[photo-3d] There is more To "Chew On"

["Dr. George A. Themelis" <drt-3d@xxxxxxx>]

At 05:54 PM 7/18/00 -0000, you wrote:
>For those skeptics out there who swear stereo slides have 
>no value here's one to chew on.

There is much more than that in ebay.  There have been
at least two lots I was watching with 1000 slides (typical
family and vacation shots) that closed between $400 and $500.  
That's a lot of money to pay for stereo slides "sight unseen".

It is a gamble.  After you see some of the "average" stereo 
pictures from the 50s you realize why people quit stereo :)
(A lot of camera shake, out of focus, incorrect exposures
or plain bad shots).

In one of these lots I had an interesting "conversation"
with the seller.  He found this collection of slides
in the contents of an entire garage which his friend
bought in an auction for $150.  His friend was going to 
throw the slides away but he said "let's put them in 
ebay... maybe we'll get $20 for them".  He posted the 
lot under the title "1000 Stereo Slides - Do you collect 
them?"  I knew immediately that he would be very surprised.
He was shocked when the lot (including a storage case 
in another auction) closed for nearly $500.  He told
me that he had so much stuff in that garage that he
would take him weeks and weeks to sell in ebay.

It seems that prices of common stereo equipment are
falling in ebay.  Now it is cheaper to buy stereo
cameras and viewers from ebay than the local used
camera trade shows.  Seems that the laws of demand 
and supply are hard to beat.  130,000 Stereo Realists 
were made and sold.  Who is buying them today?

One thing that still sells very high in ebay
right now are the stereo slides from the 50s.
Those who realized their value and bought them
when people were throwing them away, are smiling
today, right Ron? :)  With these prices in ebay 
we'll see more and more of them in the future.

George Themelis