RE: Nishika Cameras

[P3D Gregory J. Wageman <gjw@xxxxxxxxxx>]

Mike K.:

>Perhaps, but that wasn't the point.  Point was that the 
>"worth $1K camera" could become a "worth 89 cents" camera.  The actual
>reason for it happening wasn't pertinent to the point being made.  Just
>that the value could change wildly even though the camera itself didn't
>change any whatsoever.  It still takes identical pictures to when it
>was at the other value.

You make my point for me.  The camera's intrinsic value hasn't changed.
It still takes excellent stereo pictures.  Only its market value has
changed, due to outside forces.

>The sold-at price and its market value aren't related?  Huh?

In a pool of 150,000 potential transactions, one sale represents .00067
percent of the total, which I consider mathematically insignificant.
(Admittedly this is overly simplistic because one camera can change hands
many times, making the limit virtually infinite.  1/infinity is virtually
zero.  QED. (-:)

>If the original one costed you $5K because you needed it on an hours
>notice in Bangkok, then it's market value was $5K *then*.  Insurance
>company will maybe give you $200 *now* because that's its 
>replacement value *now*.

That is the most twisted line of thinking since I encountered Humpty
Dumpty in "Alice Through the Looking Glass" (who insisted that words
mean exactly what he said they mean).  That way lies madness.

>You are applying the word "Market value" exclusively to the aggregate.

True.  I believe that's how most people define it.

>However, I also use the term for specific units.

That's the selling price.  The selling price may be above or below
the market value, for the many reasons we've both already touched on.

>> to affect market value.  A pure user may not care if the camera shows some
>> brassing, and a pure collector may not care if the shutter is slow, but the
>> market value takes BOTH of these into account, because the market consists
>> of both collectors and users.

>So if you're a pure user, you'll sell your mint condition Realist for
>the same price as your working but scratched up, cosmetically corroded,
>and torn leather realist?  Can I choose which one I buy from you at that
>same price?  :-)

You're attributing the motivations of my hypothetical buyers to a
hypothetical seller.   I think any reasonable person would accept that
the motivations of a buyer and seller are somewhat different.  Perhaps
even diametrically opposed. :-)

        -Greg W.


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