Sunday, August 26, 2007

Cashing in on computer nostalgia

A couple of weeks ago, I stuck my toe into the pool of eBay sellers. Thus far, I've managed to clear out some of the duplicate mini-sheets in my collection of Ukrainian stamps. Having achieved that beginner's level of comfort, I'm now looking to part with some old computer memorabilia that I thought I could live without.

Results have been hit or miss so far, as I'm struggling to find the pulse (if there is one) of that niche market. Last week, I found a well-paying buyer for the first two issues of OS/2 Magazine. They went for $10.50 each. At the same time, however, nobody at all was interested in buying either Volume 0, Number 0 of OS/2 Professional Magazine, or the (I thought) very cool "The Borg is Here" cover of Issue 3. Go figure.

Last night, I decided to post my old IBM System/360 Reference Data “Green Card,” from circa 1970. A little noodling on Google told me that this old nerdy badge of honor has achieved somewhat iconic status. And my card is in pretty good condition, if I do say so myself.
I have some hope that another item might also do well. It's an old 1977 Creative Computing Catalogue. I'm guessing that the real selling point of this item is some illustration work by underground cartoonist, Robert Crumb. The picture that I show in the eBay posting is not touched up. However, a little PhotoShop work was able to render a pretty sharp image (right).
Only time (as in six days) will tell if my hunch is correct about the desirability of that catalog. To date, my track record is pretty spotty, as I'm sitting on several boxes off AOL disks, which I doubt that anyone now wants. :-(

1 comment:

MountainLaurel said...

Have you talked to E-gor? As I recall, he was quite good at E-bay selling. He might have some pointers.