Author Topic: Amiga Chop Shop sigh (Read 4649 times)

TjLaZer · « **on:** October 15, 2005, 02:34:18 AM »

This is sad, this guy seems to buy and resell Amigas for profit all the time. I am ok with that as long as the starting bid is low, but when you start parting out machines to make an extra red cent and set the starting bid high and buy it now way up that is f-ing messed up. That's just me...

-edit- As you can see he has a A3000 parted out, and all the parts work even the system board. It would be one thing if the MB was dead and he wanted to off load the rest of the machine, but not the case...

InTheSand · « **Reply #1 on:** October 15, 2005, 02:47:39 AM »

I agree with you - very annoying that a working A3000 gets stuffed just so this guy can make a profit by stripping it bare...

Still, I guess it's his choice, but it does kind of ruin the Amiga market for the rest of us. Let's hope there are not many more of his kind...

- Ali

logicalheart · « **Reply #2 on:** October 15, 2005, 02:56:56 AM »

I guess in some way, I work against people like that. When I sell my Amiga stuff, I try to keep it in complete working condition instead of parting it out. I also like to sell many parts together to give the buyer a good deal and save on shipping costs. I also usually throw in a small free item. I like giving other Amiga users a good deal. I feel like we need to help each other. - Lars

Dr_Righteous · « **Reply #3 on:** October 15, 2005, 04:50:18 AM »

Hmm, not quite sure how to feel. On the one hand I want to agree and say it's wrong to "chop" a working system. But, if you happen to need a particular part or two... Hmm... I guess I would feel better about it if there were SOME damage to the system... Like the case was bashed in or something.

OSS542 · « **Reply #4 on:** October 15, 2005, 09:16:07 AM »

I also note that this is another "USA" only auction.

Makes it hard if you see a good deal and have to contact the seller for approval before you can even bid....it's often too late to catch the BIN in such a case.....and that is if the seller will make a exception for an overseas sale....a lot won't anymore.

Legerdemain · « **Reply #5 on:** October 15, 2005, 09:59:16 AM »

I'm always against too high starting bids. This due to several reasons.

1. Too high starting bids means that either the seller is out to make much cash out of peoples desperation, play on people not being aware of the actual worth of the items or simply being completely unaware of what the items are actually worth. In all three cases I find it annoying.

2. Too high starting bids often, for some reason or another, get some bids and then the circus has landed. If one item goes for an insane amount of money, shortly thereafter many others have suddenly rasied their starting bids.

3. Too high starting bids makes me feel angst against the seller. Yes. How dumb doesn't that sound. I get upset. Thinking, oh, he or she must be evil. Pure evil. =)

4. And so on...

Anyways... items tends to get a ficitious value on online auction sites like eBay very quickly thanks to some few people. I tend to never support that fictious value, going for the real value. And those few times that I've sold something where the bidding has gone insane and someone buys something from for what I consider too much I have even sometimes pointed that out... (still haven't had anyone not paying, though). It has even happened that I have contacted people having put a really really insane bid on something, pointing them towards another site, person or whatever, where they can get this very item for, let's say, 1/4 of the price, and also in the process realising that the very "RARENESS" if the item bidded on was entirely fictious.

I mean. Often its about being unaware. Or simply being lazy, not bothering about looking on several places for a particular item. Or sometimes simply not knowing where to look.

Sometimes the item is really rare. But in most cases, escpecially on eBay, I think not. Even some dust could sell off for big money, just being claimed RARE and STILL SHRINKWRAPPED... even being "directly from under Madonnas dinner table".

Oh well.

Framiga · « **Reply #6 on:** October 15, 2005, 11:18:28 AM »

@TjLaZer

"This is sad, this guy seems to buy and resell Amigas for profit all the time"

:-? and so? . . . we have a lot here who acts the same.

Wheres the difference?

KThunder · « **Reply #7 on:** October 15, 2005, 11:32:31 AM »

his prices for some of the chips are a bit high (like the rev11 buster ive been searching the net for) but most of the other stuff is fine. i might grab ther mobo and hd if i can.
does anyone have a rev11 buster they would part with for cheap?

wait a tec does he have that mobo sitting on carpet? maybe i wont get it.

Argus · « **Reply #8 on:** October 15, 2005, 12:38:18 PM »

'Chop-shop' seems to be a trend on eBay nowadays. I think eBay even teaches that at their 'university'...LOL

Oli_hd · « **Reply #9 on:** October 15, 2005, 01:07:23 PM »

I dont mind someone removing the Zorro cards and such from the Amiga and selling them off abd then the bare Amiga.. strippind the diskdrive out and the memory though... now thats sad. :-?

odin · « **Reply #10 on:** October 15, 2005, 01:16:57 PM »

Can't say I share the sentiments of the majority of people here. So there's somebody out there trying to make a buck by selling Miggies in parts...big deal :-?. That's capitalism at work for you.

