Strategies for Buying Test Equipment off Ebay

D from BC wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

Ebay is a crapshoot. Too many people get auction fever.

(heck,you probably have better odds playing blackjack in Vegas)

Jim Thompson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

one thing to worry about is whether the seller packs the item adequately. Carriers will not cover poorly packed items. Insurance may be useless if the item is rare and highly desired.

One hint is to use plastic bags of plastic peanuts packed around the item,instead of loose peanuts;with loose P-nuts,the item just migrates to the bottom of the box and gets the full shock anytime the box is dropped. With bags of P-nuts,the item stays protected as originally packed. And you need a box with at least 4 inches of space around the item,on EVERY side;I've seen many an instrument with smashed knobs,bent shafts because the packer put it in a too-small box.

(personal experience from Tektronix shiping and receiving!)

Jim Thompson wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

you'll find that often the bids only start rising in the last half-hour.

IIRC,Ebay also has an anti-snipe provision.

A very good read.. Its new stuff to me.. Ebay seemed so simple at first..but surprise! The Art of Ebay :)

Thanks.

D from BC

DJ Delorie wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@delorie.com:

The 560 series was obsolete at least 15 years ago.(according to TEK)

John Larkin wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@4ax.com:

I think it's first debut was around 40 yrs ago. AFAIK,the 560s came out around 1960,the early 60's. TEKs definition of "obsolete" was 9 yrs after the last TEK catalog appearance. (it's much shorter now.) I think the 560s were still being sold in the early 70's.

I've had very good luck buying test gear on ebay. Best score: brand new TDS5034B with deep memory option for $4600 from seller NewarkInOne. ALWAYS snipe. The main problems I've had were with inadequate packaging for shipment. Offer to pay more, including overnight or 2-day shipping: packages are handled more gently and fewer times. Be prepared to do some contact cleaning on older gear. Output stages on signal and pulse generators are sometimes burned out. Demand a partial refund from the seller....often successful. However, such problems are usually easy to troubleshoot and to repair. Paul Mathews

Why the *b*y?? Is *b*y scanning Usenet for some reason?

Yes...On occasion, I've noticed some weird shipping and handling charges. $40.00 UPS and $99.00 USPS ??? For items of same size and weight to Canada.

I did get lucky on Epray and got a brand new analog scope 100MHz (chinese)

I've only used the scope for a few hours and no POOF yet :)

It's still got that new electronics smell :P

D from BC

By definition.

There's a letter to the seller....

Dear seller... Please surround the item on all sides with individual bags of peanuts. Thank You :)

D from BC

A used test equipment site has this listed as $9600.00!

I checked prices before posting the link..hee hee :)

D from BC

If seller did not contractually agree in writing to this ahead of time, they are under NO OBLIGATION WHATSOEVER to do so.

Published prices of used test equipment sites are a total fantasy.

They are usually the MAXIMUM they are willing to accept.

Ok...How about a distributor of new equipment

TDS5034B

• 3914.26 for 16M of memory!!! Holy @#@#!!
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Those used test equipment resellers are sharky :( D from BC

I usually bid 30 seconds before closing. It seems to work.

John

Well, they were practically obsolete when they were first introduced. I never like the 560 series. They were a stripped-down version of the superb 540-series scopes: they were small, heavy, slow, and ran very hot. The crt's were nowhere as good as the 540 tubes, fuzzy focus and strange unblanking behavior.

John

Look for postings that say "AS-IS" or "FOR PARTS ONLY." Many times, the seller puts these expressions in to cover his/her ass. This is true for many of the large surplus junk e-stores.

Usually, they just have so much stuff, they don't even have time to plug it in. Many people are totally against buying like this, but I have gotten some VERY good deals on units that work fine. Sometimes, I am the only bidder and the price I pay is less than the shipping costs.

But be aware, you should pay no more that 20% of the cost of a "good" unit, with a warranty. That way, if it truly is junk, you haven't lost much.

if you bed high enought (remember the more you can bet...) the robot will not be able to outbid you... if you bet the actual bed plus $1, you will be outbed !

I saw that the final price for an object is almost always twice the price it was half an hour before the end of the auction...

Not related to strategy, but: