• The Utter Futility of Keeping a Large Spares Inventory

    From Cursitor Doom@21:1/5 to All on Sun Nov 13 18:11:36 2022
    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts
    inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to
    find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of
    equipment it happens to be I'm fixing. There invariably seems to be
    some critical aspect in spec that the replacement part can't match
    rendering it entirely unsuitable. Or I'm sure I have an exact
    replacement *somewhere* in the stock, but it would take forever to
    find it so it's easier just to order a new one. Time and time again
    this kind of thing happens. For these reasons and others of a similar
    nature, I think I wasted my time (and a huge amount of space) by
    acquiring all these components and would have been better off never
    have been offered them in the first place.
    Anyone else have any experiences like this?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From legg@21:1/5 to All on Sun Nov 13 14:14:55 2022
    On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 18:11:36 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
    wrote:

    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts >inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to
    find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of >equipment it happens to be I'm fixing. There invariably seems to be
    some critical aspect in spec that the replacement part can't match
    rendering it entirely unsuitable. Or I'm sure I have an exact
    replacement *somewhere* in the stock, but it would take forever to
    find it so it's easier just to order a new one. Time and time again
    this kind of thing happens. For these reasons and others of a similar
    nature, I think I wasted my time (and a huge amount of space) by
    acquiring all these components and would have been better off never
    have been offered them in the first place.
    Anyone else have any experiences like this?

    If you've already spent the money, then it's only the maintenance/storage/disposal cost/benefit that is of concern.
    It's also a decision only you can make.

    What you've wasted is no good fuming about. If you're not
    willing to manage the asset competently, the potential for waste
    is compounded. Just use your experience to guide current and
    future activity.

    RL

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Phil Hobbs@21:1/5 to Cursitor Doom on Sun Nov 13 19:37:45 2022
    Cursitor Doom wrote:
    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to
    find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of equipment it happens to be I'm fixing. There invariably seems to be
    some critical aspect in spec that the replacement part can't match
    rendering it entirely unsuitable. Or I'm sure I have an exact
    replacement *somewhere* in the stock, but it would take forever to
    find it so it's easier just to order a new one. Time and time again
    this kind of thing happens. For these reasons and others of a similar
    nature, I think I wasted my time (and a huge amount of space) by
    acquiring all these components and would have been better off never
    have been offered them in the first place.
    Anyone else have any experiences like this?


    It all depends on organization. How many SKUs are we talking about?

    Cheers

    Phil Hobbs

    --
    Dr Philip C D Hobbs
    Principal Consultant
    ElectroOptical Innovations LLC / Hobbs ElectroOptics
    Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics
    Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

    http://electrooptical.net
    http://hobbs-eo.com

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Cursitor Doom@21:1/5 to legg on Mon Nov 14 00:33:22 2022
    On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 14:14:55 -0500, legg <legg@nospam.magma.ca> wrote:

    On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 18:11:36 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
    wrote:

    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts >>inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to
    find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of >>equipment it happens to be I'm fixing. There invariably seems to be
    some critical aspect in spec that the replacement part can't match >>rendering it entirely unsuitable. Or I'm sure I have an exact
    replacement *somewhere* in the stock, but it would take forever to
    find it so it's easier just to order a new one. Time and time again
    this kind of thing happens. For these reasons and others of a similar >>nature, I think I wasted my time (and a huge amount of space) by
    acquiring all these components and would have been better off never
    have been offered them in the first place.
    Anyone else have any experiences like this?

    If you've already spent the money, then it's only the >maintenance/storage/disposal cost/benefit that is of concern.
    It's also a decision only you can make.

    What you've wasted is no good fuming about. If you're not
    willing to manage the asset competently, the potential for waste
    is compounded. Just use your experience to guide current and
    future activity.

    I'm not bothered about the money; it's the space! Takes up 2 rooms.
    There is just too much so I can never find what I want. You can't win
    whatever you do....

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Clifford Heath@21:1/5 to Cursitor Doom on Mon Nov 14 12:39:46 2022
    On 14/11/22 11:33, Cursitor Doom wrote:
    On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 14:14:55 -0500, legg <legg@nospam.magma.ca> wrote:

    On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 18:11:36 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
    wrote:

    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts
    inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to
    find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of
    equipment it happens to be I'm fixing. There invariably seems to be
    some critical aspect in spec that the replacement part can't match
    rendering it entirely unsuitable. Or I'm sure I have an exact
    replacement *somewhere* in the stock, but it would take forever to
    find it so it's easier just to order a new one. Time and time again
    this kind of thing happens. For these reasons and others of a similar
    nature, I think I wasted my time (and a huge amount of space) by
    acquiring all these components and would have been better off never
    have been offered them in the first place.
    Anyone else have any experiences like this?

