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In Reply to: Thousands of NOS tubes going under the crusher. posted by andy evans on August 14, 2002 at 01:44:29:
So you're saying these people are tube vendors, sophisticated enough to have computerized inventory and thus likely able to turn to dozens of websites like Vacuum Tube Valley, Tube World etc who buy NOS tubes? I was quoted a price of $5 per tube by a tube retailer for ten pieces of a far less desirable tube #. If they have and sell them, they know what the are... Is that my cat's plate of tuna I smell?
Follow Ups:
I was quoted a price of $5 per tube by a tube retailer for ten pieces of a far less desirable tube #.> >Small quantities are totally irrelevant to this. We are talking two van loads. Of course the vendor knows the market and current prices, and yes he offered them to another tube dealer who offered cents a piece because they were not selling so there was no justification for offering more. And if you asked the vendor for the price per piece he would probably say ten dollars or more. But we aren't talking tens we are talking two van loads. That's storage space, and storage is costing him more than the tubes are worth under present market conditions. It's very easy to rationalise. But the tube collector in me just recoils at the destruction of so many good sounding NOS tubes. You have to make a complete mental distinction between 20 and 20,000. While people are posting right now about the best sounding ECC81 and rating the CV4024 highly, they ain't buying these things in any commercial quantities. And how many could find house room for 20,000 let alone hire a van to pick them up? That alone eliminates 99.9% of AA tube enthusiasts. And rightly so - most of us have wives and children - 20,000 tubes would have a WAF of approximately a dozen alligators as children's pets. Let's be practical about this!
Duhh... if a dealer will give $200 for 20 tubes, 20,000 tubes at 2 cents each is $400. I'm going to e-mail the owner of MachMat in the Netherlands and give him the lowdown. Put this story's money where it's mouth is. Barring that, the guy you speak of could take one day, pack boxes of 100 tubes and he could off them in lots of 100 on ebay w/ "buy it now" for $175 per 100 and sell them in two weeks. I have seen boxes of 100 Telefunken ECC83 go for $2500!!!! I think this is crapola. I've heard it a million times, and you may be sincere, but only because you were lied to. The story makes NO sense! You have to pay for disposal of glass/metal items-- he could put a worldwide classified ad on the world tube audio portal "free tubes! come and get 'em!" and he'd be turning away people years after they were gone. I am still wrestling with the fact that 20 is less than 20,000, but I do believe there are things called "trucks" and "vans" around the globe. I'm whatever, this is so stupid I don't care anymore. I can't verify and I'm glad I have my boots on as it's getting deep in here.
I've heard it a million times, and you may be sincere, but only because you were lied to. The story makes NO sense! > >I've repeated exactly what the guy said to me. I don't know him at all, so I can't verify anything. But as an ex-journalist I am capable of repeating information that seems like an interesting story, which is what I did. Maybe there is something that doesn't add up - how do I know since I've never even seen the guy? He was pleasant with me on the phone. But there's a plausible argument in there - getting rid of tubes that don't sell to save storage costs. Maybe there's a hidden agenda - how do I know. I haven't named the guy because how he does his business is private to him and I respect his privacy. I thought it was of general interest to tube lovers to know that quantities of NOS tubes are being crushed. Clearly they are not the hallowed objects we love so much when business factors are involved or people simply decide to do what they want with their possessions. It made me think, but I don't find the story as off the wall as you do. There again, you're not the first person to believe something doesn't add up, though - I've had the same suggestion in emails. My response was exactly the same as you - package them in quantities 'to sell' and put them on ebay. Seems a trifle obvious, and I think I suggested exactly that, but he didn't seem too interested. Andy
nt
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Hi,Why don't we get together 20 of us and buy the load (1000 tubes a person, 20 persons makes 20kpcs tubes). I think 1000 tubes could be sent by parcel (1m x 0.25m x 0.25m at 10 by 10 by 10 meassuered on an old tungsram box, they are boxed? or bulked?).
You just tell him you buy the load, loads into 20 boxes on his frontlane and have GPO picking it up :-)
Mean, how much money does it take to make like this? £10 a person for the tubes and £25 for the parcel (or something). And as you are that kind to handle all this you get 1000pcs ECC81 of good quality free (or a tenner free, but that sounds less good).
I think we already are five in this thread who may be interested...
A stupid idea is better than none :-)
I could even thake two stock shares (so to say).
From what I know of the guy, which is virtually nothing, he is a quieter kind of guy who wants a simple life and doesn't chat away too much. I may be misjudging him, but I think he would only be interested in one person collecting a large quantity - I don't get an indication of a willingness to entertain offbeat or lateral solutions. I'm not sure I personally want to get involved in ECC81s, and I have too much hifi stuff in my London appartment already. But I can easily pass on an offer if anyone has the pioneering spirit to make large offers. I would imagine that if he's starting on the ECCs that there may be interesting stuff ahead. I don't get any useful information from emails - just yes and no basically, so I can't be more helpful. He was perfectly pleasant to talk to. Andy
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