The prices are indeed too high. Then again, if there are people out there willing to pay high amounts of cash for said parts, then the prices obviously weren't too high.

Argus · « **Reply #11 on:** October 16, 2005, 01:44:12 PM »

I have no problem with people getting the fair price the market will bear.

But I do wish when people stripped out the 'upgrade chips' and then sell the motherboards (presumably to people who want a working replacement/spare m/b), they would hopefully put back the original chips in the sockets. For example, no A3000s were shipped with Rev. 11 Super Buster or OS3.1 roms, so if you're going to sell the m/b w/o these upgrade chips, please put back the Rev. 7 Buster and the original roms if you still have them so the end user doesn't have to strip down his/her working machine merely to see if the m/b works.

mechy · « **Reply #12 on:** October 16, 2005, 03:46:56 PM »

I have been reading the replies to this thread and there are some things that bother me also. One is "COLLECTORS",it seems some so called collectors like to hoard amiga stuff until its value goes up and not use it,this reduces whats available for people like me to use(ya,call me crazy i use quite a few of the 13 amiga systems i have)and drives prices yet higher.i am typing this on my A4000/mediator setup!.computers are for using imho.I will say tho its rare to find computer parts that hold their value like amiga parts do,this is somewhat good,and makes me not mind spending more on hardware sometimes,because i know i will get most my $$ back years later.look at the average pc clone,a $500 one will be worth $150 or less in just a couple years in alot of cases.The fact that amiga HW holds its value has attracted alot of ripoff artists too.
Unfortunately i am forced to move soon and i have to sell off at least half my amiga's and parts.I have dealt on Comp.sys.amiga.marketplace since somewhere around late 89' to present day,unfortunately its become comp.sys.amiga.ebay.advertise! well now that this has happened,there is not much choice to sell stuff except ebay. unfortunately i have chosen ebay,not to gain big money(see my auctions,i lost my A** on a couple!)..guess that will teach me to start everything at 99 cents with no reserve eh?,but because the easy shipping management and security of paypal.like most i've been burned a few times.anyway,i dont think its necessarily a bad thing when people part out amiga's,and YES most do it to make more $$,but theres been many times i needed A part,and not a whole machine.what bothers me more is when people HACK on amiga cases.I've seen some stupidity,one i have now is a A3000T someone hacked to fit some oddball accelerator or something at one time,and did a ugly job,before this i had a 3000t someone drilled a load of holes in the front of the case to try and mount HD's and stuff. My other 3000T has been hacked for a toaster 2000 card,but the people did such a perfect job i didn't even realise it was done until later.i can live with clean/usefull mods.
I hate seeing a complete machine piecemealed,butits not always bad. Unfortunately i'm about to do this on a working 4000 with battery leakage(it got to me too late to save).Its a socketed buster 11 board,and still works fine(except the clock).
my last peeve is what is it with these people?

? do they ever read the damn description i took time to write on my auctions? theres several cards that i sold as DEAD,with BIG RED LETTERS SAYING "DEAD" and people still email me asking if it works!!
If you are going to buy amiga parts,you had better do some research.
Anyway,i'm off to work on installing a laptop cdrom into my A1000

hmm,this ranting and raving is good therapy

mechy

Cyberus · « **Reply #13 on:** October 16, 2005, 06:46:36 PM »

At the end of the day, that's capitalism for you. I agree that its annoying if say, there's an Amiga going for free on Amibench or something and someone gets their first in front of a genuine user just so they can sell it on....

One thing I have done myself is buy a job lot of something, take the stuff I need and sell the rest on...it helps make the hobby more affordable and remember you are sometimes taking a risk acquiring a lot of what could be crap.

The thing that personally pissed me off, is that there was a guy selling an A4000 on Amibench - I drove for 2 hours across Southern England to buy it for £50 - he said it had stoppped working. What he didn't tell me, is that some of the people who had been there previously to buy the Zorro cards he was selling had done a vulture act and taken the HD cradle and keyboard from the A4000. Now, I wasn't going to go away empty -handed so I reluctantly agreed to buy it anyway... but A4000 keyboards seem to be like gold dust :-(

{bleep}s

kd7ota · « **Reply #14 on:** October 16, 2005, 10:05:19 PM »

In a way I am irritated by the ways Amiga hardware has been dealt with. I have not purchased Amiga stuff mainly because of all the scams and the times when people do get the items, it simply doesnt work.

Thats why instead of paying the high price, UAE is what I use.

Hey, I know it isnt the real thing, but it sure beats having to spend ultimate amounts on something that risks to be faulty on arrival. :-)