Your best deals ever - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 01:19:23 am
content: I was thinking of making a post about the best deal i made in allanw's "I do believe I got a good deal" threadBut decided i'd make a new thread instead. Don't want to hyjack his thread.So here's a thread were we can all post our best deals everFirst up of course is allanw, see thread -https://www.eevblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=1709.0My story is as followsBest/most interesting deal i ever did was many many years ago, i found some old OKI plasma display modules (colordepth of 4 shades of orange) in a surplus shop for NZ$9.50 each (around US$6), i got a 2 to play around with and try to build an interface to a VGA port so i could use them in my carpc. (This was like 1994 or something around there)Here's a pic of the back of one of these plasma displaysAfter i tracked down the datasheet from Oki I managed to get an interface working pretty well with a few 74hc chips and some analog electronics to get the Red VGA signal to a 2bit digital one.A few years later while searching for the datasheet again i came across a forum post of someone wanting the exact display i had. These displays had been in brand new condition when i got them, still in their polystyrene packing and plastic protective film over the screen. I sent off a few emails to the guy and he said he still wanted them.Not really knowing what they were worth i just said i'd sell them for US$100 each. Seemed like a pretty good profit from $6. He then asked how many i hadSo i went to surplus shop again, (this was a few years after i got the first two) they still had 6 of them left for US$6. Needless to say, bought them all and sold them all for US$100 eachI was pretty happy with that and bought a proper 7" vga lcd for my carpc with the profit.However i felt a little guilty making so much profit (i was only 15 or so at the time, it seemed like a huge amount of profit to make). Around 4 years ago from today (im 29 now, so 10 years later) i was googling and just thought i'd google the displays again, see if i could find out anything about what they were used for.Guess what i found, i came across a webpage of the guy i sold them to, he has been reselling them.Apparently they are part of a huge old printing press that is still used. The display parts are worth US$4.5k new from the printing press companyGuy i sold them to has been reselling them for $1K to people with this printing machine.So yeah, i could look back on it and wish i had charged more, but i dont, i made a really good profit from my costs and so is heGuy i sold them too still has the webpage online, with pics of my old displaysi think they may infact be the same pics i sent him, they look familarhere -http://www.jtgraphics.net/oki.htm

author: PetrosA
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 01:42:34 am
content: The best deal I ever made was on an espresso machine and grinderI had been getting lunch at a little Italian sandwich shop that had a two group Astoria (about $5k new) and a Mazzer grinder with doser (about $700-800 new). I asked the guy a few times if he wanted to sell them. Finally he did - for $150. I could easily get over $1000 for them, but it's not worth it to me. I've been using the grinder every day since and the machine is a good backup for my 1 group Astoria.

author: EEVblog
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 01:47:18 am
content: Audio Precision 2700 analyser.Bought for $500, sold for $14KThat's the best actual $ profit deal, but not the best markup % deal I've done.Dave.

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 01:06:44 pm
content: $526

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 01:12:15 pm
content: cost me my modestly used Powerbook G4

author: armandas
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 01:53:58 pm
content: Not sure about my best deal, I guess it would bethis low-ohm meter, which I picked for £20 from ebay. Very unimpressive, seeing some other deals here, though

author: saturation
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 03:08:31 pm
content: Chinese cellphone charger and battery off eBay, $1 each included shipping and handling from PRC.I then open them to see what needs improvement, rarely does, and life is good.Batteries I test charge outdoors and see what happens. Otherwise I might have fireworks instead.

