Pulsar Modules

[bucko170]

Yikes, am I missing something or is this a high price for four untested and potentially dead Pulsar modules!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %26fvi%3D1

[richard_uk]

And there's only one that doesn't look like it has acid damage

[retroleds]

Well(wasn't I who bought them..) at least they still have the original crystals in them, which increases the likelihood that they have not been fiddled with too much. I'd agree, kind of high.

[richard_uk]

I've got at least a dozen of them, time to list them I think

[bucko170]

I've got at least a dozen of them, time to list them I think

In the wacky unpredictable world of eBay they would probably sell for 27p

[LEDluvr]

Post your Pulsar modules here richard_uk - you may get a few buyers.

I'm in need of a P4 module myself....... p.m. me if you have one for sale.

[bucko170]

Another 4 modules from the same seller

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... %26fvi%3D1

[charger105]

Three of them look pretty clean. The neg. side down sticker looks unblemished on all but one.
One of these "good" ones looks to have had the QC fiddled with......not a good sign.
The other 2 may work, who knows. It's such a simple task to power them up, if they do work, he's throwing money away by not saying so !

Rgds.

[bruce wegmann]

Can't help but wonder what the ultimate source of these was. Maybe, after more than two years, some of the 700-plus modules that came out of Jo-burg are finally starting to surface. It would be interesting to know how many of these are actually functional; these certainly look better than the first lot...quite good, in fact. Pity there's no correlation between cosmetic and working condition.

[fronzelneekburm]

Could just be a cleanup of a nameless Pulsar Fan. I have had times when i drowned in dead...uhmm i mean "untested" modules and also released them in a large batch (on ebay Germany though). You'd be drooling if you knew what some people are willing to pay for "beyond repair"...uhm i mean "untested" modules...

[retroleds]

Could just be a cleanup of a nameless Pulsar Fan. I have had times when i drowned in dead...uhmm i mean "untested" modules and also released them in a large batch (on ebay Germany though). You'd be drooling if you knew what some people are willing to pay for "beyond repair"...uhm i mean "untested" modules...

Some would consider that an unethical practice. I'm thinking it depends on what you tell them - if you say "untest", when you have tested and found them to be malfunctional(partially working but not correct), then you are simply lying. If you say "untested" and the module showed zero life, and you went no further than trying batteries, then it is maybe a borderline ethics issue, since it may just be a contact issue or something small - but for a newbie collector with fuck all(was that a good use of that British expression?) skills, it's still a junker, so realistically, still a lie. If you have a bunch you actually haven't tried batteries with - only THEN is "untested" the truth. A lot of ebay sellers do the "untest" (or "didn't have the correct batteries") when it really means they tested and it didn't work. You can sometimes tell by the fact that:(a) they buy up other people's "untested" lots,(b)they sell some working watches, so they actually are willing to get batteries and try them. Leading the buyer to wonder WHY would they NOT have tested a particular piece, yet taken the time to photograph it and put it up on flea-bay.
To each their own.

What's your user name on ebay Germany?

I understand that my position on this leads people to either love me or hate me. I've had lots of both, makes fuck all difference to me.

[LEDluvr]

Ed, I think your ethics are spot-on in the case.

[fronzelneekburm]

Could just be a cleanup of a nameless Pulsar Fan. I have had times when i drowned in dead...uhmm i mean "untested" modules and also released them in a large batch (on ebay Germany though). You'd be drooling if you knew what some people are willing to pay for "beyond repair"...uhm i mean "untested" modules...

Some would consider that an unethical practice. I'm thinking it depends on what you tell them - if you say "untest", when you have tested and found them to be malfunctional(partially working but not correct), then you are simply lying. If you say "untested" and the module showed zero life, and you went no further than trying batteries, then it is maybe a borderline ethics issue, since it may just be a contact issue or something small - but for a newbie collector with fuck all(was that a good use of that British expression?) skills, it's still a junker, so realistically, still a lie. If you have a bunch you actually haven't tried batteries with - only THEN is "untested" the truth. A lot of ebay sellers do the "untest" (or "didn't have the correct batteries") when it really means they tested and it didn't work. You can sometimes tell by the fact that:(a) they buy up other people's "untested" lots,(b)they sell some working watches, so they actually are willing to get batteries and try them. Leading the buyer to wonder WHY would they NOT have tested a particular piece, yet taken the time to photograph it and put it up on flea-bay.
To each their own.

What's your user name on ebay Germany?

I understand that my position on this leads people to either love me or hate me. I've had lots of both, makes fuck all difference to me.

We all appreciate your honesty, but if you're being realistic you must admit that in ebay language "not tested" is a synonym for "broken beyond repair". Believing anything else is just the victory of hope over experience. Yeah i DID have some "untested" watches that really just worked fine when i inserted batteries, but lets also note down that these are the absolute minority and none of them came from any of the usual suspects (like the users here and so on...).

Actually there are few idealistic users on ebay.

