I happened to be thinking about how the dialog has changed so much between buyers & sellers of used TVs, and the wording of newspaper ads for such...

I wasn't around in the 40s & 50s, and I didn't start fooling with TVs until the late 70s. At that time, I'd read the classified ads in the Santa Monica Evening Outlook for nonworking TV sets. A typical ad might be:

TV RCA console, recent pic tube, has UHF. Works good $75

OR:

COLOR TV Zenith 23" console, new style no legs, rect screen, needs $40 repair, $175 obo

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When I'd put a TV in a neighbor's garage sale that I had fixed up, I'd sit there patiently while people coughed out the usual questions:

"Is it color?, Is it SOLID STATE?, Does the UHF work?

Then later into the 80s "Is it stereo?, Is it CABLE-READY?, "It isn't one of those old TUBE SETS, right?"
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Now days, (when you even SEE a used TV in the paper,) it doesn't say anything besides "large screen TV, almost new, $35"... Nothing about UHF or what type of technology. "Almost new" usually means 1993.

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Anyway, maybe others of us who were around before that might have some memories to share?

Charles

I started picking up TV's as a kid somewhere around '89. Most of my findings were 12" and 19" B&W sets. Most were tube type and some were solid state. Back then, I could usually get anywhere from $20 to $40 for the ones I fixed. It wasn't too long before people started expecting a color TV for a B&W price. Usually, the questions were: "Is it color", "Is it cable ready", "Is it remote control." I remember around '94 I advertised a 19" GE B&W TV for sale. One lady called me and she had no idea what "B&W" stood for. Needless to say, she wasn't interested when she found out it wasn't a color TV. I had another guy ask me if he connected his VCR to the 12" B&W TV I had for sale; would it show the picture in color? Now, the first questions I hear are "how old is it?" and "How big is the screen?" You can forget about selling ANY non remote set. It's also hard to get rid of any set smaller than 27". Even the bigger sets don't bring much money. The first color set I ever fixed and sold as a kid was a 19" Zenith Chromacolor II Space Command with the 4 button clicker remote. I got $50 for it from the first person that called about it. Now, I'd have to pay most people $50 to haul it off. Actually, I still would like to find one of those sets. It was well built and had a nice picture. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted...

Back in the early to mid 90's when I was in high school, I used to sell a lot of TVs that I had fixed. I usually got about $25-$35 for a non-remote 19" set. I mostly sold RCA XL-100s and Zenith Chromacolor IIs. I liked the Zeniths because they usually only needed a few adjustments to make them look like new. The RCAs often had bad CRTs, or other weird problems. There was no market for tube sets by that time. The most I ever got for a B/W set was about $5.

VCRs were where the real money was. I could easily get $75 for a 2 head mono VCR with limited cable channel capabilities.

I discovered the used tv market about 1990. I had time to kill and spent a lot of it checking out flea markets, used furniture stores, and the allies behind tv repair shops. I started dragging home sets that needed work and trying to do something with them.

Around that time any used furniture store worth its salt had a pile of sets, usually a combination of bw portables, tube & ss color sets. Solid state consoles w/remote could easliy bring over $200, while non-remote models were in the $125-150 range. A 70s Colortrak 19" was a common find, for about $100. Tube color sets were still saleable, but getting cheap. $35-45 seemed to be the range for such consoles around 90-91. It seems like by the mid-90s consoles really fell out of favor. I never had many to sell, really, because I was so inept! Thelast one I remember selling was an early 80s RCA remote set, very clean, for $125 to friends of mine. That must have been about 93 or so. By the late 90s most of the old guys who had booths at the flea market were gone, and all the used furniture stores had given up the business. I remember talking to people about some sets I was trying to move and when they found out it was a console they lost all interest. Funny how quick they fell out of favor. They sort of became "trailer trash" sets.

I do recall, as Charles mentioned, sets in the paper needing repairs but still priced plenty high. And they used to sell. Near here there is a freight salvage store and I recall, all through the 80s, how he would get in new consoles with busted crts. They always sold in about a week. Not cheap, either.Now, about 2 years ago he had a perfect System 3 console that he tried selling for an employee. It gathered dust for months, finally selling for $15 as I recall.

For the past 2 weeks there has been an ad in the local classifieds for a color console, free. Has an audio problem. I called and left a message the first day it ran, saying if it was really old to give me a call, but I haven't heard back. I did drag home a free CTC-149 recently. I'm going to end up with about $10 worth of parts in it, and will be extremely lucky if I can get my money out of it.