    If you've already spent the money, then it's only the
    maintenance/storage/disposal cost/benefit that is of concern.
    It's also a decision only you can make.

    What you've wasted is no good fuming about. If you're not
    willing to manage the asset competently, the potential for waste
    is compounded. Just use your experience to guide current and
    future activity.

    I'm not bothered about the money; it's the space! Takes up 2 rooms.
    There is just too much so I can never find what I want.

    You can't find things because you've never made a proper inventory.
    You call it a "spares inventory" yet you have no inventory management.
    Spend the day or two to catalog everything by shelf & box number.
    If the parts aren't worth spending that much time on, ditch the lot,
    because you've already decided they're worthless.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Liz Tuddenham@21:1/5 to Cursitor Doom on Mon Nov 14 09:21:39 2022
    Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> wrote:

    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to
    find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of equipment it happens to be I'm fixing.

    If you need the spares for repair only, a lot of modern equipment
    doesn't have room for improvisation with replacement parts (perhaps made
    up from several components). That means your collection is not
    particularly useful.

    If you are designing one-offs, a collection of parts like that can be a
    huge benefit as long as you are able to adapt your design to use parts
    which you already have. It saves tracking down an exact part, ordering
    it - waiting for it to be delivered (or finding it is out of stock and
    on back-order) - fitting it - finding it isn't quite what you needed -
    ordering another replacement - waiting for that to arrive - discovering
    that it changes the operating conditions so that another component needs changing - ordering that - waiting for that to arrive....... etc


    --
    ~ Liz Tuddenham ~
    (Remove the ".invalid"s and add ".co.uk" to reply)
    www.poppyrecords.co.uk

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Cursitor Doom@21:1/5 to Liz Tuddenham on Mon Nov 14 13:58:27 2022
    On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 09:21:39 +0000, liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid
    (Liz Tuddenham) wrote:

    Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> wrote:

    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts
    inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to
    find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of
    equipment it happens to be I'm fixing.

    If you need the spares for repair only, a lot of modern equipment
    doesn't have room for improvisation with replacement parts (perhaps made
    up from several components). That means your collection is not
    particularly useful.

    If you are designing one-offs, a collection of parts like that can be a
    huge benefit as long as you are able to adapt your design to use parts
    which you already have. It saves tracking down an exact part, ordering
    it - waiting for it to be delivered (or finding it is out of stock and
    on back-order) - fitting it - finding it isn't quite what you needed - >ordering another replacement - waiting for that to arrive - discovering
    that it changes the operating conditions so that another component needs >changing - ordering that - waiting for that to arrive....... etc

    Well, that is the one saving grace that's keeping me from throwing the
    lot out. Actually I'd just re-sell 'em. There are some rare and
    valuable spares strewn about amongst them.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Peter W.@21:1/5 to All on Mon Nov 14 05:17:00 2022
    Anyone else have any experiences like this?

    I have been playing around this hobby for over 50 years now. Yes, I keep a small assortment of common values and common parts - but I am always missing something when a new-to-me object comes along. What I do keep "many" of are tubes - an auction-box
    here, a flea-market box there, the occasional garage sale, and so forth. The TV-type tubes get culled out pretty fast, but I expect that I have at least one-of any general-purpose and small-signal tube that I will ever need. About 2/3 of a walk-in closet'
    s worth. Sorted.

    Mouser is my go-to. $6 + the cost of the part pretty much gets me what I need, usually within 3/4 days.

    Peter Wieck
    Melrose Park, PA

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Cursitor Doom@21:1/5 to pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical. on Mon Nov 14 14:01:08 2022
    On Sun, 13 Nov 2022 19:37:45 -0500, Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

    Cursitor Doom wrote:
    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts
    inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to
    find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of
    equipment it happens to be I'm fixing. There invariably seems to be
    some critical aspect in spec that the replacement part can't match
    rendering it entirely unsuitable. Or I'm sure I have an exact
    replacement *somewhere* in the stock, but it would take forever to
    find it so it's easier just to order a new one. Time and time again
    this kind of thing happens. For these reasons and others of a similar
    nature, I think I wasted my time (and a huge amount of space) by
    acquiring all these components and would have been better off never
    have been offered them in the first place.
    Anyone else have any experiences like this?


