Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: TjLaZer on June 18, 2008, 10:45:56 PM
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Ok I recently bid on an Amiga 4000 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=220233108584&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=012) on ebay that came with a Picasso IV card.
The package was packed ok but could of been packed much better, especially the keyboard. It was just throw in loose in the peanuts along with the 4000. The keyboard was damaged pretty bad with 3 broken keys and real bad scratches and gouges. I asked that the PIV card be removed and packed separately as I had a 2000 shipped in the past that the cards got damaged as they popped out of the slots. Luckily the card was fine and it seems to work great in my other 4000! (phew!) The 4000 arrived damaged (ie the left side of the case looked like someone kicked it with a steel toe boot, LOL) It also does not work. Black screen. I did get it to boot 1 time but since then it does not boot. Yes it had a leaking battery that was remove 3 minutes after I opened it up. Used Isopropyl alcohol and a toothbrush to clean the area up. After checking everything over and it not working I decided to try a different CPU card. I had another A3630 030 card so I tried that and presto it works!
Keyboard seems to have problems. I get weird characters when I type. If I give it the old Atari twist or a smach it seems to work ok! Then a few minutes later, the same garbage.
edit - seems there is no battery damage, as I get a CLOCK FOUND in SysInfo! But there is no battery installed to know for certain...
So in letting the seller know all this, he is nice enough to offer compensation. He wants to know what I would like for the following damaged items:
-A3630 CPU card
-A4000 keyboard
-A4000 top case
Whats a fair price for the above 3 items?
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How much did you pay for the computer to begin with? We need to know that in order to calculate amounts for the damaged items.
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Dumbo me! I just went to the EBay link and saw the price. I will say that I saw a Picasso card sell but-it-now within the last week for $600. If the PIV is fine from this purchase I would say take it easy on the guy. You could sell the PIV right now and come out ahead money wise and still have the rest of the computer. The guy goofed up listing the computer and should have had the PIV in the title. You did real well on this purchase.
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Agreed. You got an absolute bargain. However, the guy should have packaged it properly to avoid damage. Sorry not much help with regards to values in the USA, but I couldn't help but comment seeing your deal.
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dannyp1 wrote:
I will say that I saw a Picasso card sell but-it-now within the last week for $600.
That Picasso card was a quirk. It was museum quality. The box was original and in mint condition, all the original packaging inside, manual, disks, cables, even the original antistatic bags.
Normally a PIV will fetch $300, I know I bought one this year.
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Dont forget to invest in an AUI to 10BaseT adapter. They are about $10 on ebay and will enable your ethernet card for the modern world.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300234302186
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=380022203057
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=310059903889
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Did this get shipped via UPS by any chance? I have had problems with them before - apparently a popular pastime among their workers is to find computers and kick the boxes. I've avoided them like the plague ever since they destroyed a 286 of mine back in the 90s...
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@TjLaZer
I would say that if the guy is willing to compensate you at all it is a good gesture on his part. I see from the auction he offered to insure the item at the buyers discresion.
I would in all fairness figure what it would cost to replace the items and cut it in half.
A3630 CPU card = $30.00 (maybe)
Keyboard = $20.00-$30.00
Top case = ? ($20.00)
Total = $70.00-$80.00 /2 = $35.00-$40.00 from him
If it were me that is how I would break it down, just my thoughts.
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A keyboard costs some like 60 bucks around the world, the scratches are "paint-able" (5 bucks a spray can?), A4030... 30 bucks TOPS?!?
Bill UPS for that! Those schmucks deserves it! :evil:
BTW: any A2000/3000/4000T with a cheap DIN converter can do the job for the A4000D. Even an A500 keyboard hacked inside the 4000 kb case do it.
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I wasn't saying that all PIV's sell for $600. I said I saw one sell for that amount within the last week. If having the original box, paperwork, and bag makes one museum quality then I have about 3 musuem quality PIV's. Like it or not they are a hot item right now. Yes, I have seen a couple slip through in the $300 range, but I see many more in the past year go for $400 to $450. 2 years ago they were selling in the $200 to $250 range. They don't anymore. Last summer I needed one to complete a project and bid over $400 dollars on two seperate PIV's within about a weeks time and got neither one. I wasn't even runner up on either of them. Both went if I remember correctly for almost $500.