And i would never blame them. It's as much a lie as when your wife asks you like "Honey you didn't forget our anniversary?" and you're like "uhmm, well... No of course not... *gets red*

I know you didn't ask for advise, but if you change your mind here's one - regard and price "untested" watches on ebay like broken ones. We all like the mystery bonus "untested" gives, but its value is really limited on ebay.

BTW: I would not believe anyone here if he/she sold a watch "untested"... Yeah like it would be too much work for any of us to place batteries in it...And like we could resist...

BTW: My username on ebay is fronzelneekburm, valid on all ebay platforms (Not limited to ebay Germany).

[retroleds]

We all appreciate your honesty, but if you're being realistic you must admit that in ebay language "not tested" is a synonym for "broken beyond repair". Believing anything else is just the victory of hope over experience. Yeah i DID have some "untested" watches that really just worked fine when i inserted batteries, but lets also note down that these are the absolute minority and none of them came from any of the usual suspects (like the users here and so on...).

I know you didn't ask for advise, but if you change your mind here's one - regard and price "untested" watches on ebay like broken ones. We all like the mystery bonus "untested" gives, but its value is really limited on ebay.

BTW: I would not believe anyone here if he/she sold a watch "untested"... Yeah like it would be too much work for any of us to place batteries in it...And like we could resist...

I'd agree that there are a large number of people selling as "untested", when really it means "tested and broken". As far as hope over experience - there are some sellers tests which narrow things down a bit. Look at what else they sell - if they don't do much in watches it ups your odds they are telling the truth on the "untested" aspect(still may be a dud). Or, are they(strictly to be determined through test buys) fairly non-mechanically/electrically inclined? Take ebayers helen123 or rivera_c: both apparently like to buy other people's lots, toss in batteries without cleaning the contacts, and declare them dead if there is no sign of life. I had one batch from rivera_c where I got 4 out of 5 working, on a $20 lot! Some contact cleanings and a quartz oscillator swap or two was all it took.

I'd agree that it would be very odd, and hence to be assumed a blatent lie(to the point of being a joke) if someone here was selling an item as untested, other than an unopened Synchronar or P1

[bucko170]

My 2 cent -

To put it plainly knowingly selling dead modules as 'untested' is just wrong and dressing it up as the 'norm' is a poor excuse.

[fronzelneekburm]

Yeah, theres a few good examples, but well I'd say these stay the minority and usually these 5% or 10% are usually just "watch noobs", i think there are really really really few people who are "watch nerds" like us and would make the effort to take pictures, prepare the ebay description and so on but REALLY lack the 2 minutes to put batteries in it.


For selling modules this is even much more obvious, after all you need to think "What is the usually kind of person that has LED watch modules and sells these on ebay?" We can only come to few cases:

- A helpless housewive that only found out these are LED watch modules her deceased husband left her as he was an LED watch module salesman in the 70s. Now she wanna get rid of all the crap as her new husband is moving in (30 years later). (Hmmm, a rare case)

- A Jeweler who realized that after 30 years the customers dont demand many LED watch module replacements any more. As the now blind watchmaker cant see if these well kept modules work anymore he puts up an ebay auction on his braille keyboard. His pictures seem a bit blurry (also not really a likely case)

- An LED watch collector frequently buying and selling on ebay. Like most collectors that buy big lots of watches he has dozens of "beyond repair modules" left over. Out of greedyness he suddenly decides to write "untested" in his auction to add this mystery lottery bonus. For added realism he even pretends he's a noob regarding watches. (Quite likely case at ebay)



My conclusion: Untested modules may appear often on ebay, but i doubt many of these really just "weren't tested". Especially (!!!) if they read "Pulsar", as Pulsar collectors are generally fanatics that dream about contact cleaning at the nights, in their hands an untested watch and a fresh battery will show a mystical magnetism. Only massive force with heavy arms can be used to seperate a Pulsar fanatic with his battery from an untested Pulsemeter. (just kidding - Pulsar or not, we're all like that)

[retroleds]

....
- An LED watch collector frequently buying and selling on ebay. Like most collectors that buy big lots of watches he has dozens of "beyond repair modules" left over. Out of greedyness he suddenly decides to write "untested" in his auction to add this mystery lottery bonus. For added realism he even pretends he's a noob regarding watches. (Quite likely case at ebay)

Fronzel - those examples were funny as hell, I have joked to the wife not to sell the stuff off cheap(she is actually fairly astute and as handy as maybe 1/2 the guys here.)

The unfortunate reality is that buyers are too frequently dealing with your example above. But it isn't all greed - some of it is a short sighted business model. If that person acquired some more skills, fewer would be dead in their hands, and an honest profit could be made whilst they discard the true corpses. Granted, gleaning working modules from crap cases is probably more profitable for a repair person.... unlike the collector who ends up with a particular module but no nice case to put it in, a repair customer already has the case they want due to condition or sentimental attachment. All they want is a working brain. So a repair person has great motivation to try to fix each and every module, regardless of what it came out of - sooner or later, someone will want it.

Well, a good thread, points to ponder out there in the world of collecting, whether watches or what have you.