High cost of...VM...

[HPOSTER@xxxxxxxxxx]

Ken Navarre <kjn@xxxxxxxxxx>  mentions the high cost of collectibles because
of dealers or investers buying, and then reselling at a high profit. 

   I know this comes up from time to time, but what many people forget is, if
drug companies made drugs and sold them at near cost, if food stores sold food 
at near cost, and the guy who sold me his house (he paid $12,000 20 years ago) 
hadn't charged me $209,000, then I too could buy VM cutters at any price and
then resell them at just about my cost. I suspect the gasoline companies,
public service, the phone company, and lots of others I have to deal with,
make a profit. 
   I'm self-employed, but I bet if every factory or company worker out there
gave their bosses their time at a fair markup, say $1.00 per hour (you guys
get it for free!!!), then your companies would charge "about cost", and again
I could pass on the savings. 

   Okay, I'm finished, except to say that lots of times collectibles turn up,
and get offered, only because dealers offer too much, and pickers are willing
to find them. I also deal in vintage TVs, and the early (pre-WWII) televisions 
are extremely rare. When, collectors tried to buy them for a few hundred
dollars, most ended up in the trash. I offer $1,000 to $10,000 for these, and
I've turned up 2 or 3 dozen....most of which would not have been dug out and
saved, if it wasn't worth someone's effort. In the country of $1,000 mortgage
payments and $15 per hour wages, it takes big rewards to make people decide to 
do anything but carry stuff to the curb...even cameras!!! 

   I apologize if I've started a flame...you can e-mail me directly to tell me 
you think I'm a crazy money hungry dealer, so we don't tie up the photo-3D
area. 

                         Harry Poster


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