A huge lot with a pile of pro-level Minolta bodies, Maxxum 9, 7, 9xi, etc... including some nice lenses. All cameras seem to have their respective vertical grips.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&item=260358184933

There's some expensive stuff hiding in there including a lot of Saunders Stroboframe, Manfrotto pistol grip tripod head, some lenses not mentioned in the list which are clearly valuable. The Quantum stuff alone is worth more than the current bid.

However, it all looks excessively used and abused!

David

This seller could have made a fortune to sell these individually. If I had the liquidity I'd buy it up, myself and sell what I couldn't use. (I'm sure it would be tempting for you if he shipped to the UK).

[EDIT] After 9 bids it sold at US$2900...somebody's got their hands full now!

It sounds like a bargain, but I guess it is long enough after the event to reveal that I bid £1500 + VAT for the remaindered contents of the KM warehouse in the UK in 2006, and got it. At least as much was thrown away, I did not 'tick off' countless items on the list because I thought my bid would never be accepted. I also thought I would have to pay around £1000 for delivery at about £20 per palletized unit. I was amazed when my bid was accepted, and even more so when one complete articulated curtainsider delivered the goods, without further charge. In retrospect I bought a load of very bulky stuff (1200 camera bags included) and missed out on some high value items because I did not know what they were in the stock list, and KM had written down very high values next to them. I avoided all those in case my bid was rejected. I now think I could have ticked the entire worksheet and got everything - they just wanted someone to clear the warehouse.

That purchase is really why the Minolta Club did not shut down but was able to continue as Photoclubalpha.

Back in 1997 (?) when we were still running an imagesetter, the makers AM Varityper went into liquidation internationally. I entered sealed postal bids for several replacement, upgraded imagesetters and also for the entire contents of their service dept in the UK. We won three imagesetters, none of which would have worked without spare parts to fix them - and we also won the service dept. On the day of the auction/collection, the former service dept employees who had set up a new firm tried to get a legal order preventing my team from loading up the vans - they were almost ready to use violence. We had paid just £500 for the service dept, it seems they had assumed it was theirs for song and bid even less because 'no-one else would be interested'. Dumb or what!

So I have no doubt this vendor, who bought the package at an auction of closed business assets, paid a fraction of the $2900 to get it all. Maybe $100, maybe $200, who knows.

David

Large lots can be a boon to a reseller, especially if you know that there are at least 2 or 3 items in the lot that will recapture your whole outlay.

I have a friend who's life is buying auctioned items and parting them out on e-bay. There are times when he's bought a lot, only to find buried in it 100 industrial control devices each worth more than the lot cost. The trick is you have to have enough knowledge of the various items to know that there's something in there marketable enough to recoup your costs. That's a lot easier if you're only looking at one specific industry. There are some thing that look good, and have a lot of value to whoever uses it or needs it, but they just don't sell on e-bay.

Dusty