CD81 nixie tubes

[watacchi]

Hi everyone.
I have sooo huge stock of CD81 nixie tubes.

Does anyone wants them?
I can surely say that these are so rare and
this may be last chance to get new ones.
These was kept in a big warehouse with
cool&dry.

these days, russian in-16 costs around
$6.
And I will sell these tubes $19 per each.
I know this is expensive price,sorry...

please contact me if you want them.
I will sell them from least 10tubes.

[Jeff Thomas]

Hi, I would recommend eBay as a place to offer these tubes for sale.

Regards, Jeff

[jb-electronics]

Hi,

at this price I guess you will not sell much of them.

Jens

[neutron spin]

$19..?....must be a typo...lol...

[threeneurons]

| at this price I guess you will not sell much of them.

That can be debated all day long. The best test is to stick them on
eBay, and see what happens. Either 'Buy-it-Now' at your price of $19/
ea, or in auction format.

I stumbled across a bunch of ZM1000s about 5 years ago. A bunch, as in
well over a hundred. Not only where they still in their original
Amperex boxes, they also came in 'sleeves' of five. Shiny and new.
REALLY, New-Old-Stock, not the stuff commonly pawned off on eBay. I
sold about a hundred of them on eBay, in lots of six. I let the
auction settle the price. The 1st few batches went for ~$40, or ~$6.50
each. Eventually, they started going north of $60 per lot ($10+ ea).
Mind you that was a few years ago, before all this price inflation.

So stick them out on eBay, and see where the market goes.

[jb-electronics]

Hi,

well, Ebay price strategies are always interesting - and funnily enough,
different sellers obviously use different approaches as well.

There is this one seller from Germany, who has a LOT of these small 7977
equivalents (over a hundred I would say, I have met him and seen his
stock). But he makes the mistake of listing far too many of them at a
starting price that is also rather high.

Other sellers, though, list their tubes as "no reserve" and speculate on
the price to climb due to that. After they have established a price this
way, they add several "Buy-It-Now" auctions. I dislike this quite
strongly, because I think it is simply ripping off people.

The most effective approach is what the Russians do with their IN-18
hoarding - buyers might not like it, but it is working (for them).

It's been a long time since I have sold on Ebay, I usually start the
auction a 1EUR and see where it goes.

The bottom line is, though: $19 for a single not uncommon tube is too much.

Jens

[threeneurons]

| Ebay price strategies are always interesting
|

| Other sellers, though, list their tubes as "no reserve"
| and speculate on the price to climb due to that. After
| they have established a price this way, they add several
| "Buy-It-Now" auctions. I dislike this quite strongly,
| because I think it is simply ripping off people.

| ...

| The bottom line is, though: $19 for a single not

| uncommon [CD81] tube is too much.
|
| Jens

That's the tactic I use. Last time I used it was for some GC10/2P mini
dekatrons that came my way:

http://www.tubecollector.org/gc10-2p.htm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/20801462@N00/4927608314/

I sold the 1st two, or three, by standard auction, to get a feel of
its worth. Then I bumped up that price by ~15%, and put the remainder
(~6 more) up as 'Buy-it-Now'. I personally think this is fair way to
sell them. As for 'Rip-off', no one is putting a gun to your head to
buy them. If its an item that's of limited supply, you can set the
price as high as you want, or need. If you need quick cash, set the
price low. If you can wait, bump the price, as 'throttle control' of
the sales rate. Those GC10/2P were selling for $35 'Buy-it-Now'.
GC10/2Ps are pretty rare. $35 was probably a bargain basement price,
in retrospect. Walter does it for his wares:

http://www.sphere.bc.ca/test/nixie.html

Yes, the prices are high, but its a fixed target. On eBay, its a
moving target, and you never know when a needed part will show up.
Walter's site is always there. If you REALLY gotta have one, you'll
appreciate his presence. These parts aren't being made anymore. Right
now, $19 for a CD81 might seem high, but in the future (months,
years, ...), that could be considered a steal. When I first started
buying dekatrons (late 2003), you could easily find western types
(GC10B, 6802, ...) for $5 in NOS condition. Now anything under $25
looks like a good deal.

If the item was still being manufactured, then a different tactic is
used. Take nixie power supplies. I price them, again using the
'throttle control' scheme, so they sell at a pace I can keep up with.
Selling them to match Taylor, just took too much of my spare time.
They sold too quickly. Its nice to have the extra cash to feed the
hobby, but then you need to have the time to enjoy it, too. BTW:
Nobodies getting rich selling nixie power supplies. Just be glad if it
brings in enough money, to offset any nagging about your expensive
hobby.