The point I was trying to make was that the card very well might be worth the purchase price he paid for the entire computer. I still believe that. I repeat, he did very well on that purchase.
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Well I was after the PIV and don't really want the computer. I was planning on reselling it to recoup some if the costs. I have been after a PIV since 1998 when my ex sold it on ebay with my whole A4000! The price of them has been in the $200-$400 range so i did do good I guess. My issue is I want a working 4000 so I can try and sell it. The keyboard is toast, don't think I can fix it as it needs a lot of parts, cosmetic damage as well. The A3630 card is from my A3000T computer that I have a MKII 060 in, but I wanted to keep it if I ever need to remove the 060 and use it in another Amiga later on. So I would need a new CPU card and keyboard to atleast get this 4000 running. A dented top case can be dealt with a hammer I think...
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I have been after a PIV since 1998 when my ex sold it on ebay with my whole A4000!
That is an "ex"able offense!
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Was it shipped through UPS? They have a default of $100 insurance coverage in each shipment. I'd go after then if that is the case.
You might still be able to sell the parts remaining of that A4000 for about what you paid.
Motherboard
PS
HD Floppy(I got like $79 for my spare.)
motherboard(working.) w/RAM
Daughtercard
etc.
Or look around for a dead A4000 and pull the case top, keyboard and pick up a 3640 for cheap. Then you'll save one more of the old girls from becoming parts.
-Nyle
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Suck it up and quit crying. If you wanted it insured you should have paid for it...
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don27dog wrote:
Suck it up and quit crying. If you wanted it insured you should have paid for it...
I insured my 286 to the tune of $600 when I shipped it cross country (when I was headed off to university my first year) and UPS refused to pay even though they had clearly kicked the box _dozens_ of times from the bootprints on it. I don't waste my money shipping anything via UPS anymore, and I sure as heck wouldn't bother getting ripped off for 'insurance' that you can't collect on unless you're in the state the parcel was shipped from! Get real; they probably broke it on purpose and should really be held to account for it. And don't tell me mine was an isolated incident: I worked for a computer repair shop for a while and we stopped using UPS altogether because of many, many damaged shipments of expensive parts and systems. Use FedEx or Airborne/DHL instead - or even the good ole USPS. I've never had any problems with shipments from any of those three carriers.
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If you didn't want insurance then I guess you just have to deal with it. At 400 bucks you got a bargain anyhow and the PIV works fine. So don't be a Doomy!
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On one hand, insurance may have been a good idea, but that doesn't excuse the seller for packing things like retard. Insurance or not, it sucks to pay $400 for old computer equipment, and have it arrived trashed.
The plus side is the PIV works, so it's not a total loss. Maybe the seller would consider refunding your shipping and calling it good.
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You're joking right? That was an absolute steal at the current price of old Amiga stuff. I'd say the A4000 m/b alone (forget the stupid case) is worth at least $300+, the PicassoIV board would fetch $400 and the token ring card probably $80+. You should probably be sending the seller more money. :-P
An another thing, stop hoarding Amiga stuff. Don't you have about five of these similar systems already? :-P
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pkillo wrote:
....... UPS refused to pay even though they had clearly kicked the box _dozens_ of times from the bootprints on it. I don't waste my money shipping anything via UPS anymore,
..........
And don't tell me mine was an isolated incident: I worked for a computer repair shop for a while and we stopped using UPS altogether because of many, many damaged shipments of expensive parts and systems. Use FedEx or Airborne/DHL instead - or even the good ole USPS. I've never had any problems with shipments from any of those three carriers.
