Untested, only £10,000, Rare!!

We've all seen the seriously overpriced eBay/Gumtree/Anywhere-that-sells listings for our beloved retro computer and games systems. For some reason people who don't know anything about them, seem to think because it's old that is it rare and worth a fortune. So they'll slap a silly high price on them. Yeah sure there are a few systems out there that are worth something but I'm talking about the usual suspects.

In my experience it's mainly Commodore computers I deal with. 64's and Amiga's to be exact. I've seen 64's that are untested, have the badge missing and only a tape deck in terrible condition for sale for well over £100!

Here's a list of the usual things to look out for that make me suspect somethings not right. Or to quote Bill & Ted:

• “The light comes on so working” - Just because the light is on doesn’t mean anyones home. There could be no video or audio. It doesn’t mean any of the tape, cartridge or joystick ports work either.

• “Showing only the home screen” - Again this doesn’t mean it’s working properly. It doesn’t mean any of the tape or joystick ports work either. The sound could also be faulty.

• “Worked when I put it in the loft 20 years ago” - The capacitors in C64’s don’t like not being used. Extreme temperature differences in storage also aren’t good for them. Expect swollen or leaking capacitors. Powering them up after many, many years can also further damage them.

• “I don’t have the time to test” - But have time to take pics and write a description for eBay. Which takes considerably longer than plugging in a power supply, video cable, tape deck and joystick. Probably something wrong with it the seller doesn’t want to take responsibility for.

• “I don’t have the correct lead” - A very common excuse and again they’ve probably spotted something wrong, so if you buy it and it arrives broke then they can say “I told you I didn’t have the lead to test”. Check their other items and see what else they’re selling.

• “I don’t have an old tv to test” - My 40” Samsung 3D Smart TV can tune in a C64/Amiga by manually tuning in using the £1 aerial cable I got from Poundland.

• “Rare collectors item” - According to the Guinness Book of Records the Commodore 64 is the highest selling home computer of all time with around 17 million sold. These are not rare. Yes people collect them.

Here's a little list of things I bought over the last few months. All of which added up totals just £110.

So you see they're not all worth hundreds of pounds of your hard earned money. Stop these overpriced seller bell-ends and be patient. You WILL find a bargain at a proper price!!!