Archive:ServerHardwareAuction/Sales

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Item list

(maybe a google docs spreadsheet would be better?)

Thing Amount Est sales price
SCA Drive 73 Gb Many 35-52 quid (inc p&p)
SATA drive XGB Many ?

note: re SCA hot-plug 72.8Gb drives, I ebayed a few recently for between £8-10 each - martink.

Previous Server batch

name height (U) disks slots raid raid card battery cables Raid card type Shipping
R1 3 sata 10 y y y 3ware 9000 Storage Controller, Firmware FE9X 2.06.00.009, BIOS BE9X 2.03.01.051 £13
H2 3 sata 12 y n 2 i.e. 10 missing 3ware 9550SX SATA-RAID £13
A1 1 sata 4 y n y 3ware 9550SX SATA-RAID £7
Q1 4 sca 16 y n y LSI Logic / Symbios Logic MegaRAID £15
J1 3 sca 10 y y y LSI Logic / Symbios Logic MegaRAID £13
J4 3 sca 10 y y y LSI Logic / Symbios Logic MegaRAID £13
F3 3 sca 12 y y y LSI Logic / Symbios Logic MegaRAID £13
F4 3 sata 12 y n all missing 3ware Inc 9550SX SATA-RAID £13

F3 and Q1 have triple redundant PSU's

Next Server batch

This is just a quick list of what has what drives

name height (U) disks slots raid raid card battery cables Raid card type Shipping Notes
P5 sata
P4 sata
P3 sata
J7 sca
J8 sata
I1 2 sca 6 y y y LSI MegaRaid ? One dead drive bay
I2 2 sca 6 y n y LSI MegaRaid ? Two dead drive bays
I3 sca
M1 sata
M2 sata
L1 sca
F2 sata
N2 sata
B5 pata(?)
H1 sata
N8 sata dead
N7 sata dead
D1 sata reserved
O1 sata dead
O2 sata dead
B3 pata(?) dead
J3 3 sca 10 y y y LSI MegaRAID ? DIED :((

Ebay

All equipment will be sold on the brand new LHS eBay account.

Account Hygiene

  • Get some feedback (buy cheap stuff?)
  • "About Me" page
  • Avatar

Strategy

  • Don't flood the market. Sell few items at a time
  • Need good & thorough descriptions, not just manufacturer spec
  • "Save initial fees and start with 99p."
  • Announce the first few sales on affiliated mailing lists
  • We probably prefer cash payments (?)
    • (Downsides of cash: 1. difficult to prove happened 2. no reduction in fees 3. check for forged notes 4. people may just not turn up, ie. don't get the money from the sale 5. PayPal is immediate cash and funds fees directly plus recorded and verified in case of arguments)
    • TODO

Auction template

This has now moved to LfmHardwareAuction/Template.

Other Suggestions

From Mike Harrison:

[Quick comments on ebay listings from a seasoned ebayer

Specify pick-up location a bit more specifically - London is a big place, also specify possible
pickup times, and  emphasise pickup only in the listing text in big letters.

Just copy & pasting manufacturers blurb with no additional info looks bad, especially for a
zero-feedback seller - to instil some more confidence add a line or two about who you are & where
kit has come from - not specific, just that it's a donated bulk lot from a  working environment or
similar.

And add an 'about me' page.

In that vein, it might be worth adding some background i.e. donated by last.fm, maybe a link to the hackspace, explain the good cause, etc.

  • For the SCA drives we should list the number of sectors so that people looking for replacement drives for a raid array can be sure they get one thats the same size or larger.

On IRC:

<aden>	we probably should have bough tsome stuff on ebay to get feeback too, nobody is going to bid on a 0 feedback seller
<Paul2>	yeah 0 feedback 'hack' in the seller name. 1 line desciption. LOOKS LEGIT @@@@@
<jontyw>	I'm also not sure that we should be selling seven monitors in one batch, it's MUCH better to just have "7 available"

Making some quick purchases will still leave a very low feedback number so still look poor, plus easy to see by everyone that the purchases happened in the few days before so might even look worse than a zero!

Re Batch sales, if you are certain that they will sell at a specific price then list them as "x for sale" one at a time and use the fixed price with best offer.

Pricing

  • Most bidding happens in the final hour; the purpose of having a longer auction is so that people are aware the item is for sale and 'watch' it
  • Although it might seem that starting with a higher opening price - nearer to the hoped-for sale price - is sensible, evidence shows it makes very little difference to the actual sale price; the auction will find the 'true' price either way. Therefore save initial fees and start with a 99p.
  • If you want collection only, make it clear in the description and the price sections. Bidders may ask if they can send a courier with the cash though so decide in advance whether you feel that is a safe idea.
  • Require payment via PayPal within x days and collection within y days otherwise you reserve the right to relist without compensation.
  • Specify better where the collection point is, and note whether vehicles can pull up for loading. Also that it is outside congestion zone.