If there are bids, you can not change or remove already existing pictures, nor change the description. You can only add notes. That should ensure that a seller can not change the item(s) he/she is selling after people did bid on it.

I dont see the problem. I always ask the seller to create a new offer on Ebay for me, so its not against Ebay rules. My request was very early after the auction was created, so he had the chance to cancel the auction and change the photo. As you can imagine sellers photos are very bad so I didnt actually know what I get - a working card in good condition or scrap. So I dont think 45€ is that bad.
Dont want to handle and carry 15kg of scrap if I am only interested in a single card. Would sell the remaining part again anyway.

Predator99 wrote:

I dont see the problem. I always ask the seller to create a new offer on Ebay for me, so its not against Ebay rules.

I highly doubt that. Can you please link to the auction that was specifically made for you? And also the original auction please.

Predator99 wrote:

I dont see the problem. I always ask the seller to create a new offer on Ebay for me, so its not against Ebay rules. My request was very early after the auction was created, so he had the chance to cancel the auction and change the photo. As you can imagine sellers photos are very bad so I didnt actually know what I get - a working card in good condition or scrap. So I dont think 45€ is that bad.
Dont want to handle and carry 15kg of scrap if I am only interested in a single card. Would sell the remaining part again anyway.

Nice grab. Interested if it actually works. Please do a follow-up on this.

Predator99 wrote:

I dont see the problem. I always ask the seller to create a new offer on Ebay for me, so its not against Ebay rules. My request was very early after the auction was created, so he had the chance to cancel the auction and change the photo. As you can imagine sellers photos are very bad so I didnt actually know what I get - a working card in good condition or scrap. So I dont think 45€ is that bad.
Dont want to handle and carry 15kg of scrap if I am only interested in a single card. Would sell the remaining part again anyway.

Good deal Predator, I would have done the same. I wouldn't worry about naysayers - as you said the seller can always cancel the listing and create a new one.

Thanks. Think some people here are envious of my deal. How about keeping your eyes open rather than complaining? Think most lots in which I spot a valuable card go to the recycler if I do not buy it.
I already bought many 20kg lots to get 2-3 boards I have been interested in. Sold the remaining parts again. Guess who is the buyer? Yes, recycling companies...!

So guess who will buy this? 5 kg for 45€ is a good scrapper price. So this PAS will be recycled in a few days. Buy it :-p
https://www.ebay.de/itm/ca-5-kg-Platinenschro … q4AAOSw6S5d2oaN

Sounds like some people here don't know what they're talking about with regards to ebay rules.

On the buyer side, the ONLY thing that is against ebay rules in the context of seeking out items a seller has to sell is to ask the seller to complete a transaction off of ebay. There is nothing wrong with asking a seller to sell you something in a custom ebay listing.

On the seller side, you can end an auction early if there are no bids, or to immediately sell to the highest bidder if there's at least 12 hours left, or to end the auction altogether if there's bids but at least 12 hours left (this final option incurs an additional fee).

If a seller decides to remove something from a lot and sell it separately, that is perfectly ok to do, provided the above condition apply. It is then 100% the burden of the seller to take appropriate action at his/her end to ensure that the item being auctioned off is are as described and as pictured.

Bottom line: It is not one bit the buyer's problem if the seller removes an item from a lot and screws over another buyer...that is 100% the fault of the seller.

This hobby is survival of the unfittest. You basically have 3 options if you want to be competitive in terms of what hardware you own versus what others own:

1.) Go morally bankrupt and prey on people who don't know what they have.
2.) Spend every waking moment of your life setting up eBay alerts and searching for poorly listed items, or high value targets in scrap lots.
3.) Be rich

I mostly go with 1 and I'm fine with this. My justification is that I take a heavy stance on preserving my hardware, and I know I'll never resell it myself. I also plan to donate all my stuff to a hardware museum that I assume will be a thing by the time I die (I'm 20 so I've got some miles left to go on that one). Aside from that I somehow manage to be broke money and time wise, but I still have to compete with all the rich snobs that don't mind paying 150 euros (or 200 freedom units) for a fucking MIDI daughter board.

If I blame anyone I blame all the 1 percenters (rich boys, pharmabros, probably a lot of trust fund kiddies who have never worked a day in their lifes) that are trying to turn this hobby into the same deal as retro console collecting. Everytime their appears a good complex hobby the poor man can afford to have the "good stuff" in, rich people show up and ruin it. Linus Tech Tips doing retro computer stuff hasn't helped.

Only the more rare items are somewhat costly, but it is far from being "rich" being able to afford these parts (minus an original Apple or something). If you just see ridiculously overpriced items, you aren't looking hard enough, aren't waiting long enough, or looking in the wrong place. Ebay is always the most expensive option when purchasing.

The 1% aren't purchasing out of date hardware with the pocket change they find under the seat of their Koenigsegg Regera. This is average middle class people spending the money, inflated by the hype of retro computing YouTube videos. Before the YouTube streamers and retro reviewers got started, you could buy this type hardware for 90% less than what it is now because nobody wanted it or cared.

Received a bunch of pcmcia cards and a scsi scanner with a bulb problem...

Predator99 wrote:

Think some people here are envious of my deal.