author: tinhead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 03:10:15 pm
content: my best deal ever ?As few years ago one of my customers said "I can't pay you invoice, tomorrow i will have to sign bankrupcy act so go to Lab and take what you wish".the second best was "to find" my current wife ^^

author: EddieB
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 05:09:43 pm
content: Can't really say I've ever had any amazing deals..Quote from: tinman on November 12, 2010, 03:10:15 pmReferring to them as your 'current' wife normal results in a slap :p

author: Neilm
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 05:19:35 pm
content: Best deal I ever did was on an A0 inkjet plotter. When I sold it I said to the guy (a brother of a collegue at work) make a reasonable offer for this, including a spare print head, ink and 6 rolls of paper. He gave me £150 for the lot.I bought the printer from a company closing down - total outlay £20.Neil

author: cybergibbons
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 06:45:27 pm
content: Some of my best finds have been from skips for totally free:120 of 486DX2 66Mhz machines - they were old, but I ripped out the processors, overclocked my desktop to 100Mhz and replaced the burned out processor every week or so...An x-ray machine - it was a "live" machine that projected onto a screen, played with it for a bit and then split it for partsSeveral thousand unused crystals (can't remember frequency) - split into bags of 10 and sold on ebayTwo robotic arms with miniature simulator controls - sold for a lotA gas chromatograph - split into parts and sold for spares.A PABX - got a 48V 50A switchmode power supply out of this, soldThere's probably more...

author: TheDirty
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2010, 07:52:21 pm
content: Quote from: sonicj on November 12, 2010, 01:12:15 pmIs the VIN scratched out?Somebody must have really wanted a Powerbook G4.

author: tinhead
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2010, 12:00:27 am
content: Quote from: EddieB on November 12, 2010, 05:09:43 pmexcept things like "so you bought a piece of crap ^cables and lamps^ instead of new kitchen?" she's perfect, 15y younger, perfect body, very high IQ. On the other side a wife is always high cost factor so that's why second place.

author: baljemmett
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 13, 2010, 12:30:06 am
content: Quote from: cybergibbons on November 12, 2010, 06:45:27 pmMy plotter is one I rescued when it was on the way to the skip, having become unreliable and no longer required for teaching the curriculum (I was helping to look after my school's network at the time). Popped the back off and there was a broken trace to the power socket; easy enough to fix, and now I have fun watching it plot schematics. It's the simple things that amuse...[I've seen a method of plotting artwork on PCBs using a gutted plotter pen body and an steel-tipped etch-resist pen. That might be worth trying sometime!]

author: Psi
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2010, 12:53:49 am
content: Another good deal i got was this power supply for NZ$30 (worth NZ$265 new)http://www.jaycar.co.nz/productView.asp?ID=MP3118&keywords=13.8&form=KEYWORDAdjustable from 10v-15v @ 18AAnd one of these industrial lambda power supplys for $99with 4 isolated modules installed1) 2-6V @ 25A2) 5-15V @ 12A3) 5-15V @ 12A4) Split dual output 5-15V x2 @ 6A combinedExtremely useful, since it's isolated i can connect them in series to get pretty much any voltage i want from 2-66V @ at least 6A. Or a lot more amps at lower voltages.Also got a 40mW argon-ion laser with MASSIVE 1kW toroid transformer for $20.Only bought it for the toroid as the unit was all messy with wires everywhere and the laser head looked like it had been man handled a lot so i assumed it was broken. After untangling the wiring and checking the tube it looked intact. Fired it up and, as expected, no laser output, tube glowed nice and pretty tho. I happened to bump one of the mirror alignment screws and it lased for a sec! After some tweaking of the screws i got it working greatSo now that the laser is working i can't bring myself to cannibalise it for the nice toroid. Hehe

author: NiHaoMike
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2010, 02:41:52 am
content: Just 2 days ago, I bought a 19V,6.5A wall wart for $10 at a garage sale. It was for an old "cube PC" that has broke down.I also got an iSee portable video recorder for $15 off Amazon. I then modified it to use any USB Flash drive.Of course, free stuff is nice, too. A friend of mine gave me a Fluke Nettool. It often misbehaves with modern auto sensing ports (probably why my friend gave it to me!) but I believe it was worth over $1000 new...

