TAS has made the market less transparent

[rprosperi]

(06-10-2014 05:34 PM)John R Wrote:  

(06-10-2014 03:26 PM)Katie Wasserman Wrote:  Without trying to be judgmental on this topic, I do think that this activity has pushed up the perceived values of most (all?) HP calculators and many other brands significantly. It potentially makes what we all have at least some of more valuable but it makes it harder to acquire. One could look at this as the maturing of a fledgling collectable hobby or the demise of an experimental one.

From the perspective of somebody who is a relative latecomer to HP collecting, TAS has actually made it significantly EASIER to acquire a collection, albeit more expensive per acquisition. TAS is a clearinghouse for all kinds of buyers and sellers; some care only about making a buck, while some have a genuine interest in (or even love for) the things they buy and sell. Whatever their motivations, the volume of calculators sold on TAS is easily hundreds of times the volume sold here and in other forums -- which means that it provides hundreds of times more opportunities to acquire various models or parts that would otherwise be effectively unavailable to a newcomer. It would be orders of magnitude more difficult to build up a sizable collection from scratch without TAS (or something like it).

(As with Katie, there is no intent here for judgment, and hopefully no implicit judgment is inferred.)

IANAL but, are you?

Just kidding about the bottom comment; it sounds kinda legal like this is what you do. But I must say I completely agree with you; eBay has dramatically extended the reach and coverage of countless products that would otherwise remain unavailable to most folks. I've been able to locate and purchase LOTS of things (including yes, non-calculator things) related to old products both for repair and sentimental reasons.

And while it is completely correct that eBay can be guilty of driving up prices for things you may find cheaper at a yard sale or in the MoHPC Classifieds, at least it's an option to get the thing you want, should it not be at that yard sale.

Also, it's a tremendously useful resource to find out details about all manner of things. Quick, what's the part number of the LCD inverter on an HP Pavilion dv6030? it's much faster to find on eBay than on HP's part surfer website/store...