A couple days before Christmas my family called to say plans were cancelled. Everyone was sick and unless I wanted to also get sick it was advised I stay away. I suppose it was a no-brainer to distance myself so I wouldn’t catch the worst sickness since Corona.
Coincidentally my friend called from New York and invited me to his place for a few days. The plan was catching up with friends from the area and grabbing some food and drinks. Really, it meant getting out of the area and enjoying time with people during the holidays.
My friend suggested we go to a vintage computing and gaming swap meet popup that he heard about the day before I got there. From what it sounded like, a Facebook group from the area rented an old warehouse for a few days to buy, sell and swap old computer stuff. Not exactly what I planned to do with my vacation time, but I was hanging with my friend.
We took the train from his place to the warehouse. It wasn’t exactly what I imagined. Think a 5,000 square foot building with tables and shelving. Most of the attendees were males in their late 40’s to mid 50’s. We got there early so we had time to mingle with the vendors. At 5PM a much younger group started arriving. Men and women in their 20’s to 40’s came in groups. There had to be 200 customers milling around and actively buying.
I was immediately drawn to the $700.00 CRT computer monitors. CRT stands for cathode ray tube; they’re the big old tube monitors that for years have been shunned by recyclers because they contain mercury. I have been turning them away because the company I use charges me per monitor. Just down the aisle another guy was selling old CRT televisions for $400.00 each. Crazy enough, people were buying these.
What’s old is new again. There were plenty of computer parts and I’ll bet none were made after 1999 and half were Y2K compatible. Used beige cases were $60.00. Vintage graphics cards were fetching $250.00. All the stuff I’ve been passing through to the recycling company actually has value.
One guy specialized in new old stock equipment. Everything on his table was brand new in boxes. Even though the original sticker prices were on some of the items, they were marked up to 10X the original retail price. A $2.00 item is currently selling for $20.00. And to my surprise this guy was selling tons.
I was in shock that all the stuff I recycled over the years has value now to these people who want to build something they never got to experience. That’s really what it comes down to, the people buying this stuff never got to experience actually using it. Even if they used it they were too young to remember using it. Maybe some of the older customers wanted to relive their youth. No matter, this stuff that to me and maybe you has no value, has value to someone out there. Before you toss out that old computer in your closet I suggest seeing if it has value to anyone.
Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. in Greenfield and Gardner MA. He can be reached at 978-413-2840 or LocalComputerWiz.Com