To be brutally honest this thread was always about bragging and generating envy.
"Look at me, I got some hardware for 5 dollars! You know the same ones you got for 300! Aren't I lucky?"
The dumpster find thread is the same. People wouldn't admit it but they don't care about you or any other guy getting cheap/free stuff when they have to pay hard money to get the same hardware.
Most people post in these threads to show off and that's it. It has nothing to do with hardware or computers. It's only for bragging rights.

I like this thread it has pics of good hardware, if someone got them for a song then good for them!

Predator99 wrote:

Thanks. Think some people here are envious of my deal. How about keeping your eyes open rather than complaining? Think most lots in which I spot a valuable card go to the recycler if I do not buy it.
I already bought many 20kg lots to get 2-3 boards I have been interested in. Sold the remaining parts again. Guess who is the buyer? Yes, recycling companies...!

Agreed, do what you gotta do. Great finds, please continue to share despite the whiners.

badmojo wrote:

Predator99 wrote:

Thanks. Think some people here are envious of my deal. How about keeping your eyes open rather than complaining? Think most lots in which I spot a valuable card go to the recycler if I do not buy it.
I already bought many 20kg lots to get 2-3 boards I have been interested in. Sold the remaining parts again. Guess who is the buyer? Yes, recycling companies...!

Agreed, do what you gotta do. Great finds, please continue to share despite the whiners.

This right here.

If I see an awesome deal for something I want, I snatch it up right away. If I don't, somebody else will buy it within 2-5 minutes.

I've also asked sellers about listings if they have other stuff.. such as other parts that are supposed to go with what they have listed.

Sure I would love to get some of the deals posted here that I guess I will never see for that price. Doesn't make me get my underwear all in a bunch like some of you seem to be having issues with.

Colder wrote:

To be brutally honest this thread was always about bragging and generating envy. "Look at me, I got some hardware for 5 dollars! […]
Show full quote

Predator99 wrote:

Think some people here are envious of my deal.

To be brutally honest this thread was always about bragging and generating envy.
"Look at me, I got some hardware for 5 dollars! You know the same ones you got for 300! Aren't I lucky?"
The dumpster find thread is the same. People wouldn't admit it but they don't care about you or any other guy getting cheap/free stuff when they have to pay hard money to get the same hardware.
Most people post in these threads to show off and that's it. It has nothing to do with hardware or computers. It's only for bragging rights.

Totally disagree. I think it's awesome to read about others getting good deals or finding stuff for free. It gives me hope that this hobby can still be what it was: finding - for super cheap - the stuff you could only dream of when you were younger.
In that vein, I usually only post my best deals/finds.

But if you're here to be unimpressed, here's my latest retro purchase:

NOS Cartridge DVD-RAM disc. And I don't even have a drive for it...

I quite enjoy this thread for the show & tell aspect. I'm not generally bothered what people pay for stuff, although it's cool if one of you get an insane deal. I'd rather see you guys show off all the stuff I'm never going to own, instead of trying to "collect" it all myself.

Case in point,

stoof wrote:

But if you're here to be unimpressed, here's my latest retro purchase:
[...]
NOS Cartridge DVD-RAM disc. And I don't even have a drive for it...

Now there's something I've NEVER seen in the wild before. Cool find. AFAIK most standard DVD+/-RW drives can read & write DVD-RAM.

xjas wrote:

stoof wrote:

But if you're here to be unimpressed, here's my latest retro purchase:
[...]
NOS Cartridge DVD-RAM disc. And I don't even have a drive for it...

Now there's something I've NEVER seen in the wild before. Cool find. AFAIK most standard DVD+/-RW drives can read & write DVD-RAM.

Haha, I was trying to be unimpressive, but ok I guess it's somewhat rare.

BTW, it's a cartridge enclosed disc (not a caddy), so it requires a special early cartridge compatible drive. I think it's possible to break out the disc and use it as-is, but all the coolness is in the cartridge, so that would defeat the purpose for me. 😀

Colder wrote:

To be brutally honest this thread was always about bragging and generating envy. "Look at me, I got some hardware for 5 dollars! […]
Show full quote

Predator99 wrote:

Think some people here are envious of my deal.

To be brutally honest this thread was always about bragging and generating envy.
"Look at me, I got some hardware for 5 dollars! You know the same ones you got for 300! Aren't I lucky?"
The dumpster find thread is the same. People wouldn't admit it but they don't care about you or any other guy getting cheap/free stuff when they have to pay hard money to get the same hardware.
Most people post in these threads to show off and that's it. It has nothing to do with hardware or computers. It's only for bragging rights.

I like this thread because:
1: it reminds me of times in my area when you got good deals on boxes or lots of old hardware. That changed 5 years ago with new recycle laws.
2: I see items that I have heard about/read about, but never knew someone who had actually found one.
3: I see items that I have owned and either still do or have sold or given away.

Yeah it may seem some are bragging but there is a certain joy that comes from getting a boat load of goodies for a reasonable price...
Oh forgot to post the pics of that small SCSI lot. Tyan S1390 Adaptec VLB works!, some Adaptec Jazz/scanner card, Qlogic PCI Diff Wide missing BIOS, Future Domain TMC-1610M ISA works!, odd Adaptec 1520/Compaq CPQ4420 ISA sorta works, Adaptec 2940u PCI works!, Acculogic ISAport rev.A works, SymBios SYM8751SP UW PCI works, ATTO ExpressPCI PSC UW works!, and last: AMI MegaRAID 200 466 U2W/LVD PCI works with SE but having trouble getting LVD to work..