<snip>
>Now that I'm retired and have time to kill, I'm going to embark on a
>career as an *Bay entrepreneur. Although we live in a poor and deprived
>neighborhood of 30-year-old homes, a veritable slum in this area, we are
>becoming surrounded by the million-dollar McMansions of the affluent
>(mostly Republicans, I would guess) who seem always to be having garage
>sales -- probably to try and make this month's mortgage payment or keep
>the cable connected. In an effort to perhaps delay the opening of the
>day's first beer from 10:00 a.m. until maybe 1:00 or 2:00 p.m., I plan to
>drive about (in the OM-4Runner, of course) and check out what obviously
>must be high-end cast-offs, just the fodder for an *Bay auction with a
>high starting bid. Of course, I'll be confining myself to photographic
>and stereo gear, stuff I know something about, and not books and
>bric-a-brac trash.
>
>And the little Camedia C-2000 Z, with its measley 2mp, plus an old set of
>Vivitar close-up lenses, coupled with the right lighting (which nobody
>seems to know how to do anymore) is way more than good enough for
>photographing the one-of-a-kind, never-to-be-seen-again items I shall
>offer on line as I make enough money to buy one of those McMansions. And
>I won't even have to rename or archive the damned files, just upload 'em
>and wait for the money to roll in.
>
>Walt
Wow, I didn't know things were that tough on the other side of the
river--slums, McMansions, Republicans, OH MY! So Walt, do you think all
those huge homes house only aging boomers and old farts (your term :) ) who
own the kind of photography gear you're looking for? And just what are you
looking for? 35mm?, MF?, LF? Antiques? I'd wager that many of those
"affluent" folks are not much different than the ones who've surrounded my
30 odd year old slummy part of town-they're half our age and think a manual
focus 35mm of the 70's/80's era is an "old" camera. They came of age with
auto focus, SLR or P&S, and quickly gravitated to digital. Not all of
them, of course, but a lot of them. Don't casually dismiss the older
homes. There's gold in them there slums. In the nearly two years I've been
frequenting the Dunwoody/Sandy Springs garage sales I've found very little
of the good stuff out on a table. I usually have to ask the homeowner if
he/she has any photography related gear they're no longer using and might
have put away in a closet or drawer and forgotten about. That sometimes
elicits a response along the lines of "are you a collector?" while the
dollars are adding up in their head. I've invented a few creative replies
that have a basis in truth.
With the exception of a Yashica A TLR I bought, I don't recall any
opportunities to buy something other than 35mm. Maybe you'll have better
luck. Don't forget to take along some batteries (AA, AAA, SR44, Mercury
1.35V) and a small flashlight. A lot of cameras that aren't battery
dependent can be had for even less if the meter's not functioning. As for
estate sales, the operators...wait minute! Why am I telling you all this
for free? <G> They'll probably teach you all this and more at that eBay
University course you and the missus signed up for.
Seriously, I've had a lot of fun selling photo gear, etc. on eBay. Once I
got past the initial learning curves it came down to having the opportunity
to play with a lot of cameras and lenses before parting with them. After
you take the seminar and are ready to crank out the sales write me off
list-I'll be happy to pass along a lot of what I've learned-both on and off
eBay. Well, happy so long as you don't invade my turf-just kidding.
Gary
P.S. I too am very sorry to hear of the loss of your acquaintances at the
courthouse. Coupled with the church murders in Wisconsin, this is a very
sad week for humanity.
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