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IBM 5150 PC, two slim 5.25 floppies, keyboard, monitor, printer, DOS 2.1 on eBay

My comment would be to compare prices to other 5150 sold on ebay, because $850 for a non-working, used 5150 with a 3rd-party monitor is insane. Look at listing 402623545489 for example. That one was working and came with the IBM 5153 color monitor - and sold for $357,50.

Also, if you state being the original owner, you should prove that by the receipt. If you can't, just don't state it at all.
 
My comment would be to compare prices to other 5150 sold on ebay, because $850 for a non-working, used 5150 with a 3rd-party monitor is insane. Look at listing 402623545489 for example. That one was working and came with the IBM 5153 color monitor - and sold for $357,50.

Also, if you state being the original owner, you should prove that by the receipt. If you can't, just don't state it at all.

Thanks. I made the error of comparing asking prices, with a few (better) complete systems at $1,000 - $1,200, so was undercutting those. Reviewing sales, I see just one as high as $850 complete in recent weeks. I will adjust my price down and will, of course, consider offers.

Do you really expect me to have a receipt from 37 years ago? You'll have to take my word for it. The point is, it has never been exposed to any adverse environment.

Peter
 
I think your asking price would be a lot more realistic if you took the time to repair the power on fault. It's probably something simple like a shorted tantalum
 
Would be helpful if your listing includes pictures of the internals.
Since you're the original owner, I'm wondering why, in a previous post, you asked "...I think is a original PC, but want to know what's inside the box". I've owned mine since new (01/82) and still know exactly how it's configured.
 
Would be helpful if your listing includes pictures of the internals.
Since you're the original owner, I'm wondering why, in a previous post, you asked "...I think is a original PC, but want to know what's inside the box". I've owned mine since new (01/82) and still know exactly how it's configured.

The reality is that we have lived in this house since 1986, so the computer was moved just once while still new. When retired, it went into a 2'x2'x2.5' wooden box that some art had come in, and stayed there the next 30+ years, in a cool, dry basement. We're cleaning up now, so it's better to sell to an interested party than going to e-waste. My earlier post was before I checked dates, and now know that this is not an XT, therefore "original". I saw on some postings that there were details like the chip, RAM, etc., and would have put that in if easy to know. I'm not interested in opening it up, although I have put expansion cards and memory into other computers. I'm certainly not qualified to replace capacitors as another poster suggested. Thanks for your suggestion.
 
I've been looking for an original PC for some time now, but finding one on eBay is problematic. Sellers, like the op, look at past sales which is misleading. eBay's system is somewhat screwy when doing this. When a potential buyer sends me an email on eBay it's accompanied with a "Make Offer" button that I can use to offer the potential buyer a deal. However, when a buyer takes advantage of the offer the listing shows up as sold at the original price I was asking. I don't think this is a "glitch" but rather eBay's way of getting sellers to list their items for higher prices in hopes of making more profit. Either way it skews prices and makes sellers think they are going to get a fortune for that vintage equipment they have.

In it's current condition I would not consider anything close to the asking price. If I were to offer what I believe is a fair price the op would more than likely take that as I'm trying to rip him/her off.
 
Thanks. I made the error of comparing asking prices, with a few (better) complete systems at $1,000 - $1,200, so was undercutting those. Reviewing sales, I see just one as high as $850 complete in recent weeks. I will adjust my price down and will, of course, consider offers.

Peter

I work in estate sales, so take it from me when I say that if you want to know what something is worth on eBay, you have to look purely at sold listings, and you can't just look at the highs. Rich and impatient collectors exist in all corners of eBay, but they don't set the going rate, because they represent only one half of the spectrum. There are just as many items on eBay at a reasonable markup, or even under priced, and all this together sets the going rate

Obviously, there are many strategies to selling on eBay, and I understand people tend to overprice things in order to fish for someone willing to buy it outright, but a more conservative approach is to total up what you have, take the high and the low and find a median or average price. In this case, you'd be looking at the average price for a non-working IBM 5150 missing the original monitor + the average price of a Princeton HX-12 + average price of a similar dot matrix printer.

Even if you're not comfortable changing your list price, I suggest researching an average price for your own purposes, because in all likelihood you won't get asking price and you'll need to know what the acceptable minimum is.
 
I work in estate sales, so take it from me when I say that if you want to know what something is worth on eBay, you have to look purely at sold listings, and you can't just look at the highs. Rich and impatient collectors exist in all corners of eBay, but they don't set the going rate, because they represent only one half of the spectrum. There are just as many items on eBay at a reasonable markup, or even under priced, and all this together sets the going rate

Obviously, there are many strategies to selling on eBay, and I understand people tend to overprice things in order to fish for someone willing to buy it outright, but a more conservative approach is to total up what you have, take the high and the low and find a median or average price. In this case, you'd be looking at the average price for a non-working IBM 5150 missing the original monitor + the average price of a Princeton HX-12 + average price of a similar dot matrix printer.

Even if you're not comfortable changing your list price, I suggest researching an average price for your own purposes, because in all likelihood you won't get asking price and you'll need to know what the acceptable minimum is.

I have followed your (and others) advice and reduced the price to $395, assigning no value to the printer and mounting base. Average recent sold prices for the computer, keyboard and monitor total $442, so this should be fair. We'll see what happens. Thanks.
 
That is much more in line with current market expectations. Thank you for being receptive to community input.

Well his ebay name is "fair-seller" after all.

^.^

That system is VERY clean. And to the people that poo-poo that monitor. I have one, and it works very well. Anecdotal experiences being what they are, anyway. I hope someone gets this setup.
 
I'm thinking of donating this system to Goodwill and taking a deduction. If anyone would like to come to Sausalito, CA and pick it up instead, let me know. Call Peter at (415) 699-2739.
 
Selling keyboard separately

Selling keyboard separately

I'm thinking of donating this system to Goodwill and taking a deduction. If anyone would like to come to Sausalito, CA and pick it up instead, let me know. Call Peter at (415) 699-2739.

I have removed the listing from eBay, and have now listed the Model F keyboard separately at https://www.ebay.com/itm/164738873067

Based on feedback during this process, this will sell for close to what the entire system would get. If interested, take a look.
 
I have removed the listing from eBay, and have now listed the Model F keyboard separately at https://www.ebay.com/itm/164738873067

Based on feedback during this process, this will sell for close to what the entire system would get. If interested, take a look.

I'm not sure if the data point is useful, but I paid $135 for a Model F back in April.

The keyboards can go for a lot, but there can also be a lot of variability depending on how many other keyboards are on the market at the time. Supply fluctuates.
 
I'm not sure if the data point is useful, but I paid $135 for a Model F back in April.

The keyboards can go for a lot, but there can also be a lot of variability depending on how many other keyboards are on the market at the time. Supply fluctuates.

Thanks. I was offered $180 to carve it out when the system was for sale, and I've seen some sold prices that are quite high. I have it on an auction format ending next Wednesday, so we'll see. If yours is a clean as mine, you got a great deal.
 
Model F Keyboard Sold

Model F Keyboard Sold

Thanks. I was offered $180 to carve it out when the system was for sale, and I've seen some sold prices that are quite high. I have it on an auction format ending next Wednesday, so we'll see. If yours is a clean as mine, you got a great deal.

The keyboard sold today on eBay for $200. Thanks for all of the advice on this site. Can't see how to remove this thread, so feel free to delete it.
 
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