Strange, I've had the opposite experience. Well actually, I've had minor problems with Fedex and UPS but I get a lot shipped to me here and through work. USPS has actually been way better than their reputation and on par with UPS/Fedex. DHL/Airborne on the other hand, have lost whole pallets of computers and in my area of service do not honor any overnight or 2nd day delivery. We are lucky if we get the items in a week, which is a major problem when they are repair parts from a major vendor that our customers expect overnight.
I guess we each get our own experience because I never use DHL/Airborne if I have a choice.
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Argus wrote:
I'd say the A4000 m/b alone (forget the stupid case) is worth at least $300+
Heh, I dont think so. You're worse than when the news quote "police confiscated drugs with a street price of $ XX millions".
I want to find those streets!!!
My Amiga collection would be worth a fortune in that neighbourhood ;-)
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I have shipped thousands of items and I can't really say that one shipping service is superior to the others. I can state that when I have a choice I ship USPS or UPS. I only use Fed-Ex or DHL if I have no other choice. The reason is simple. USPS & UPS both pay living wages to their workers. The other 2 don't. They make about half the wages with no real benefits. I'm sure you have all noticed that the price is usually real close to being the same for all four shippers. From this you can figure out where the money is going. Fed-Ex & DHL pay lower wages because of corporate greed, not because they have to pay non-living wages to stay in business. If nobody shipped with these two companies, they would go out of business and the good jobs offered by the other two would increase and everybody would win!
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First off I am not crying and it was the seller that offered to compensate for the damages, all I told him was what happened as he emailed me once it was delievered. Good deal or not! There was a delay in shipping and it tool like 17 days to get here. Yes I got a good deal, so what? Just because I paid less than some of you think I should, I should just not get compensated for the damages? I believe it's insured through Canada Post so it is not worth the hassle to start a claim, and I do want tot keep it as I was after a PIV card and I paid $400 for it which seems the going rate. (don't I have to turn in everytthing to get my money back? I could keep the PIV card and turn the rest in LOL) But no I am happy the seller is being cool and I am not going to be unreasonable. I think if I got another keyboard at this point I would be happy with the transaction.
A 4000 motherboard even without battery leakage does not sell for $300+. The going rate has been $150 to $200 from what I have seen. And I do recall seeing an empty 4000 case go for over $50 recently! Even the A3630 030 card was up there so I might be better off just getting a A3640 for it.
And for the record, yes this makes this my 6th A4000 desktop computer! Woohoo. I just love the 4000. (can you tell?) Always wanted one back in the day, and after my mint one was sold in my divorce 10 years ago I just can't keep my hands off them! Hahaha. Actually most of them I rebuilt myself from parts. Used ebay to get the rest to complete them. Was a fun (but expensive) project! Even send off a MB to Amiga Center twice to get fixed.
Well I do plan on selling a few of them off actually, that was the intention with this one, hence the "big deal" I am making about the damages. I need a working keyboard (and possibly a CPU card) for this one. Anyone know where I can get one? I can try ebay I guess.
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Why dont you just post the broken stuff to Doomy to fix?
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Hahaha good one. Even the great doom master would not be able to fix a cracked and broken keyboard and case ;) Plus I am sure he would charge as much as it would cost to buy a replacement from the bay.
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The seller was nice enough to accept my offer of $75. That is great as I will easily pay that for another keyboard and CPU card. The case can stay dented, I used a hammer and got it looking descent, although not perfect (was the left side top case) Luckily the front bezel is fine. I am pretty happy with this deal now. I plan on cleaning up the 4000 once I get the parts and selling it. I might get a A3640 for it now...
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just curious ... token ring network card ? Was that ever made for the miggy ?
ta
Tom UK
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It should be noted that user ssauv on ebay, who ever he is, goes the extra mile on the sale to make the customer happy.
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Since you got a bargain, ask him to cover the shipping cost, or part of it.
What I like hearing here is how he is willing to work with you and offer compensation. Not everyone understand good packaging and even fewer understand good customer service.
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I left him positive feedback and am very happy with this seller. Very fair person to deal with. Most would of said "sorry sold as is and it was not my fault it got damaged." Very stand up guy and I wish more people were like him.