HP-19BII Business Consultant II for 20 Euros?

[jebem]

I saw a HP-19BII Business Consultant II, almost new in the box, with Portuguese manuals, for a asking price of 20 Euro.

Should I take the offer for that price?
Or should I offer more money for it, to make sure other people will not tell that I am doing a "shabby treatment" of the current owner?

Cheers.

[Bill (Smithville NJ)]

(10-17-2014 01:10 PM)jebem Wrote:  I saw a HP-19BII Business Consultant II, almost new in the box, with Portuguese manuals, for a asking price of 20 Euro.

Should I take the offer for that price?
Or should I offer more money for it, to make sure other people will not tell that I am doing a "shabby treatment" of the current owner?

Cheers.

I've had this same internal discussion with myself on several purchases in the past. In one case, I discussed with the seller that he could possible get a better price, and told him where he could offer to sell it for possibly a higher price. In that case, he insisted that I purchase it for his original low price.

Several years ago, I bought a quantity of HP calculators (about 15 various calculators including HP-71B, HP-42S and an assortment of HP-48SX/GX) for a negotiated price. When I received the package, I noticed that there was an additional calculator included - HP-15C. I emailed him about the additional calculator and offered him additional money and he stated that he found it at the last moment and just added it to the package - no additional money was required. I sent him a nice thank you and enjoyed the 15C.

It's funny how this works and how we think about things like this. If we are buying something from someone we either know or we are doing the transaction in person, then we become concerned about whether we are cheating the person out of the item (by offering too low a price). But if we won the same item for the same low price in an ebay auction, then we would thank our lucky stars and not think twice about the seller. Likewise, if we bought the item at a yard sale/flea market/second-hand store for the same low price, then, again, we would think we are very lucky to get it at such a low price.


I wish you the best with whatever you finally decide to do,

Bill

[rprosperi]

(10-17-2014 01:10 PM)jebem Wrote:  I saw a HP-19BII Business Consultant II, almost new in the box, with Portuguese manuals, for a asking price of 20 Euro.

Should I take the offer for that price?
Or should I offer more money for it, to make sure other people will not tell that I am doing a "shabby treatment" of the current owner?

Cheers.

My advice is you should not take advantage of the seller's lack of knowledge. You should send me his/her contact info and I would be glad to contact him/her to explain in detail...

Really, just buy it and be thankful. Maybe offer 25 out of generosity. It's quite a nice machine, with the good solver, etc.

[jebem]

(10-17-2014 01:59 PM)Bill (Smithville NJ) Wrote:  If we are buying something from someone we either know or we are doing the transaction in person, then we become concerned about whether we are cheating the person out of the item (by offering too low a price).

But if we won the same item for the same low price in an ebay auction, then we would thank our lucky stars and not think twice about the seller. Likewise, if we bought the item at a yard sale/flea market/second-hand store for the same low price, then, again, we would think we are very lucky to get it at such a low price.

Thanks, Bill.

I do not know the seller, this is a local "ebay style" portal where people post their 2nd hand stuff.
I have been cheated by some sellers, asking moderately high prices for equipment that are advertized as "fully functional", only to find out that it is faulty after delivery.
I never complain in these situations, and never return the goods.
I just have a black list of these sellers, so next time I have to be cautious with them.
This is a matter of luck and chance to me.

But I consider myself as a decent person, and because this time I will meet the seller in person, I will have the opportunity to evaluate the goods before making a better offer, although this is a strange situation where the seller ask you a price and you offer more!
Normally we do business in the other way around...
One danger here is that the seller may think you are cheating him when you offer more. I explain. He/she can start thing like this:
Wait a minute, I ask 20, this guy offers me 30, it means I should have asked a minimum of 60! But now it is too late! Damn!

So in the end, you pay more for something that is valuable and the seller will be really upset with himself.
I don't know how to deal with this, really.

But I will let you know after tomorrow

(10-17-2014 03:55 PM)rprosperi Wrote:  My advice is you should not take advantage of the seller's lack of knowledge. You should send me his/her contact info and I would be glad to contact him/her to explain in detail...

Really, just buy it and be thankful. Maybe offer 25 out of generosity. It's quite a nice machine, with the good solver, etc.

Thanks, Bob.

Your services offer is appreciated, Thank you, but I have to pass this time, as tomorrow I will meet the seller in person

Ok, this time I will have the chance to test the equipment first, check the package contents, and then I will pay accordingly.
My guess is that the user guides alone are worth like 10 Euro, even if it are in Portuguese.
Depending on the sellers attitude/profile and depending on how the talking goes, I may give her (seller is a lady) more money for the calculator.
The last thing I want is to cheat anyone, of course.

[Dave Frederickson]

There was a modification made to the battery compartment of the 19BII. The mod moves the battery door to the back of the calculator and isn't prone to failure. These models seem to command a higher price on eBay. If this calc is one of those then you should consider it's value accordingly.

Dave

[Geoff Quickfall]

Always a dilemma!

I was called about a calc repair for a 92 year old archeologist. He needed his scientific calculator fixed and thought it only needed a battery pack rebuilt. The battery company called me.

I dropped by and found a mint 67 in need of a battery pack. I took the calc to the owner, had a long chat about archeology and the paper he was co authoring. He needed the stat functions and had the cards for it.

Well, the calc was NOS with external battery charger, all boxes, manuals, accessories still shrink wrapped. He purchased the package in 76 and put it in storage. He just recently opened it and of course it did not work. Fortunately the battery pack was not in the calc.

After explaining the value of a pristine, unused package (books, box and all plus accessories) he said 'no problem, I have a Casio that will do the stats." Then e gave me the 67! I explained the value again and finally, after convincing him to accept something, gave him 200 dollars. He really did not want to accept that either.

Geoff

[Maximilian Hohmann]

Hello!

The HP-19B II is not rare or expensive. I have bought three of them on eBay over the years and did not pay more than 30 Euros each (my personal limit for anything with a grey LCD apart from some very special items). So I wouldn't waste a second thought when buying one for 20 Euros.

Regards
Max

[jebem]

@ Dave,
I met the seller today and bought the calculator for the asking price.

Unfortunately this one uses the common side port, and it is slightly dented.
On top of that, the lady had engraved her name initials on both sides!
She said: you know what happens in the schools, stuff just disappears from your table and next week you see someone using it next to you and you cann't get it back...

She did not show these two detail in the adverts... very smart.
She said that she doesn't understand this technical details, like I was being picky...

On the positive side, the machine works nicely and the lcd is very readable for this kind of generation LCD.

@Geoff,
Thanks for sharing your life experience.
I agree that we should not take advantage of the others lack of knowledge on the value that us, avid HP machine collectors, are willing to pay to own these objects of desire.

But in the present case, I felt that I was cheated by the seller.
I only bought the machine because I'm a good heart and after driving myself to the mall for this acquisition, I had to have it.

@Max,
I was looking to acquire one if these models to add to my collection, and because the price was low enough, I accepted the sellers price, despite the issues found.

But yes, I tend to agree with you, and for additional reasons.
For one, money is short, and on top of that I suspect that my wife wants to kill me one of these days for spending money on useless stuff.