Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => General chat about Amiga topics => Topic started by: sqlboy2000 on September 28, 2017, 02:22:38 PM
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As the classified on most Amiga forums I visit are devoid of machines, is eBay really the main place to buy an Amiga? Do any shops specialize in selling refurbs? Looking for a 1200 specifically.
Thanks,
Jeff
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As the classified on most Amiga forums I visit are devoid of machines, is eBay really the main place to buy an Amiga? Do any shops specialize in selling refurbs? Looking for a 1200 specifically.
Thanks,
Jeff
Amibay.com. You'll mostly be buying from Europe, not sure where you're located. Prices aren't much better than on eBay, however.
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Join the Commodore Amiga Facebook page!
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Amibay.com. You'll mostly be buying from Europe, not sure where you're located. Prices aren't much better than on eBay, however.
I'm in the US. I assume Euro Amiga's have a European keyboard?
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I'm in the US. I assume Euro Amiga's have a European keyboard?
Some do. There are a lot of UK people there, and the UK layout isn't that much different. Settings in the Amiga can be modified to compensate for this, though. My A1200 is a PAL, UK made version, and it works just fine here in the US.
As Paul said above, the Facebook group is another good place to look.
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Amibay.com. You'll mostly be buying from Europe, not sure where you're located. Prices aren't much better than on eBay, however.
I've noticed some eBay mentality has infected AmiBay. Listings go up with ridiculous prices, or at least prices which do not please the market, the listing stays up for months, an inquiry comes into the thread about the price and the seller stays firm -- nicely or otherwise.
Tells me they're not serious about selling the item and just wasting the time of all involved.
Join the Commodore Amiga Facebook page!
I realize like AOL back-in-the-day, Facebook = Internet for a large number of people, but there are still a good number of people not on Facebook. If you are then joining will be a useful thing. The rest of us have other options.
For instance, I trawl Craigslist every so often with the simple search
Amiga site:*.craigslist.org
I have netted a few good deals for Amiga, TI, Commodore, Atari, Sega, and Nintendo gear this way, as well as a fairly difficult-to-find SonyEricsson mobile phone. (Great, I just gave away my secret.)
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(Great, I just gave away my secret.)
I was thinking it is MY secret...
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I was talking to an older guy, maybe in his 70's, couple months ago in a retail store and we got to talking about old computers somehow. He told me that he will drive hundreds of miles to collect any old Amiga and Mac Classic stuff to resell! I asked him if he resells it on eBay. He said "NO!" He told me that he resells ALL OF IT in lots/bulk to "buyers of old computer equipment" as they pay good $$$ for ANYTHING Mac and Amiga. I asked him if he would be willing to sell any Amiga stuff to me and he just started laughing! :furious:
Who can compete with that? I'm sure that are hundreds of retirees that do this - says he has a network!
I'm was thinking "there's an Amiga BLACK MARKET - JEEEEBUZ!?"
The other day I saw a bog standard A500 going for over $1K BIN on eBay and someone friggin bought it! Amiga prices are thru the roof! There's no way I could get into real Amiga these days. Glad I bought what machines I have over 10 years ago. I think I'll be able to retire from what I have - which ain't a whole lot! :lol: Scuzzzzz will make out quite handsomely someday.
I'm weary looking at airey36's crappy stuff on eBay! :hammer:
At least you can still pick up motherboards fairly reasonable to build a machine along with today's new internals. But try finding a reasonably priced original keyboard - ACK!!!!!! BTW, I need/want to buy a functional - good condition A500 keyboard... anyone... anyone?
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I was talking to an older guy, maybe in his 70's, couple months ago in a retail store and we got to talking about old computers somehow. He told me that he will drive hundreds of miles to collect any old Amiga and Mac Classic stuff to resell! I asked him if he resells it on eBay. He said "NO!" He told me that he resells ALL OF IT in lots/bulk to "buyers of old computer equipment" as they pay good $$$ for ANYTHING Mac and Amiga. I asked him if he would be willing to sell any Amiga stuff to me and he just started laughing! :furious:
Who can compete with that? I'm sure that are hundreds of retirees that do this - says he has a network!
I'm was thinking "there's an Amiga BLACK MARKET - JEEEEBUZ!?"
The other day I saw a bog standard A500 going for over $1K BIN on eBay and someone friggin bought it! Amiga prices are thru the roof! There's no way I could get into real Amiga these days. Glad I bought what machines I have over 10 years ago. I think I'll be able to retire from what I have - which ain't a whole lot! :lol: Scuzzzzz will make out quite handsomely someday.
I'm weary looking at airey36's crappy stuff on eBay! :hammer:
At least you can still pick up motherboards fairly reasonable to build a machine along with today's new internals. But try finding a reasonably priced original keyboard - ACK!!!!!! BTW, I need/want to buy a functional - good condition A500 keyboard... anyone... anyone?
Yeah I may be stuck with a beater and lots of new parts....
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I'm weary looking at airey36's crappy stuff on eBay! :hammer:
I got few things from him. I'm not sure where he gets his stuff, but without him I could get some things at all :).
