So what is my "shack" really worth?

The following press release will be published in an upcoming QST edition, and has already appeared in World Radio WR6WR.

I would appreciate your consideration, and the potential feedback from hundreds who have already bought the book and many more who have questions about it.

Best regards,

Dave Goodman - KG6JTB
-----------------------------------------------
11/13/02

PRESS RELEASE - New Product Info

TITLE: So what is my "shack" really worth?

AUTHOR: Dave Goodman, KG6JTB

The second hand market for amateur equipment is its own industry. Sometimes, transceivers that have been long out of production command prices that are close to original list prices. Same can be said for many of the accessories. For the first time, a pricing guide has been published that can assist hobby enthusiasts in making purchasing decisions on-line or at the swapmeets.

The SMARTS Book, Secondary Market Amateur Radio Technical Pricing Survey, by Dave Goodman, KG6JTB offers used market pricing on over 2,500 nomenclatures of the most popular equipment in the past 70+ years of ham radio. The pricing tables are divided into 7 categories from Bad to Mint, specifically using the C.C.A. grading standards.

"I chose the Collins Collectors Associations (C.C.A.) grading standards because the descriptions are unambiguous, objective, and can be easily applied to grade nearly any piece of ham radio equipment regardless of manufacturer", said author and publisher Dave Goodman, KG6JTB. "The SMARTS Book pricing has been derived from confirmed sales data and a statistical sample model to create pricing tables that reflect current market values for each item."

Another aspect of the book is that it stands as an unbiased authority for insurance purposes and in the event of death. The author goes on the mention, "Vintage ham gear is collectable, but does you insurance company know that? How about your spouse?" The SMARTS book provides space for you to document and inventory what is in your shack.

With a cover price of only $12.00, The 2003 edition SMARTS Book will prove to be an invaluable addition to your radio literature. More information and on-line ordering can be found at www.kg6jtb.freewebspace.com

 

good book but chances are its going to get purchased by hams, not none hams.

i handle ham radio estates mostly as a hobby. i hate to see good stuff get thrown out. often times the family of the silent key has no idea what to do with the radios or they have developed a strong dislike for the radios. many times i have been taken to the radio room of a silent key and basically told to clean it up and throw out anything not worth dealing with. i take great care to make sure that things like pictures, letters, etc dont end up in the garbage and leave that up to the family.

why a dislike??

frankly some of us spend too much time infront of our radios and not enough time with our loved ones. the day will come when you have picked up your mic for the last time and now its up to those who were left behind to decide what to do with your lifelong accumalation of radio gear. some folks want to see them put to good use but others have nothing but dislike and want to see them in the landfill!

dont want your collins collection under a bulldozer at the county dump? spend more time with your family members and educate them on what all the stuff is and who to call in case something happens to you.

think i'm exagerating...
collins 75s3 and 32s3 with 30s1 in custom console, over 10 heath peices, trunktracker, hallicrafters vlf, tubes and books.. almost made it to the landfill had i not shown up.

2 ten tec hf stations with amps, ameritron amp, vhf/uhf mobiles, power supplies, 3 antennas, tuners, vibroplex bug, jones key, bunnell relay, books, scanners and a few other rigs.. almost made it to the landfill had i not shown up.

one hams shack which consisted of a modern hf rig, some mobiles and ht's went to the landfill because i couldnt make it in time.

if you want your stuff to be put to good use when you "sign off" i think the most important thing is be on good terms. your family most likely wont care what it cost if they hate the stuff because you never spent time with them.

i know this is harsh but i speak from experience.

robert cruz
ke4mcl
miami fl

 

I've been to a few "Estate" and garage sales that advertized ham radios for sale.  I mostly avoid going to these sales looking for radios because one of two things happens.  One (or more) of the SK's ham friends have gone through and taken most of what is worth anything and left the junk for sale.  Or the family has unreasonable idea what the stuff is worth.  And usually the price is not priced toward the low end.

I've also found it amusing how the equipment of SK keeps showing up at ham fests being sold by the friends of the departed in unknown condition.  You would think that a good friend would be willing to TEST the radios instead of saying "This came from an estate sale and I have no idea if it works."  Prices are usually high; the type where you ask the seller, "Why did you bring it here if you wanted to keep it."

 

I am actually glad to finally possibly see a ham radio version of the NADA bluebook! Time and time again I see these complete idiots that think that just because they spent $1000 ten years ago, that the piece of equipment is worth that same amount now!! Sorry.... ever hear of the words DEPRECIATION!! Ham equipment depreciates just like anything else, and if someone is insane enough to expect someone to pay close to the same as the original price (and it is clearly used merchandise) they sure as h*ll are not getting any purchases from me!

 

PMX:

EVERYTHING is worth what someone else is willing to pay...
That why an Edsel in prime condition will cost ya $20,000 or more...

And collector radios are the same...

The value is in the eye of the purchaser...

Harry Kholer N0PU

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (DocRF @ Nov. 27 2002,17:20)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Thus the result: your family does not place the same value on your radio gear that you do.  Their interest is not even close.

Some months ago, a local OT passed away.  The family called me, because they had met me before, and I'm somewhat prominent in the locale.  They asked what they should do about "all the radio junk".  [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Boy have you started memories. Years ago, about 1966 or was 67, a friend of mine then licensed, got married and gave up radio. His " boy's" room at home was cleaned out by his mother who had "Church " auction interests. I recall the items sold included D104, Viking Valiant, SSB generator, HQ180.
I asked how much the complete collection, to one buyer was sold for and she said it was a good price $360.00 dollars took all. Same number of degrees in a circle. Ain't that just special?

