I have generally reframed from replying to any of the comments that have been made concerning Coburlin and his E-bay practices. But I have been wondering about his success ratio. So I decided to do a totally unscientific analysis using the past deals as reflected in his existing Feedback.
I found the results very interesting.
The period covers Feedback from Sept 29 thru Nov 25. During this period, he bought 50 items for $1925 plus shipping. He also sold 13 items for $2900. Not a bad profit you might say. He still has 37 more items to sell at a highly marked up price.
What is the most interesting is the following:
Of the items bought, 17 were true Buy It Now, 9 were sold early BIN, and 24 were full period bids of 5 to 10 days in length.
The True Buy It Now included:
Three Hp-200LX for $50 each.
HP-41CV W/Survey Module for $60.
HP-41CX for $100
HP-15C for $60.
Each of these Items were available for a short time for ANY ONE OF US to purchase at these prices. He just did it before we did. That's the way it works.
The items that went for the full period included the following:
HP-15C for $61.25 (10 Days)
HP-35 for $13.83 (7 Days)
HP-41CV for $95 (5 Days)
HP-41C X-Func Module for $4.99 (7 Days)
HP-15C for $100.88 (7 Days)
HP-35 for $52 (5 Days)
HP-15C for $86 (7 Days)
Again, ANY ONE OF US could have also bid on any of these items and probally bought them for a faily resonable price.
I realize there are many here that do not like the fact that he will attempt (and the key word is attempt) to re-sell these items at a very high mark-up. And the fact that he is also quicker to purchase low BIN offers, but any BIN is available for any of us also.
I have to admit that I have bought items extremely cheap at yard sales, flea markets and then re-sold them or traded them at the higher going rate. I'd be willing to bet that most of us here have done that also. But isn't that how most of us fund our hobby? I have picked up items cheaply at flea markets, etc, that I really didn't want just for the purpose of trading or selling it for something I really want. I think most hobbies work this way. I guess the phase "going rate" might make a difference, but I did re-sell or trade at a profit. Of course there are those many items I have bought over the years that I ended up giving away because I was the only person who thought it was a bargain at the time I bought them.
The main difference is that Coburlin does all his buying and selling in a very public way and the mark-ups seem extremely high to most of us and that irritates us.
I guess my main reason for writting this is to try to put some perspective on it. Any one of us could have also bought a fairly cheap HP-15C, 41CV, 41CX or 200LX if we had been quicker. I'm sure that many of us HAVE bought items using BIN that has also irritated Coburin when we were quicker than he was.
Several years ago, I was at a Ham Radio Ham Fest (Flea Market) and the table I was at had several TI calculators on it for sale. I wasn't interested in the TI's, but the person behind me was astute enough to ask the dealer if he had any other calculators for sale that he hadn't put out on the table. Turned out the dealer had 15 HP-41CV's with cases, modules, and other accessories. The person who had asked, ended up buying the lot for $5 each ($75 total) while I could only look on in envy. I learned a valuable lesson that day.
Time to Quit Rambling. I'm not trying to stir anyone up, so please no flames.
Thanks,
Bill
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