    It all depends on organization. How many SKUs are we talking about?

    You're right about organization (or lack thereof, Phil!). Sorry, no
    idea what a SKU is though. But yes, really must sort 'em all out
    properly as they're no use all jumbled up.

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From steve1001908@outlook.com@21:1/5 to All on Mon Nov 14 14:31:18 2022
    On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 14:01:08 +0000, Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com>
    wrote:

    It all depends on organization. How many SKUs are we talking about?

    You're right about organization (or lack thereof, Phil!). Sorry, no
    idea what a SKU is though. But yes, really must sort 'em all out
    properly as they're no use all jumbled up.

    SKU is Stock Keeping Unit often covered by Mini-Max rules. That's what
    I used when I worked in a factory to avoid having to fill order forms
    in too often.

    Steve

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From John Robertson@21:1/5 to Cursitor Doom on Mon Nov 14 14:41:27 2022
    On 2022/11/14 5:58 a.m., Cursitor Doom wrote:
    On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 09:21:39 +0000, liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid
    (Liz Tuddenham) wrote:

    Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> wrote:

    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts
    inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to
    find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of
    equipment it happens to be I'm fixing.

    If you need the spares for repair only, a lot of modern equipment
    doesn't have room for improvisation with replacement parts (perhaps made
    up from several components). That means your collection is not
    particularly useful.

    If you are designing one-offs, a collection of parts like that can be a
    huge benefit as long as you are able to adapt your design to use parts
    which you already have. It saves tracking down an exact part, ordering
    it - waiting for it to be delivered (or finding it is out of stock and
    on back-order) - fitting it - finding it isn't quite what you needed -
    ordering another replacement - waiting for that to arrive - discovering
    that it changes the operating conditions so that another component needs
    changing - ordering that - waiting for that to arrive....... etc

    Well, that is the one saving grace that's keeping me from throwing the
    lot out. Actually I'd just re-sell 'em. There are some rare and
    valuable spares strewn about amongst them.

    Build a web site and get one of the google bots to find it. Sales will
    come in if the prices are reasonable and shipping is available and the
    customer can choose speed/costs.

    I've had an online store since around 2010, we've done just under 1/2
    million dollars USD in sales since then just on that part of our
    business. And that is without a full time person working the site. I
    have a guy in three times a week for half days, and I add stuff when I
    have time. I do have a LOT of semiconductors to put up...gah...

    Listing the items, with photos and dimensions, is a royal pain and is
    the most time consuming part of the operation. Once listed they sell themselves...if I have them priced properly. If too cheap, they get
    sucked out quickly, if too expensive they sit & sit. Most of my
    inventory is New Old Stock parts from the 70s through the late 80s and
    related to the coin amusement industry. I currently have over 10,000
    parts listed.

    A work in progress!

    John :-#)#
    --
    (Please post followups or tech inquiries to the USENET newsgroup)
    John's Jukes Ltd.
    #7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3
    (604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
    www.flippers.com
    "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Cursitor Doom@21:1/5 to All on Tue Nov 15 18:58:18 2022
    On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 14:41:27 -0800, John Robertson <jrr@flippers.com>
    wrote:

    On 2022/11/14 5:58 a.m., Cursitor Doom wrote:
    On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 09:21:39 +0000, liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid
    (Liz Tuddenham) wrote:

    Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> wrote:

    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts
    inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to
    find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of
    equipment it happens to be I'm fixing.

    If you need the spares for repair only, a lot of modern equipment
    doesn't have room for improvisation with replacement parts (perhaps made >>> up from several components). That means your collection is not
    particularly useful.

    If you are designing one-offs, a collection of parts like that can be a
    huge benefit as long as you are able to adapt your design to use parts
    which you already have. It saves tracking down an exact part, ordering
    it - waiting for it to be delivered (or finding it is out of stock and
    on back-order) - fitting it - finding it isn't quite what you needed -
    ordering another replacement - waiting for that to arrive - discovering
    that it changes the operating conditions so that another component needs >>> changing - ordering that - waiting for that to arrive....... etc

    Well, that is the one saving grace that's keeping me from throwing the
    lot out. Actually I'd just re-sell 'em. There are some rare and
    valuable spares strewn about amongst them.

    Build a web site and get one of the google bots to find it. Sales will
    come in if the prices are reasonable and shipping is available and the >customer can choose speed/costs.