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2010, 03:29:09 am
content: Quote from: TheDirty on November 12, 2010, 07:52:21 pmnope, its legit. my former roommate was the impulsive type...ohh yea, i gave him my xbox 360 too... (i never played the thing) still a pretty sweet deal!i bought the golf cart from him for $500 because it "wouldn't run." bypassed the relay in the charger and it ran great after i put some juice into the batts

author: JohnS_AZ
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2010, 04:34:54 am
content: Maybe not the best ever, but one I use a whole heck of a lot. This thermometer does K, J, T, R and E thermocouples, Pt100 and Pt3850 resistive sensors, and non-contact IR and has a laser aiming pointer. It also has an RS-232 port. I picked it up in the odds'n'ends section of a furniture auction. I bid $5.00, and no one else bid on it.

author: JohnS_AZ
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2010, 04:40:26 am
content: This one is pretty cool as well. Its a WaveTek 3SR "Stealth" sweep transmitter/receiver. It's made for working on cable TV systems, but it functions great as a portable 5MHz - 1GHz spectrum analyzer. It's worth about $1,000, and I paid $12.99 for it at a Salvation Army thrift store. There was no charger with it and the batteries were dead. They figured it was broke. :-)Since I don't do much RF any more, I've been debating tossing this onto eBay to fund a new DSO.

author: sonicj
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2010, 06:50:48 am
content: motu 828 mkii for $60 from pawn shop.retail $750tivoli model one for $8 NIB at goodwillretail $150

author: quantumfall
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2010, 09:19:40 am
content: Show my age now. Dealer closing down sale. An ACT Apricot PC twin floppy 3.5 sony drives, 512K ram upgrade (64K x 1 bit chips in 8 banks on a card) total 640K, plus a Brother daisy wheel printer, 50 used floppy disks (Expensive in those days) and a 12" green mono monitor for £450. I sold it a year later for about £650 I think not sure now but it was a great deal at the time. The first and only PC I sold for more than I paid for it, I've had a few as wellI could have bought several others at the time, it was a last day sale at a PC dealers but did not have anymore cash.

author: tuo
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2010, 12:49:06 pm
content: In 2006 I puchased flight tickets to Japan, Nagoya. It was a new straight route from Helsinki to Nagoya and there was an opening offer: both ways 399€. What does it have to do with electronics? I bought my Sanwa DMM and a small LCR meter on that trip from those nice little shops under Akihabara railwaystation in Tokyo. It is just a lovely place with little electronics shops or more like booths. One sells capacitors, the next one DMM:s and stuff, next one LED:s etc.

author: gib0r
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 14, 2010, 02:56:54 pm
content: Back in July my place of work surplussed a bunch of stuff from our old building, which included a then larger metrology lab...Day of sale, $40 bought me the following:Tektronix 2445ABK precision 1760 PSUHP 8020 rackmount psu2x Keithly 2750 rackmount dataloggers/Multimeters with complete software package and Kelven probes.Fluke 8804A MultimeterFluke 8020B MultimeterHP 3466A MultimeterKeithly 480 PicoameterHart Scientific 1502 Thermometer with probeHuntron HSR410 switcherMitutoyo sheet metal micrometer.other odd misc items such as hygrometer probes,calibration tools, and some clean room items.Even with the obscene price, the best part of all of it was being able to overhaul my fathers workbench with extras and what some of the above replaced on mine. My father has been using the same test equipment since I was a child, and boy was he excited!

author: Mechatrommer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2010, 03:26:02 pm
content: Quote from: JohnS_AZ on November 13, 2010, 04:40:26 amif you are considering selling it at your bought price, i might considering buying it from yougib0r, you dont have to repeat that, a link to your post in another forum is much preferable, or stated in different tone, but thats just me. enjoy the deal!

author: gib0r
author_rank: Newbie
timestamp: November 15, 2010, 01:42:06 am
content: Quote from: shafri on November 14, 2010, 03:26:02 pmEh, post was removed from previous location. Meant to post it here anyways. No reason to rewrite it.