Need a good laugh? A few days ago, I spotted a "gently used like new" 20" RCA TruFlat TV for sale listed in the newspaper classifieds. The price: $150. Um, that might have sold 25 years ago. DREAM ON! There's one for sale at the TV shop that only works through the AV inputs for $30. I don't look for it to sell anytime soon.

I really wish I was around during the '70's when a friend of mine was getting $150+ for 19" rotary tuner tube TV's!

Great thread! My Dad still sells used TVs in his repair shop. You can't get more than 60 bucks for a decent 19" (remote, AV jacks) around here - a far cry from the 70's/80s when you could get about twice that, more if it was a remote set. The thrift stores have driven the price of used sets way down. Here, we have about 11 chartered thrifts (DAV, SA, Purple Heart, Goodwill, Samaritan House, and many others) that get 25 bucks for their sets, no warranty. Chinese/Funai crap mostly - folks upgrading to LCD and Plasma. Most thrifts get flooded in February and March - folks spending their speedy tax return on a new TV, and donate the old one.

Dad had quite a few sets he sold for just the repair costs. He'd hold a set for 30 days, and then send out a certified letter (Commonwealth of VA law) giving the deadbeats 7 days to pick it up, else it was sold. A lot of nice sets went for 35-50 bucks in the 80s, consoles included. Heck I can remember when a 19" B/W set could sell for 45 bucks. Now? Who wants black and white?
Projection sets are hard to sell for much too.

Cheers,

There's still a market for used stuff, you just have to sell what's in style. These days people don't want CRT sets any more than they wanted B/W consoles 20 years ago, or AM radio consoles 20 years before that.

Flat screen sets are selling well now. Just last month I sold a 20" LCD set for $150 in no time. I got it cheaply and it was an easy fix. In contrast, I couldn't give away a 20" RCA with stereo sound and remote even though it had a better picture than the LCD. I had to take it to Goodwill just to get rid of it.

I don't know if anyone even ASKS about TVs at garage sales anymore. In the Los Angeles area, you always see TVs at garage sales, but they're usually cheapie late 90s 20 & 27" sets missing the remote. They sit there all day long, then are still on the lawn in the rain for weeks to come, since they didn't sell. Sad but fact.

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If anyone DID discuss and ask about TVs at garage sales today, my guess is that they would ask "How old is it?". With that being the only real question, I'd imagine that they'd go on to ask "How much will you pay me if I take it?", or "Jeez; why would you even bother to haul that thing out front of the house... Isn't that a regular CRT TV?. Please call 3-1-1 and have the city send the bulky item truck to pick it up on the next trash day, because we don't want to see it there for the next year!"

Charles

In the mid 90's I remember seeing tube color and b+W sets at the thrift stores all the time. I didnt see many chromacolor II's until the late 90's. Thats when most of the tube sets dissapeared from the resale shops then all I started to see were chormacolor II's only.
Those sets were always cheap. However, for me as a kid, $35.00 for a nice 4tube hybrid was expensive. A few lawnmows could pay for it. I remember going to the gingham tree resale shop with my friend and his mom back around 1992 and seeing all of the old sets on the shelf. The Downers Grove resale shop had just as much neat vintage electronics piled up. Almost all of them were tube sets. I'll never forget how neat the resale shops looked, and this really was not all that long ago. Saw lots of 4 tubers back then and I had lots of them.
Those sets didnt really sell though, theyd sit on the shelf until I could save enought to buy them. I was fortunate enough to live just a few blocks away from the resale shops in Downers Grove. Id go almost every day after school. If I found a set and was able to buy it, Id bring it home carrying it by the carry handel and have to put the TV in the grass and switch hands every 20 steps. It was a real effort to bring those 16" zenith hybrid portables home. Never had a handel break on me though. Even to this day!
The gingham tree resale shop was run by older folks in there 70's and 80's and was part of the Good Samaritan hospital. Whenever I brought a set upto the front and it was a Zenith one of the old ladys would tell me "You got a Zenith TV there, those are the best money can buy". I heard that all the time back then.

Sometimes Id hear "I think thats a tube type TV" or "you wont be able to find tubes anymore"
One thing I must say, the term "tube TV" has a whole new meaning with the advent of LCD television..............

