Date   : Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:16:29 -0500
From   : jules.richardson99@... (Jules Richardson)
Subject: eBay Pricing Psychology Discussion - was Re:

Michael Firth wrote:
> The BBC eBay auction that amuses me the most is this one:
> 
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RARE-VINTAGE-ACORN-BBC-B-32K-COMPUTER-MINT_W0QQitemZ290306846254QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_VintageComputing_RL?hash=item4397a2ee2e&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A12%7C66%3A2%7C39%3A1%7C72%3A1690%7C240%3A1318%7C301%3A

> 
> "RARE" - only 1 million BBC Bs were sold, so yes, they are very rare!
> "MINT" - the machine has had a ROM board installed, and is pictured with the 
> lid off. For me, 'mint' would mean that (at least) the machine had only ever 
> been opened by an Acorn dealer.

Hard to tell for sure from the low-res photo, but it looks like it's got no 
Econet port - yet is missing the little press-out in the rear label; I thought 
all factory machines which didn't have Econet pre-fitted had this part of the 
rear decal left in place?

Looks clean inside, but no way of knowing if they haven't run it through a 
dishwasher - and the photo's too small to tell for sure anyway.

> ?120!!!! - WTF. There may be quite a few bits and pieces with the machine, 
> but that's at least double the maximum I would pay.

I could see a genuine 'mint'* working beeb going for that much these days, 
considering the extras - but only with comprehensive photos of everything, and 
an invite for prospective buyers to come and see the thing in person.

I'd take take 'fully tested' with a pinch of salt, too, given that there's no 
description of how they've gone about testing. If they've left it running for 
a day or two doing a RAM test, or tested the serial port, TUBE etc. you'd 
think they'd say so - which leaves me suspecting that they've turned it on, 
got a BASIC prompt, and left it at that.

* I see it's actually "mint condition for year", which could mean utterly 
buggered case and dog-eared documentation ;-)

As I always say to folk though, there's the ebay world and "everywhere else", 
and usually little correlation between the two.

cheers

Jules