Tek TDS380

Kind of klunky by today's standards, but scopes in that line still go for a competitive price, $200-600 depending on condition (not working, to, clean and in cal?) and whatnot.

Tim

-- Seven Transistor Labs Electrical Engineering Consultation Website:

400 mhz scope with "graph" option. I would think it's worthwhile to sell them, especially if in good condition. Judging by the eBay sold listings: you'll get between $120 and $400/ea for them.

For a charitable donation, you have to use the fair market value for the instrument, which in this case means the lowest price at which a similar device was sold. That could be the eBay price, but if you donated it to an organization that later resold it, you would use their selling price. Most often, that's much lower than the eBay price, as I found out the hard way. The required IRS documentation for donations is also a bit much:

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

I suspect he just "took them out of service" for an equipment upgrade. Many of us tend to view "year end" as an opportunity to spend "excess" equipment budget dollars, etc.

I'll see if I can find a suitable charity for him -- I don't imagine the monies would offset the effort of dealing with eBay, etc.

Thanks!

Yes, but it costs (time/labor) to sell them -- you have to keep them on hand until they sell, answer questions, pack them up for shipment, etc. By contrast, piling them on a pallet and dropping them off at a "charitable organization" and you're DONE with the problem "today".

It's not all about "money". E.g., I regularly donate a considerable amount of my *time* to groups -- yet don't bother "writing it off". There is some value to knowing your "donation" is addressing an otherwise unfulfilled

*need*. [Donating things like *cars* is just plain silly! Sell the damn thing and donate the *cash* as most firms receiving donations of cars just "flip" them to a wholesaler for peanuts!]

That's the problem I had. When I bought my new (used) car in 2009, the dealer offered me $500 for the old rolling wreck. Instead, I donated it to the local charity, which then sold it for $250. I was only able to deduce the $250 and would have done much better with the trade in.

--
Jeff Liebermann     jeffl@cruzio.com 
150 Felker St #D    http://www.LearnByDestroying.com 
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com 
Skype: JeffLiebermann     AE6KS    831-336-2558

Yeah, I'm not sure if they are *prohibited* from doing so -- or if it is just "best practices" -- but most charities won't place a valuation on a non-cash donation. Probably for similar reason.

So, either donate something that will see *re-use* (with a valuation that you think you can justify) or, convert it to cash *before* the donation is made.

[E.g., a computer that isn't "reused" is worth about $5 to the recyclers!]

IRS rules. It's donation value *is* the actual resale value.