Sometimes Id hear "I think thats a tube type TV" or "you wont be able to find tubes anymore"
One thing I must say, the term "tube TV" has a whole new meaning with the advent of LCD television..............

Yes... I've had to retrain my ears. I can't let them perk up anymore when I overhear a conversation in which someone exclaims "I have a tube-type color TV that I'm going to dump". Now it means "2003 Samsung 32-inch TV with a picture tube". It used to mean "BIG wooden-cased color TV from Grandpa's guest room that needs the tuner sprayed"

Charles

I went to a yard sale about 10 years ago and found one of those 13" Zenith B+W solid state portables, made by Goldstar circa 1978. The cabinet was white with a black front panel, I think, and two selector knobs. The discussion:

me: does it work?
him: I think so.
me: how much?
him: how about $5?
me: can I turn it on?
him: OK.
[the TV did not power on successfully]
him: if you want it, just take it
his wife: can we give you something for taking it away?

Later that evening I replaced an opened fuse (think it was an in-line glass fuse with the wires tacked on to the end caps) and the TV worked fine but there was a little audio distortion. We used if off and on until my wife donated it to the Salvation Army! Wasn't happy to lose that little guy. My parents had the same model in our kitchen through the 80s.

Like Charles, I'm trying to ignore the words "tube tv". Shows up in the classifieds now.

Got a little surprise Saturday. We went in Goodwill and there were 3 tv sets. One was an RCA console which my wife really liked-because it was identical to one her great grandmother had. (when I met my wife, she had inherited it. I don't recall where it went-might have been the same set) Anyway, that one wasn't too interesting to me as it was just a late 70s varactor tuned RCA. The others got a second look, though. First was a 19" Zenith table model that looked like mid-70s. Imagine my surprise when I saw the date on the back-'82! This had click-stop tuning and the whole bit. $10. I left it there. Then there was a nice 13" Zenith color with a great 70s look-but it was made in 1980. Just too new for me right now. That 13" was only $6. Who knows, I may have to run back and get it. This is a brand-new store 10 minutes from home-might have to check in every so often. Oh, and both of those sets, according to the stickers on the back, were assembled in St. Louis.

I went through another annoying experience today that reminds me that I don't need to waste my time with new TV's. I found a nice looking 2002 27" JVC D series at the TV shop a few months ago. I found some surface mount resistors on the CRT board that were open. Fixed that and the picture still looked very bad due to a weak CRT. About a month ago, I found a suitable CRT and got the set playing real nice. This even has the original remote and many A/V jacks. I advertised it for $100 and this woman comes over and I flip through my channels: 3, 11, 24, 30. And, she says "is that all I can get?" I told her that's all I could get but she could program the set to receive whatever channel she wanted. "Oh, I don't want to do that. Mine you can just flip, flip, flip." She then turned around and walked off before I could explain to her how to do it. What the problem really was is the fact it wasn't a 12/08 LCD flatscreen. I'm just very fed up with idiots! They don't give a hoot about how much $$ or time we have in something!

Cool sets . Today Its more like 'does it do 1080p?" I for one, don't need hdtv. I watch re-runs and movies on cable.

I don't have the least bit of desire to watch older TV in HD. In fact, I don't have any desire to watch current TV in HD. Wait a minute. I don't have the desire to watch new TV at all. It's all crap.

I should have showed that woman (had she hung around) that turned her nose up at the JVC the '77 xl100 with rotary tuners. She wouldn't have to program that set! What will be funny is when she buys a new HD TV from Wal-Mart and discovers that it needs "programming."

I was talking to a friend that owns a shop and he seems to think that the sale and repair of used "regular" TV's may get better. He says that if you look at the sale papers; they are not pushing those cheap CRT sets. They are pushing the high $$ flat panel stuff. He says that there's a lot of people that can't afford the new stuff and might pay a little for a used CRT set. $100 for a used CRT set would be better than $600+ for a flat TV. He says his "regular TV" repair business has picked up over the past few months. When I was there the other day, someone brought in for repair a mid '80's 19" Emerson with rotary tuner. I did remind him that there will still be a lot of people that will do without food to get the newest TV and would not look twice at an old set. I also reminded him that in a few years flat TV's will be pretty cheap. I guess time will tell.

