I see what looks like a normal style pot on ebay $45.00 + $10 P/P 164058918885
What makes it so special?
There are also 2 gang for $100.00!
Max.

 

Maybe it's a vintage part that a true Hi Fi enthusiast would give their eye teeth for so they can do a restoration with original equipment. That seller's store is full of high priced parts and kits.

I've been watching prices on curve tracers on eBay and found one with an asking price of $480:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Leader-LTC-905-Curve-Tracer-Made-in-Japan-Original-Box-and-Paperwork-NICE/114126512151?_trkparms=aid=111001&algo=REC.SEED&ao=1&asc=20160908105057&meid=8483e6fce9f84dd59bdf3206e4994bca&pid=100675&rk=1&rkt=15&mehot=none&sd=114126512151&itm=114126512151&pmt=0&noa=1&pg=2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci:417714fb-565a-11ea-bec8-74dbd180c0ae|parentrq:72e5bb781700abd8ec541787fffb7888|iid:1

Used, tested, excellent condition, but being sold as not working or for parts...

Sellers can ask for whatever they want. Whether it will sell is a different matter...

 

Why do PSoC 5LP boards sell for 150 bucks on Amazon, when you can buy them from Digi-Key for 15?

Answer...There is a sucker born every minute.

 

I have to wonder at some of the prices on fleabay especially when other vendors are selling the exact same item for much less.

 

I have to wonder at some of the prices on fleabay especially when other vendors are selling the exact same item for much less.

Yeah, I have noticed that. A common LASER diode I can buy a dozen of for under a buck each on Amazon someone is asking $8.95 on fleabay plus S&H. I can only guess some people don't shop around. Beats me?

Ron

 

I have seen sellers who have items as buy it now and also auction. Sometimes the auction price goes higher than the but it now price for the same item.

 

Another 2" x 1/8th acrylic disc, $1.00
$48.00 P/P!
A ebay member in Romania custom made 10 for $5.00 includes shipping!
Max.

 

Just a week ago I went dumpster diving and picked up one of these. They are called tower lights.
As it turns out I have a perfect usage for this.


So I checked out the price for a new one. They are US$150 at the usual suppliers. US$300 at another popular US supplier.
US$10 on Amazon. Go figure.

 

Maybe it is like the Mil-Spec price contractors charge for toilet seats that they also sell cheaply at the plumbing supply store for the exact same seat.

 

Just a week ago I went dumpster diving and picked up one of these. They are called tower lights.
As it turns out I have a perfect usage for this.
View attachment 199793

So I checked out the price for a new one. They are US$150 at the usual suppliers. US$300 at another popular US supplier.
US$10 on Amazon. Go figure.

There is no accounting for what you may find in a dumpster. There are folks around who can not stand anything that they consider to be clutter. They really should be forced to pay for the new parts that they discard from an engineers workbench. And I would terminate their employment WITH prejudice, as well!!

 

Just a week ago I went dumpster diving and picked up one of these. They are called tower lights.
So I checked out the price for a new one. They are US$150 at the usual suppliers. US$300 at another popular US supplier.
US$10 on Amazon. Go figure.

When I started out in electronics, money was scarce, but a friend I knew used to pick up scrap from industrial installations.
One was the British Atomic Energy Commission Lab site, I 'persuaded' him to swing by my place on the way back to the yard,
The result was HV meters, solid state components, (rare at that time) and other goodies.
Appeared to be from failed experiments.
Max.

 

Don't assume a seller on ebay knows what they are selling. Much less a suggested retail price.

 

I see what looks like a normal style pot on ebay $45.00 + $10 P/P 164058918885
What makes it so special?
There are also 2 gang for $100.00!
Max.

It's not just a potentiometer. It's a potentiometer regulator. With a knob!

 

It's not just a potentiometer. It's a potentiometer regulator. With a knob!

You learn something new everyday!!!
Max.

 

I don't know if it applies to this case, but ebay has a flaw in their listing policy that results in me jacking my prices extremely high on occasion, hoping no one makes a purchase. eBay shows how many of an item a seller has sold, which is excellent because it helps people know what are more legitimate sales. However, if you run out of inventory on eBay, you have to re-list your item and the count resets to 0 sold. So when my inventory gets low before I can get more of an item in stock, I just add a few decimals to the price and hope that no one buys one, then lower the price again when I get more in stock. This way I don't loose the count of how many are sold.

 

When I started out in electronics, money was scarce, but a friend I knew used to pick up scrap from industrial installations.
One was the British Atomic Energy Commission Lab site, I 'persuaded' him to swing by my place on the way back to the yard,
The result was HV meters, solid state components, (rare at that time) and other goodies.
Appeared to be from failed experiments.
Max.

@MaxHeadRoom

That would explain your hands glowing in nightime? Too late to worry anyway...

 

I certainly recall some pots in that $45 range at Allied Electronics. They were 2 1/2 inch wire-wound with +/- 0.1`% nonlinearity. They were used in linear servo systems as feedback devices, they had ball bearings and were incredibly smooth. They had servo-style mounting as well. But being wire-wound and linear they will not work in audio systems, except possibly as a balance control.

 

I certainly recall some pots in that $45 range at Allied Electronics. They were 2 1/2 inch wire-wound with +/- 0.1`% nonlinearity. They were used in linear servo systems as feedback devices, they had ball bearings and were incredibly smooth. They had servo-style mounting as well. But being wire-wound and linear they will not work in audio systems, except possibly as a balance control.

Way back, we used 10 turn, wirewound pots for precision instrumentation. Before high resolution D/A converters. It was cool to have several of these babies on the front panel. This one is 20 turns! It took a lot of cranking to go 0 to full scale but made a very satisfying whirring sound.

 

I have a few of the ten turn version of those dials, and the ten turn pots to go with them. They still work for Varicap tuning applications.

 

Maybe it is like the Mil-Spec price contractors charge for toilet seats that they also sell cheaply at the plumbing supply store for the exact same seat.

Now, now that isn't quite true. The government calls out their specifications for that toilet seat or coffee maker. Now if you want a toilet seat no problem but if you want a toilet seat which can survive a nuclear strike and still function after anyone who could use it is dead then we have a very, very expensive toilet seat. I worked with this nonsense for over 40 years of my life.

Ron