    I've had an online store since around 2010, we've done just under 1/2
    million dollars USD in sales since then just on that part of our
    business. And that is without a full time person working the site. I
    have a guy in three times a week for half days, and I add stuff when I
    have time. I do have a LOT of semiconductors to put up...gah...

    Listing the items, with photos and dimensions, is a royal pain and is
    the most time consuming part of the operation. Once listed they sell >themselves...if I have them priced properly. If too cheap, they get
    sucked out quickly, if too expensive they sit & sit. Most of my
    inventory is New Old Stock parts from the 70s through the late 80s and >related to the coin amusement industry. I currently have over 10,000
    parts listed.

    A work in progress!

    John :-#)#

    Sounds interesting, but how do you set the price for the rarer stuff
    when there's none around to compare against?

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From John Robertson@21:1/5 to Cursitor Doom on Wed Nov 16 07:45:47 2022
    On 2022/11/15 10:58 a.m., Cursitor Doom wrote:
    On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 14:41:27 -0800, John Robertson <jrr@flippers.com>
    wrote:

    On 2022/11/14 5:58 a.m., Cursitor Doom wrote:
    On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 09:21:39 +0000, liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid
    (Liz Tuddenham) wrote:

    Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> wrote:

    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts >>>>> inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to >>>>> find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of >>>>> equipment it happens to be I'm fixing.

    If you need the spares for repair only, a lot of modern equipment
    doesn't have room for improvisation with replacement parts (perhaps made >>>> up from several components). That means your collection is not
    particularly useful.

    If you are designing one-offs, a collection of parts like that can be a >>>> huge benefit as long as you are able to adapt your design to use parts >>>> which you already have. It saves tracking down an exact part, ordering >>>> it - waiting for it to be delivered (or finding it is out of stock and >>>> on back-order) - fitting it - finding it isn't quite what you needed - >>>> ordering another replacement - waiting for that to arrive - discovering >>>> that it changes the operating conditions so that another component needs >>>> changing - ordering that - waiting for that to arrive....... etc

    Well, that is the one saving grace that's keeping me from throwing the
    lot out. Actually I'd just re-sell 'em. There are some rare and
    valuable spares strewn about amongst them.

    Build a web site and get one of the google bots to find it. Sales will
    come in if the prices are reasonable and shipping is available and the
    customer can choose speed/costs.

    I've had an online store since around 2010, we've done just under 1/2
    million dollars USD in sales since then just on that part of our
    business. And that is without a full time person working the site. I
    have a guy in three times a week for half days, and I add stuff when I
    have time. I do have a LOT of semiconductors to put up...gah...

    Listing the items, with photos and dimensions, is a royal pain and is
    the most time consuming part of the operation. Once listed they sell
    themselves...if I have them priced properly. If too cheap, they get
    sucked out quickly, if too expensive they sit & sit. Most of my
    inventory is New Old Stock parts from the 70s through the late 80s and
    related to the coin amusement industry. I currently have over 10,000
    parts listed.

    A work in progress!

    John :-#)#

    Sounds interesting, but how do you set the price for the rarer stuff
    when there's none around to compare against?

    I simply try and figure out what it could possibly be worth to someone
    and price accordingly. Not aiming for the folks looking for a deal - the
    person who NEEDS that chip and is willing to pay for it. I also factor
    in staff costs to create the parts listing. I have some chips that sell
    once a year or two, but I get $XXUS for them. The cost once up is zero.

    I have several thousand semiconductors to put up that I bought from a TV
    parts supply house...pricing those is fun. I do search to see if it is available and price accordingly, or guess at what someone might pay, and
    if I have three or 1,000 of the part. I guess wrong a lot.

    eBay is one way for trying to find the value of something, but I've
    always hated the fact that you can bit in the last micro-second
    (snipping) and no-one has the time to counterbid. To me it should be run
    like an auction house - those guys know how to squeeze a buck out of
    something, leaving little if anything on the table. So, if there is a
    last minute bid, then that sets a timer "going", pause (no more bids?), "going", pause (no added bids?) GONE to the highest bidder. Or "going"
    (new bid), "going" (pause no bids), "going" (new bid - some minimum
    increment), "going" (pause)...."GONE".