I used to have a 2002 JVD D series set. I had the one with all the features including two tuner picture in picture. That was a great set and it never gave any trouble when we had it. I sold it in 2006 for $150 and last I heard it is still working. I almost wish I'd kept it.

I gave up on classifieds and thrift stores long ago. As I understand, most thrifts won't even take a tube set. Garage sales are something else I don't do anymore. My best case senario would be to be on a service call in one of our older neighborhoods. Let's say there is a Zenith porthole or a CT-100 in the basement. After I get the furnace running, I probably would ask if that old (insert brand here) still works (knowing it needs restored). I probably will get the answer that it hasn't worked in 30 years. "Would you be interested in selling it to me?" Best answer I can get would be "You can have it if you'll haul it out." It may happen.

There is a really nice elderly lady in the neighborhood. Several years back her kids cleaned out her basement. (her deceased husband really had it packed) They filled a roll-off dumpster with stuff. Fast forward a couple years-she calls me one afternoon saying she had no hot water and could I check in the basement for her. I figured it would be empty down there but there on the workbench sat a 1936 RCA tombstone radio. I asked her about it and she said her mother gave it to them when they got married, and would I please take it? It now has an honored place in my collection. Oh, and the no-heat problem was a tripped switch caused by a lightning storm.

For me, TV selection is easy. If its screen is flat, if it was made after about 1984, or if the channels cannot be selected from the set itself, it stays on the shelf!!!

For me, TV selection is easy. If its screen is flat, if it was made after about 1984, or if the channels cannot be selected from the set itself, it stays on the shelf!!!

And one thing I HATE are these newer TV's with no menu button on them. I can't remember the times I've brought home one of these from the TV shop just to get it working and find out a universal remote won't bring up the menu and an original remote is either too expensive or NLA. It's pretty bad when they are too cheap to even put a menu button on the set. It used to be the other way around. The remotes only had basic functions and the clock / channel set-up controls were on the set behing a door. That's the way our circa '83 Magnavox 19" was. BTW, that set lasted through the mid '90's seeing heavy use. The CRT finally got too dim to make a decent picture.

And one thing I HATE are these newer TV's with no menu button on them. I can't remember the times I've brought home one of these from the TV shop just to get it working and find out a universal remote won't bring up the menu and an original remote is either too expensive or NLA. It's pretty bad when they are too cheap to even put a menu button on the set. It used to be the other way around. The remotes only had basic functions and the clock / channel set-up controls were on the set behing a door. That's the way our circa '83 Magnavox 19" was. BTW, that set lasted through the mid '90's seeing heavy use. The CRT finally got too dim to make a decent picture.

Thankfully most new TVs have menu buttons on the TV. The worst TVs for not having menu buttons were ones from the early 90's.

Thankfully most new TVs have menu buttons on the TV. The worst TVs for not having menu buttons were ones from the early 90's.

I'll beat that one... How about the RCA CTC-81 with the black vinyl upholstered remote from about '78... That one had NO POWER BUTTON on the TV, and no way to turn it on nor change channels without the remote :thumbsdn:

Charles

I've never seen one of those TVs, but I have a remote.

And one thing I HATE are these newer TV's with no menu button on them. I can't remember the times I've brought home one of these from the TV shop just to get it working and find out a universal remote won't bring up the menu and an original remote is either too expensive or NLA. It's pretty bad when they are too cheap to even put a menu button on the set. It used to be the other way around. The remotes only had basic functions and the clock / channel set-up controls were on the set behing a door. That's the way our circa '83 Magnavox 19" was. BTW, that set lasted through the mid '90's seeing heavy use. The CRT finally got too dim to make a decent picture.

The ones that don't have an AV or MENU button on the front panel are worse. I've scrapped a few sets that were working fine, but without the remote it was impossible to tune them in or select the AV input (which is all a lot of people use now anyway). It's a real pain going through 10 different universal remotes and then sorting through several boxes of assorted orphan remotes and finding nothing that even sort of works.

Sometimes you can get lucky and there will be pads on the PCB for the missing AV/MENU buttons, so you can install the missing buttons.

On a couple of sets I've hardwired the relevant pin on the jungle IC to force it to AV, but that only works when you can find a datasheet and it isn't something that uses i2c for everything.

I've got one recent set sitting here right now that is close to being scrap because there is a corrupt byte in it's EEPROM. The V-size setting is wrong, but I can't get into the service menu to change it as I don't have a remote and I don't know who actually made it to even try and search for the service manual (it's one of those off brands). I swapped out the EEPROM for one on a similar chassis and the vertical size is fine, but as it's from a set with a different revision MCU the menus are corrupt.