At least you can still pick up motherboards fairly reasonable to build a machine along with today's new internals. But try finding a reasonably priced original keyboard - ACK!!!!!! BTW, I need/want to buy a functional - good condition A500 keyboard... anyone... anyone?
Funny, I want A1200 keyboard :).
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There are also phone apps you can run that watch craigslist and alert on keywords.
Last summer there was a 500 with hdd (but it was listed at $500), then a 1000 but it was at a local retro game store on the other side of the city so I never made it down there, then the 2000 that I got.
There were two more 2000's this summer, one has dropped off now and the remaining is $250.
Thats just in my city.
Amazon also has used resellers too.
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Funny, I want A1200 keyboard :).
All I have for a spare is an A1200 Italian keyboard - great condish though - but kinda yellowed! :lol:
I KNOW I have a spare A500 keyboard somewhere - but, do you think I can find it! Looked everywhere! I hate when I lose/misplace computer stuff! :lol:
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So people are now "flipping" Amiga and Mac hardware. *sigh*
Mind you, I don't mind making a drive for hardware I want, even if it's just a couple of pieces, then putting the rest up, but I'm not looking to profit any more than my time collecting the stuff in the first place.
I tried getting into the estate sale and auction racket. Seems like fun, but the time investment is too much for me. It's a toss-up whether it's worse than garage or yard sale hunting.
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I tried getting into the estate sale and auction racket. Seems like fun, but the time investment is too much for me. It's a toss-up whether it's worse than garage or yard sale hunting.
I've done the estate sale bit. Have some email alerts set up. It's kind of fun looking, but so far it's been nothing much more than hideous floral-pattern couches and knicknacks, though. :lol:
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It's kind of fun looking, but so far it's been nothing much more than hideous floral-pattern couches and knicknacks, though. :lol:
I hear ya! I NEVER get lucky at those yard thales! :furious:
Totally missed out on this awesome Star Trek Enterprise replica! DANG! :(
(https://diyorsomething.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/img_0413.jpg?w=676&h=507)
Like Oldsmobile Mike always says... Gotta love those peeps that post "found what must be 30+ computer keyboard lookin thingies at a yard sale - they have Amiga logos on 'em - never heard of 'em - are they worth anything?"
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I have never seen the A500 go for more than around $150, a lot of them way less on ebay.
There is a "tulip mania" going right now with Amiga and others. I got back in this last year and prices weren't like what they are now. It will go back.
Then there is my good fortune from a few weeks back getting a few amigas, software, peripherals for $50. He was going to the recycling center if I didn't take it.
He knew what he had, wasn't naive.
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This hobby has gone down the crapper in recent years, gone are the good old days when nobody cared about "retro".
These days, even if I (very rarely) find something of interest in a flea-market, the seller asks for an insane price (because its retro!) and quotes Ebay prices.
I collect computers and consoles since the 90's and my entire collection cost me less than it would cost to buy a single A1200 on ebay these days.
I'm not kidding.
I'm lucky if I add an item to my collection once a year, will never ever pay the ridiculous prices asked for now!
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This hobby has gone down the crapper in recent years, gone are the good old days when nobody cared about "retro".
These days, even if I (very rarely) find something of interest in a flea-market, the seller asks for an insane price (because its retro!) and quotes Ebay prices.
I collect computers and consoles since the 90's and my entire collection cost me less than it would cost to buy a single A1200 on ebay these days.
I'm not kidding.
I'm lucky if I add an item to my collection once a year, will never ever pay the ridiculous prices asked for now!
I know, I'd "like to" pick up an Amiga to replay some of the games and frankly the whole experience from when I was 19-21ish, but if the thing is going to cost me $1000, I'll buy a new PC with an emulator! :shocked:
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My favorite example of the stereotypical eBay seller of "retro" items is a guy who had several dozen Atari 2600 "Pac Man" cartridges and listed them as "rare." I had a PDF of that listing and I've lost it over time.
R@RE VINTAGE H2F NIB NOS L@@K RETRO BBQ XYZ ad naseum
Aggravates the shyt out of me. Mind, it's definitely not limited to our hobby. Last year I wanted to find a Jeep. Something old, not necessarily in good shape. The least expensive I could find within 200 miles of me was $4,200 and it needed serious work and wasn't even promised to drive away from the seller. Because, you know, Jeeps of that age are vintage (people can't even use the word correctly,) antiques, and so on.
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My favorite example of the stereotypical eBay seller of "retro" items is a guy who had several dozen Atari 2600 "Pac Man" cartridges and listed them as "rare." I had a PDF of that listing and I've lost it over time.
R@RE VINTAGE H2F NIB NOS L@@K RETRO BBQ XYZ ad naseum
Aggravates the shyt out of me. Mind, it's definitely not limited to our hobby. Last year I wanted to find a Jeep. Something old, not necessarily in good shape. The least expensive I could find within 200 miles of me was $4,200 and it needed serious work and wasn't even promised to drive away from the seller. Because, you know, Jeeps of that age are vintage (people can't even use the word correctly,) antiques, and so on.
Are we allowed to post eBay links? I'd like to post a "retro" one...