    John :-#)#
    --
    (Please post followups or tech inquiries to the USENET newsgroup)
    John's Jukes Ltd.
    #7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3
    (604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
    www.flippers.com
    "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

    --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
    * Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)
  • From Cursitor Doom@21:1/5 to All on Wed Nov 16 19:46:21 2022
    On Wed, 16 Nov 2022 07:45:47 -0800, John Robertson <jrr@flippers.com>
    wrote:

    On 2022/11/15 10:58 a.m., Cursitor Doom wrote:
    On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 14:41:27 -0800, John Robertson <jrr@flippers.com>
    wrote:

    On 2022/11/14 5:58 a.m., Cursitor Doom wrote:
    On Mon, 14 Nov 2022 09:21:39 +0000, liz@poppyrecords.invalid.invalid
    (Liz Tuddenham) wrote:

    Cursitor Doom <cd@notformail.com> wrote:

    I thought I had everything covered when I acquired a huge spare parts >>>>>> inventory from some chap who was emigrating a while ago. However,
    despite now being the proud owner of tens of thousands of caps,
    resistors, transistors, diodes, ICs etc etc etc., I can never seem to >>>>>> find a suitable part to replace one that's blown in whatever item of >>>>>> equipment it happens to be I'm fixing.

    If you need the spares for repair only, a lot of modern equipment
    doesn't have room for improvisation with replacement parts (perhaps made >>>>> up from several components). That means your collection is not
    particularly useful.

    If you are designing one-offs, a collection of parts like that can be a >>>>> huge benefit as long as you are able to adapt your design to use parts >>>>> which you already have. It saves tracking down an exact part, ordering >>>>> it - waiting for it to be delivered (or finding it is out of stock and >>>>> on back-order) - fitting it - finding it isn't quite what you needed - >>>>> ordering another replacement - waiting for that to arrive - discovering >>>>> that it changes the operating conditions so that another component needs >>>>> changing - ordering that - waiting for that to arrive....... etc

    Well, that is the one saving grace that's keeping me from throwing the >>>> lot out. Actually I'd just re-sell 'em. There are some rare and
    valuable spares strewn about amongst them.

    Build a web site and get one of the google bots to find it. Sales will
    come in if the prices are reasonable and shipping is available and the
    customer can choose speed/costs.

    I've had an online store since around 2010, we've done just under 1/2
    million dollars USD in sales since then just on that part of our
    business. And that is without a full time person working the site. I
    have a guy in three times a week for half days, and I add stuff when I
    have time. I do have a LOT of semiconductors to put up...gah...

    Listing the items, with photos and dimensions, is a royal pain and is
    the most time consuming part of the operation. Once listed they sell
    themselves...if I have them priced properly. If too cheap, they get
    sucked out quickly, if too expensive they sit & sit. Most of my
    inventory is New Old Stock parts from the 70s through the late 80s and
    related to the coin amusement industry. I currently have over 10,000
    parts listed.

    A work in progress!

    John :-#)#

    Sounds interesting, but how do you set the price for the rarer stuff
    when there's none around to compare against?

    I simply try and figure out what it could possibly be worth to someone
    and price accordingly. Not aiming for the folks looking for a deal - the >person who NEEDS that chip and is willing to pay for it. I also factor
    in staff costs to create the parts listing. I have some chips that sell
    once a year or two, but I get $XXUS for them. The cost once up is zero.

    I have several thousand semiconductors to put up that I bought from a TV >parts supply house...pricing those is fun. I do search to see if it is >available and price accordingly, or guess at what someone might pay, and
    if I have three or 1,000 of the part. I guess wrong a lot.

    eBay is one way for trying to find the value of something, but I've
    always hated the fact that you can bit in the last micro-second
    (snipping) and no-one has the time to counterbid. To me it should be run
    like an auction house - those guys know how to squeeze a buck out of >something, leaving little if anything on the table. So, if there is a
    last minute bid, then that sets a timer "going", pause (no more bids?), >"going", pause (no added bids?) GONE to the highest bidder. Or "going"
    (new bid), "going" (pause no bids), "going" (new bid - some minimum >increment), "going" (pause)...."GONE".

    John :-#)#

    I wonder why Ebay don't do that? Seems like a worthwhile idea to me.
    Win-win all round - except for the snipers of course but who cares
    about them (modern day carpet-baggers).

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  • From Peter W.@21:1/5 to All on Thu Nov 17 03:32:13 2022
    Why do I use esnipe?

    a) It prevents impulse bidding.
    b) There will always be another one.
    c) There is NOTHING that I really need from eBay.
    d) And, of course, anyone can use it.