So now I know there's no fault in the vertical section, but I can't do anything about it. I miss trimpots. Sure, they cost a few cents more, but they are a lot easier to deal with.

Maybe I'll install a v-size pot instead of scrapping this one.

I had one of the early '90's 13" Funai made TV/VCR units that lightning got and the color was running wide open and adjusting the on screen color control did nothing. I just added a big resistor to lower the voltage going to the color adjust pin of the jungle IC and got the color back watchable.

I used some 13inch Funai made sets in the studio for non critical monitors. I had to modify one of the remotes by either adding or removing some jumpers, I don't remember which. Once it was modified the remote only worked for the service menues.

Bill R

I found this broken 27" newer RCA on epay ( 220191436553) and the seller seems to think it's worth $75! Heck, it would be hard to get that for a WORKING example of that set. They'll be lucky to get someone to haul it off.

I found this on YouTube. WARNING: gruesome material! Don't look if blood freaks you out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqJom8XPf1k

THAT WAS GREAT!!! Cool find

What movie did that clip come from, would like to see the rest.

Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099763/

This happened today:

Phone rings
Me: Hello
Them: Do you have any TV's for sale?
Me: Yes, I do. What type are you looking for?
Them: I just need a TV. I gave my 13" TV away and I would like something bigger.
Me: I have a 19" and a 25"
Them: How much is the 25"?
Me: $75.
Them: Would you take less?
Me: I'd let it go for $65.
Them: What's your address?
Me: I live at __________ street.
30 minutes later:
Them: Are you the person who has the TV?
Me: Yes, follow me please and I'll show it to you.
Me: Here's the 19" set. It's a TV/VCR combo but the VCR is broke. TV is fine.
Them: OK, I want to see the 25".
Me: OK (turn it on).
Them: Does it have remote and how old is it?
Me: Yes, I have the remote and it's a mid '90's TV.
Them: I like the TV; but, I just can't give $65 for it.
Me: OK, tell me what it's worth and I'll either say "yes or no".
Them: I'll give you $20 for it.
Me: I'm sorry, I can't take that. However, you can have the 19" set for $20.
Them: Oh, I don't want that. I want the big TV! Thanks anyway.

Had I sold it to her for $20 and it crapped out in a week; you can bet your fanny she would have brought it back raising hell. When she mentioned $20, I should have reached over and turned on the RCA 12" B&W and told her she could have that one for $20. I know TV technology is changing; but, when a 25" remote color TV ain't worth no more than $20, I'll stop wasting my time with them.

I still like crt sets myself. We do have a flatscreen home which my uncle bought for almost a thousand dollars . I would never see myself paying a thousand dollars for a flat screen tv . Its ok and all but i aint crazy about it .

No one seems to want crt tvs anymore , usually i see a lot on the curb for trash when the town has bulk pick up . I just picked up one which i am working on with the help of a few AK members . Most thrift shops and flea markets dont even have tvs . A few dealers told me your lucky to get 10 or 20 bucks for a working crt tv and its not worth their time lugging the thing back and forth to the flea market . I can remember back in the late 80s and early 90s when i was a flea market vender, tvs use to sell like hotcakes . Consoles and table tops . I usually sold 5 to 10 sets a weekend , however times have changed and you pretty much have to give crt tvs away or sell sell them dirt cheap . My friend George is retiring and sold his shop , anyhow he had a bunch of really nice 80s consoles in his showroom that worked perfect . However no takers or interest and they wound up going into a dumpster he rented to clean out the building . I would have saved them however i am cramped for space and rather just keep my collectable tube tvs . Its a shame to see good tvs being crushed that have survived for years and probably could be used for a lot more years to come but thats how todays generation is i guess . Everyone wants the new and latest thing . I was working with a fellow a few weeks back in a repair shop and he said that these flat screens are " pure junk " and only survive for a few years and so many hours , then just throw it out .

