hipster thing ...🙄