    Has anyone seen those penny auctions sites, typically advertising with "I got a 60" television for $5.00!!!" eBay spares us from that chaos by setting start and end times. If you resent the snipers, you did not bid high enough. Full Stop.

    Peter Wieck
    Melrose Park, PA

    https://www.dealdash.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1NebBhDDARIsAANiDD0FNCLfnVuM-ujsOUBxuPsV_7J97ZSV_8AoKEr8lWMRPLkLWDXYxIMaAuoQEALw_wcB&utm_campaign=202041179&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_term=e-penny%20auction%20sites

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  • From John Robertson@21:1/5 to Peter W. on Thu Nov 17 08:01:30 2022
    On 2022/11/17 3:32 a.m., Peter W. wrote:
    Why do I use esnipe?

    a) It prevents impulse bidding.
    b) There will always be another one.
    c) There is NOTHING that I really need from eBay.
    d) And, of course, anyone can use it.

    Has anyone seen those penny auctions sites, typically advertising with "I got a 60" television for $5.00!!!" eBay spares us from that chaos by setting start and end times. If you resent the snipers, you did not bid high enough. Full Stop.

    Peter Wieck
    Melrose Park, PA

    https://www.dealdash.com/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1NebBhDDARIsAANiDD0FNCLfnVuM-ujsOUBxuPsV_7J97ZSV_8AoKEr8lWMRPLkLWDXYxIMaAuoQEALw_wcB&utm_campaign=202041179&utm_medium=cpc&utm_source=google&utm_term=e-penny%20auction%20sites

    I use sniping too and have for over twenty years - which as a buyer eBay
    works very well indeed.

    However as an eBay seller, it does leave money on the table. What I am
    saying is that eBay does not do that well for sellers, but it does work
    just fine for buyers.

    John :-#)#
    --
    (Please post followups or tech inquiries to the USENET newsgroup)
    John's Jukes Ltd.
    #7 - 3979 Marine Way, Burnaby, BC, Canada V5J 5E3
    (604)872-5757 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
    www.flippers.com
    "Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

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  • From Peter W.@21:1/5 to All on Thu Nov 17 08:19:09 2022
    On Thursday,
    However as an eBay seller, it does leave money on the table. What I am saying is that eBay does not do that well for sellers, but it does work
    just fine for buyers.

    I suspect that we are at cross purposes rather than in disagreement. Note, please, I am writing entirely and only for myself, and I have both bought (95%) and sold (5%) on eBay.

    The venue is entirely about expectations. if the seller has high expectations the seller had better set a reserve along those lines. If the seller is sufficiently savvy to research the market ahead of posting, that process is not difficult. If the seller
    is looking for the "Bigger Fool" - that is a crap-shoot, and the seller gets exactly what is deserved.

    eBay puts buyers together with sellers with fixed rules. Sure, they favor the buyer - that is what keeps them coming back. And, again, a savvy seller will know all this and list/price accordingly.

    Generally, when I sell on eBay it is stuff that is difficult to transport, or stuff I just want rid-of. $1.00 + shipping, no problem!

    Peter Wieck
    Melrose Park, PA

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  • From Charles Lucas@21:1/5 to All on Sat Nov 26 07:40:19 2022
    I followed this interesting thread for a really long time over several weeks. The commentary has been very interesting.
    From have been in the service profession for over 30 years, it is now hard to even keep up on what is a "common part"
    these days, given the thousands of models of devices and appliances that use the "micro" or the "nano" technology.
    Even with parts made in the 80's and 90's (before and after I got into the profession of repair for a living), you should
    have seen how many makers of the appliances and devices had substitute parts for the original. I did a Samsung
    TV repair on warranty that had 36 different parts substitutes for this one tv for components on the a light engine
    (the TV was a DLP type set). I had seen that.

    So, to offer some free advice, look at the maker's service bulletins and look at the part list to find those sub. parts
    if you are going to start stocking parts in for back stock. That means you have to have perfect parts with the most
    perfected and up to date corrections (even for the most pedantic of reasons). There's millions of things out there,
    by the design and creation of some very bright human beings that made them (however, after a certain amount of
    use), then they fail. The humans fail too.

    That's why, I usually order it when it is absolutely needed. That way, a person doesn't have to chase their tail knowing
    what they have themselves. They chase after what other people have instead- and that is me. I do work with some
    suppliers that are the very best.

    Hope this helps. Good Luck.

    Sincerely,


    Charles Lucas

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