Yes, it's a sad reality that I'm going to have to face. When I was a teenager; used TV sales was how I made my spending money. When I first started back in the early '90's, the figures were something like:

1. 12" B&W - $20 to $35
2. 19" B&W - $30 to $50
3. 13" color non remote - $40 to $60
4. 13" color remote - $75 to $100
5. 19" color non remote - $50 to $85
6. 19" color remote - $85 to $125
7. 23" and 25" non-remote consoles - $100 to $125
8. 23" and 25" remote consoles - $125 to $200

Back then, most of the B&W's were tube sets and early SS. Many of the color sets were tube types and the SS sets consisted mainly of Zenith CCII's, Zenith System 3's, and RCA XL-100's. Cable ready remote control sets did come along; but, were not near as common to find as they are now. I was always happy to fix a cable ready remote TV because that was QUICK MONEY back then!

Now, a nice console MAY bring $50 from someone who really wants one if it's clean and works good. Usually, they can't be given away. Knob tuned color sets may bring $10 if someone is broke and really hard up for a TV. 13" remotes generally don't bring over $25. 19" remotes usually don't fetch over about $40. A 25"/27" remote MAY bring as much as $75 if it's a later model with A/V jacks. And, don't expect to get these prices overnight. It usually takes much advertising and up to several months of waiting!

In the '90's, there was a guy who had a second hand shop that would not touch a TV with a ten foot pole. He said most people expected to buy a TV for next to nothing and then wanted a year warranty on top of that.

I still bring home later sets just to see what I can do with them; but, I'm going to have to stop that one day since it's too hard to make any decent $ on a used TV and it's also getting harder to dispose of the junk. Besides, I need the space for all the old electronics!

Lately I've found that if I try really hard-advertise for weeks on end-I can give away a 19" remote set. I can give away a 25" remote set within about a week. I cannot give away a console if I tape a $10 bill to the crt.

Unrelated little story-went to an auction a couple weeks back and stuff just wasn't selling. You could buy a pickup truck load of stuff for $10. At one point he had a bunch of box lots that would fill a truck by itself and couldn't get a dollar bid. He then dug in his wallet, pulled out a dollar bill, threw it on the pile.....and still could not get a dollar bid! They did have a Zenith console (80s) that someone paid $2 for.

I don't understand why people are now rejecting consoles. It used to be that consoles were the higher end sets. They were after all big screen sets in furniture quality cabinets. Is it just the size everyone has a problem with? I still think a quality console TV looks better in a room than a 27" BPC set. With the popularity of these massive particleboard entertainment centers I find it hard to believe no one has room for a console TV. When the depression hits there might be a better market for used sets, even 12" black and white portables connected to a DTV converter.

I don't think consoles are going over well with the younger generation because they associate a console as being something their grandparents had. In other words, old & outdated. I mean, how embarrassing for their snooty friends to come over and see a TV built like their grandparents set from 40 years ago! Got to have some flat, silver plastic POS hanging on the wall.

On occasion, some elderly person will ask me about a console. One of my customers once told me that he'd rather have a console because he can kill two birds with one stone. He can have a nice piece of furniture and a TV all in one. If he bought a BPC set, that would mean having to spend extra $ on a cabinet to put it in.

As far as the local TV shop goes, I have not seen a console there in 2-3 years. Back in the '90's, there were more consoles in for repair than anything else.

BTW, I wonder when the very last consoles were made. I recently had a 25" 2000 Zenith (with Philips tube, not the usual bad Zenith). I think that's the newest one I've seen.

I don't think consoles are going over well with the younger generation because they associate a console as being something their grandparents had. In other words, old & outdated. I mean, how embarrassing for their snooty friends to come over and see a TV built like their grandparents set from 40 years ago! Got to have some flat, silver plastic POS hanging on the wall.

On occasion, some elderly person will ask me about a console. One of my customers once told me that he'd rather have a console because he can kill two birds with one stone. He can have a nice piece of furniture and a TV all in one. If he bought a BPC set, that would mean having to spend extra $ on a cabinet to put it in.

As far as the local TV shop goes, I have not seen a console there in 2-3 years. Back in the '90's, there were more consoles in for repair than anything else.

BTW, I wonder when the very last consoles were made. I recently had a 25" 2000 Zenith (with Philips tube, not the usual bad Zenith). I think that's the newest one I've seen.
The problem with console TVs is they are heavy and unmovable because they have no wheels. The only way to get rid of one is to buy a new TV with free delivery, and then the delivery man takes the old one away free for recycling.

I have much better luck finding specific older 80s VCR models than TVs and early 00s DVD players. One day in the future, there will be more 80s VCR still around than 80s TV.