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So people are now "flipping" Amiga and Mac hardware. *sigh*
Mind you, I don't mind making a drive for hardware I want, even if it's just a couple of pieces, then putting the rest up, but I'm not looking to profit any more than my time collecting the stuff in the first place.
I tried getting into the estate sale and auction racket. Seems like fun, but the time investment is too much for me. It's a toss-up whether it's worse than garage or yard sale hunting.
Yes, I have seen the same items Airey sells, at a discount, relisted after having been purchased by someone else, then tested, and marked up. A while back, he had A500 motherboards and separate sets of chips that he was selling for $15 each. I saw the same exact ones listed by two US sellers about a month later, with the chips and motherboards assembled and "tested" for almost $200 each.
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Interestingly I struggle to find less popular stuff in Europe but generally the items are available in the States. I am talking about cartridges for the C64 or 5.25" disks for the Atari. Very often I am short of a cable or bit of software and I do a search and it always says available but thousands of miles in the US direction.
Posting on Yahoo groups and some of the forums did use to work but that is a while ago now. The UK is crazy bonkers in truth. The days of getting a cheap deal has all but gone. I mean I could get a 100 disks for a couple of quid. Now there are guys selling a single cover disk for a fiver. Seems to be the same people though.
You just gotta keep trying. Create a small website and create an interest for yourself and join a few groups. Broadcast your interest and you never know.
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Yes, I have seen the same items Airey sells, at a discount, relisted after having been purchased by someone else, then tested, and marked up. A while back, he had A500 motherboards and separate sets of chips that he was selling for $15 each. I saw the same exact ones listed by two US sellers about a month later, with the chips and motherboards assembled and "tested" for almost $200 each.
Same thing happened to me! I have an old Rev 3 A500 machine that I robbed a CIA & CPU out of long time ago. I thought I would replace the chips and started looking around on eBay. Yup, there's Airey's stuff... $$$. I'm thinking "I'm just not going to pay that much!" because I bought an A1200 mobo from him about a year ago (I'm not simply trying to bash Airey) and the factory buster mod was broken off, along with the IC leg (which results in No Fast RAM) and a bent over pin on the PCMCIA connector (tested my a$$). So I start looking for a motherboard instead of separate chips - might as well right? Well some chap in merry old England was selling five Rev6a mobos at a reasonable price of about $50 each. I watched 4 of 'em go pretty fast and the last one sat there for a couple of days so I thought I better snag it! Now I'm scared to swap the IC's to test the Rev 3 mobo for fear I'll fry 'em and have to look for more! Hence I need a A500 keyboard (don't even get me started as to why I don't have a keyboard for the Rev 3 machine). And this all came about because I'm in line to get one of "Rob the Nerd's" awesome Zorro adapters! Hey NEWBIES, see how this works! :roflmao:
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Ahhh, I gotta jump back in here one more time. Just as sometimes we Amigan's
are challenged by the same life terms that our parents and grandparents, or whomever had, I will say that I've had great fun with Amiga's over the years and it's all because of you Amiga.org folks. I could complain about no parts or high prices these days, but I've also had my share of good Miggy fortune! :)
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I will say that I've had great fun with Amiga's over the years and it's all because of you Amiga.org folks.
:hammer: :hammer: :hammer:
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:hammer: :hammer: :hammer:
Looks like you're bustin my balls there Mikey! You callin me a liar? :lol::lol::lol:
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Ahhh, I gotta jump back in here one more time. Just as sometimes we Amigan's
are challenged by the same life terms that our parents and grandparents, or whomever had, I will say that I've had great fun with Amiga's over the years and it's all because of you Amiga.org folks. I could complain about no parts or high prices these days, but I've also had my share of good Miggy fortune! :)
Hear hear.
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Just looked at Ebay today, it is nuts.
Almost $200 for an A1000 motherboard, $350 for midget racer accelerator for the 500.
Those are in the sold listings. Many more head scratchers on there.
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Let’s not forget the megachip that’s listed for $200 and the vanilla, stock A600 that’s listed
For $500!
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Let’s not forget the megachip that’s listed for $200 and the vanilla, stock A600 that’s listed
For $500!
Or the A1200 for $1100!
Yay!
I should just buy a new car, lol.
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As far as prices. It is free market. If people are willing to pay for this hardware $$$ then let it be. Different story is if people who buy and sell this stuff have HEART for Amiga or do this simply for the money. But... in both cases it is free choice. Do I like it? Sure I don't, since I would like to get my Picasso IV for $50+free shipping and Zorro III for A1200 for $30 :).
In some way I'm happy there is still interest in Amiga it keeps it alive... and new AmigaOS4.1 HW and emulation is around so it is not THAT tragic situation.
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Or the A1200 for $1100!
Yay!
I should just buy a new car, lol.
...but can your "new car" run WB3.1 in AGA mode (natively!) :) or can you hear this "click" of floppy drive... asking you to load Super Frog from floppy discs?
You should see A1200 running on 50" 4k TV with Supper Frog. Nothing can give you THAT experience (OK. Maybe Fantastic Dizzy can!)
Later you realize you spend $500 to have 25+ year old HW and your wife asked you WHAT ARE YOU DOING? :D