The Museum of HP Calculators

HP Forum Archive 14

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15C Value
Message #1 Posted by M. Anthony on 11 Jan 2004, 8:32 p.m.

Has the price value of the revered 15c Calculator gone down from what is was say 6 months ago? I have some to to sell, but I am looking for a higher value than what I am seeing, at least on Ebay. Thanks for any feedback.

      
Re: 15C Value
Message #2 Posted by nmarkov22@yahoo.com on 11 Jan 2004, 8:57 p.m.,
in response to message #1 by M. Anthony

I'm seen a decline in calculator prices across the board. Sure there are ocassional (insert your own adjective) bidders going overboard. There are HP 32sii that sell for $113 to $150 price range, while they were going for $200 plus not that long ago. The HP 15c calculators are holding the range of over $150, for a decent looking calculator.

It's hard to predict where the prices of calculators are going. I'd like to read more opinions on the subject. Nick

            
Finding historical data from eBay
Message #3 Posted by John L Shelton on 12 Jan 2004, 2:15 a.m.,
in response to message #2 by nmarkov22@yahoo.com

Is there a way to search eBay for past sales of items, to find historical trends? It would sure be nice to search auctions from last 180 days showing final price.

                  
Re: Finding historical data from eBay
Message #4 Posted by gifron on 12 Jan 2004, 8:33 a.m.,
in response to message #3 by John L Shelton

Only the last 30 days are available. Do a search, then click on "Completed items" on the left side of the screen.

            
Re: 15C Value
Message #5 Posted by Frank Wales on 12 Jan 2004, 4:14 a.m.,
in response to message #2 by nmarkov22@yahoo.com

An additional feature to whatever general price changes are currently happening is the strengthening pound as compared with the dollar.

I noticed a few items going for less than I expected the other day, and when I looked more closely, saw that the dollar prices were about the same, but the price I'd pay (in pounds sterling) was less than I expected.

At present, the pound is worth $1.85, up from about $1.6 just a few months ago. This makes it more likely that I'd buy from U.S. sellers, but probably also makes it less likely that I'd sell to them. It probably also affects what I think would be a fair trading value with a U.S. collector.

I haven't taken the time to look at the relationship to the Euro, but I believe it's the dollar that's weakening, not the pound that's strengthening.

Speculation about the relative impact of such international pricing changes on eBay prices is welcome.

                  
Euro-Dollar (was Re: 15C Value
Message #6 Posted by bill platt (les Estats Unis d'Amerique) on 12 Jan 2004, 11:39 a.m.,
in response to message #5 by Frank Wales

http://www.x-rates.com/d/EUR/USD/graph120.html

http://www.x-rates.com/d/GBP/USD/graph120.html

http://www.x-rates.com/d/GBP/EUR/graph120.html

Regards,

Bill

                        
Canadian $ is appreciating relative to the US$
Message #7 Posted by Scuba Diver on 12 Jan 2004, 3:23 p.m.,
in response to message #6 by bill platt (les Estats Unis d'Amerique)

Frank, what you're seeing is a depreciation of the dollar relative to the pound. The same thing is happening with the Canadian dollar. It's currently trading at over 78.8 cents US, which is higher than it's been in years.

As with any currency fluctuation, there are a number of reasons, so take advantage of it while you can!!! Buy from American sellers, and if you get US$ for something, I'd probably keep it and convert when the US$ appreciates.

B.

                  
Re: 15C Value
Message #8 Posted by Larry Corrado, USA (WI) on 12 Jan 2004, 5:25 p.m.,
in response to message #5 by Frank Wales

Frank, et al:

I think one thing one must keep in mind is how "slippery" the value of a collectible like an old calculator is, especially when buyers having a wide range of knowledge bid on items they only see pictures of, described by sellers of questionable knowledge and motives. What I'm trying to say is: There's a lot of variation.

For example, I tracked all the Ebay HP-15C sales I could find (with simple searches) during the first four weeks of September, 2003. The result was 27 sales at a (rounded) average of US$ 208, WITH A STANDARD DEVIATION OF $55. In other words, the standard deviation was 25% of the average. This illustrates how hard it is to get a very accurate idea of what the units are selling for with informal monitoring of a few of the sales. (And of course I didn't try to differentiate by stated condition or accessories included.)

I would expect fluctuations in currency exchange rates to affect selling prices when international sales take place, but I think that other factors (including the large variation in selling prices) would make the effect of that rather small change in exchange rate (small compared to the big standard deviation) hard to notice.

Buying and selling prices on Internet auction are a very complicated issue, with many different variables involved. As I mentioned earlier, actual "value" is a mighty slippery commodity.

FWIW... Larry

                        
Re: 15C Value
Message #9 Posted by Howard on 13 Jan 2004, 5:58 a.m.,
in response to message #8 by Larry Corrado, USA (WI)

This page has recent prices - http://www.msdsite.com/forums/ebay-hp.php Somebody in this group maintains the list. I would give him/her credit if I could remember who it is.

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