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (ke4mcl @ Nov. 27 2002,13:40)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">i handle ham radio estates mostly as a hobby. i hate to see good stuff get thrown out.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Do I hate to say this, but of the estates I've seen friends or others ( hams) called the family asking if their loved one had left any radio equipment and offered, usually for one hundred dollars, sometimes much less to take it off the familes hands.

Later at a hamfest this same gear showed up with healthy proce tags.

 

as to the above post... it happens, better than it go to the dump though??


i sell the gear on ebay and either work for a percentage or for part of the gear. no mystery as to how much it sold for and everything is agreed upon before i take on the estate. i have found that most folks are more interested in finding a home for it than turning a healthy profit.

everybody loves a good deal and its all in how you went about getting it.

ke4mcl

 

Some sad equipment stories. Our local radio club has an 'estate assistance' chairman, who's job it is to respectfully contact the family members of SKs and assist in the disposal of ham gear in a manner acceptable to the family. (He is the only comittee member who is HAPPY to report 'no news' at the monthly meetings). This has worked quite well over the years, and I have seen a large amount of equipment redistributed to appreciative homes over the years, instead of going to the landfill or to a CBer at a garage sale.

 

Although a noble venture, I have my concerns that a "blue book" for amateur radio equipment will be, unlike the oft-updated automotive "blue books", a one-time snapshot, taken at the time the book was written.   A number of publications, especially those covering collectable and/or vintage equipment and their value, are oft times quickly obsolete and grossly misstate the current values.   I don't think the amateur community could begin to financially support a routinely updated book.  Internet database?  Maybe...   Now, all's been more or less said about the necessity of realistically informing one's family of the value of one's estate, amateur equipment, or otherwise.  What they do, after the fact, will be between you and them!  Finally, and as a collector of older equipment, I've had the conversation with a notable number of colleagues about the "next generation" and what they'll find collectable and desirable, ...or not. I wonder if the SX-99, the restored ART-13, the Valiants, and the HQ-whatevers that were a gleam in my eye in 1958 or, forbid, the Collins 75A4 or the S-Line, will be looked upon with the same enduring admiration by those who follow?  Old to some is simply "old".. read: obsolete and junk.  Maybe it'll have to be enough that some of us were able to re-capture a part of our past.. and let the future be. But heck.. maybe that Belchfire MKIII or your Power-Pooper 2KW rig you bought last year will be going for twice what you paid for it, in 2066! Urrrah!

 

Thanks for the comments.

The book provides a snapshot, but is a collection of confirmed selling prices averaged over a period of 11 months. I don't think the market price for gear >10 years old changes overnight. The real difficulty is determining resale value on goods that are <3 years old on the market. There isn't enough data in most cases to establish pricing tables for each condition.

With that said, The book does not claim to be the authority for transactions between two hams. It's simply a market survey based upon facts collected. It's completely objective in it's analysis. I don't claim to be an expert either- I'm just a numbers guy.

My testing has proved the data to be reliable. It's a pet project that has been well received, few critics due to the fact that it's the only guide book available. It's not a NADA, but it is organized and scientific in it's analyisis and presentation.

Thanks for the threads. I'd love to hear more from people who have bought the book.

Dave - KG6JTB
SMARTS Book - Secondary Market Amateur Radio Technical Pricing Survey

 

Interesting problem, my greatest fear is that my widow will sell my ham gear for what "I" told her I paid. SO, I'm in the process of cataloging the stuff with original prices and realistic dated current values and putting the manuals in a file cabinet with a cross reference to the radio. I also provided the info to my son, otherwise mama will likely push all that "radio junk" to the curb, Ken

 

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (mexico @ Dec. 04 2002,20:27)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">my greatest fear is that my widow will sell my ham gear for what "I" told her I paid.  [/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>
Oh just come right out on your death bed and tell the truth, " Hon, you know those prices I told you about the ham stuuf, they were just down payments."

 

Well, my father (W3PNT, now SK) *was* balanced; he kept *EVERYTHING*. Mom's position has less to do with antipathy toward the hobby and more to do with antipathy toward the huge accumulation of all categories of stuff down in the basement. She wants EVERYTHING gone, and is quite willing for me to be the one to make it so. I'm also quite willing to assist in this endeavor, because I can remember my fascination as a boy, sitting on a barstool behind Dad while he shot the breeze with people half a continent away. It's a source of great satisfaction and "warm fuzzies" that, when I get my General upgrade next spring, I'll be communicating on the same equipment Dad used for all those years. She knows that desk full of Collins HF gear is probably worth a pretty penny but she wants me to have it. Now, if she'll just keep from hauling all the *other* stuff off to the dump before someone from Dad's club can at least have a *look* at it...

 

Lets face it, I don't think many of us has had the courage to tell our XYL's what we have really paid for the stuff in our shack. I don't think I have ever told mine the truth, everything I have I got "on sale" or at an "unbelievably cheap price". In fact, I bet I have told her about 20 percent of what I really have paid for everything. So one of the reasons they sell everything so cheap is because we hams are "natural born liars".
Steve
AA8EK