Re: local auction - Commodore 64

<[email protected]> wrote:

>  Just a curiosity  -  why would anyone part with  $ 130. 
>  or more  for this ?
> 
> https://greatwestteam.hibid.com/lot/94566846/vintage-commodore-64-computer-and-disk-drive---1541-/?cpage=5&ipp=100&q=&ref=catalog

They're called "collectors".  They'll have old Osborne "portables",
Amigas, Radio Shack/Tandy TRS-80, HP calculators with magnetic cards,
IBM PC-XT, Altair with the paddle switches, Princess phone, older dialer
phones, and so on.  They collect.  They prefer functional, but will
still collect non-functional memorabilia.

I once sold a chess set hand-made by Inuits expecting $75 but got over
$900, because 2 collectors (known to each other) kept outbidding each
other.  I intervened when the price went over $400 to make sure the
bidders knew they were going high, but they knew the value (that they
put on the item), and I had details for the chess set to prove it was
authentic.

Just because it is trash to you does not mandate value to others.  To
you, it's junk.  To collectors, it's gold.  Why does anyone value the
Mona Lisa at $800 million USD (assessed $100 million in 1962, but $800
million due to inflation) when someone could paint a new one today for a
hundred bucks?

Items always sell for higher at auctions.  The auctioneer gets a cut.