I still like crt sets myself. We do have a flatscreen home which my uncle bought for almost a thousand dollars . I would never see myself paying a thousand dollars for a flat screen tv . Its ok and all but i aint crazy about it .

No one seems to want crt tvs anymore , usually i see a lot on the curb for trash when the town has bulk pick up . I just picked up one which i am working on with the help of a few AK members . Most thrift shops and flea markets dont even have tvs . A few dealers told me your lucky to get 10 or 20 bucks for a working crt tv and its not worth their time lugging the thing back and forth to the flea market . I can remember back in the late 80s and early 90s when i was a flea market vender, tvs use to sell like hotcakes . Consoles and table tops . I usually sold 5 to 10 sets a weekend , however times have changed and you pretty much have to give crt tvs away or sell sell them dirt cheap . My friend George is retiring and sold his shop , anyhow he had a bunch of really nice 80s consoles in his showroom that worked perfect . However no takers or interest and they wound up going into a dumpster he rented to clean out the building . I would have saved them however i am cramped for space and rather just keep my collectable tube tvs . Its a shame to see good tvs being crushed that have survived for years and probably could be used for a lot more years to come but thats how todays generation is i guess . Everyone wants the new and latest thing . I was working with a fellow a few weeks back in a repair shop and he said that these flat screens are " pure junk " and only survive for a few years and so many hours , then just throw it out .

Nice 80's consoles, I wouldn't mind an extra one or three if I had room. Shame they are being tossed out. BTW, when the local Blockbuster closed, they threw out all their DVD's in the trash, my buddy went dumpster diving and snagged almost all of them, thousands of them and gave me a bunch, I have hundreds of DVD movies.

I don't understand why people are now rejecting consoles. It used to be that consoles were the higher end sets. They were after all big screen sets in furniture quality cabinets. Is it just the size everyone has a problem with? I still think a quality console TV looks better in a room than a 27" BPC set. With the popularity of these massive particleboard entertainment centers I find it hard to believe no one has room for a console TV. When the depression hits there might be a better market for used sets, even 12" black and white portables connected to a DTV converter.

I know mom and I are upset at the dearth of new console sets out there. We have a 1982 Zenith system 3 25 inch that turns 26 this month and been watching it daily since 1983. It still has the good picture when we first got it. The old girl shows her age every now and then, but I can't complain. We have a Zenith DTT-901 hooked to it and the downconverted HDTV picture is beautiful too. Somewhere, somehow we need to bring back the console, wish I had some money to invest, I'd like to try the capitalist way and see what happens

Tonight I'm putting out about 3 sets which no one wants. Sad, but I don't have the room anymore. They are a 13" Zenith from the late 80s, a Trinitron from 83 and an old b&w Philco/GTE 19 inch portable.

Its true, no one wants a modern CRT anymore let alone a 25 year old one no matter how good the pix quality is.

Bringing back an old thread, who here has had problems with becomming "married" to a used TV that you've sold?

Generally, my policy is that I will fix a used TV, let it play for an extended period of time, and sell it. My repair policy usually includes replacing any defective parts and solder touch-up's. When I sell a used TV, I usually tell the buyer that I would not sell them a bad TV on purpose; but, since it's a used piece of electronic equipment and because I don't have any control of what type of treatment it's subjected to after it leaves here, I can't give a warranty.

Most people understand that and I never hear another word out of them. Some of these people have told me, years later, that the TV that they bought from me was still playing.

Three weeks ago, I sold a guy a 19" '88 Sony color TV for $30. The guy asked me if I thought it would last and I gave him the standard speech of I wouldn't sell him a bad TV for anything; but, it's old and I can't guarantee it. So, he bought it anyway and called me last Thursday to say his TV was messing up. He said it was making a loud buzzing sound and when it did finally come on, the screen looked like a magnet had been run across it. He wanted to know if I had another TV for trade and I told him that I did; but, to let me see if I could fix his set. He brought it back yesterday and I fixed it in about 15 minutes as it only needed a 22uf, 200V cap in the stand-by power supply (the old one was buldged and I've seen the problem before). The TV now worked and he leaves with it. A few minutes ago, he calls to say that it's making noise again and he can't get a picture at all this time. Now, I'm starting to get fed up with this. He bought a $30 20+ year old TV, used it for 3 weeks, then I fixed it for free using a new capacitor, and now he wants to bring it back AGAIN and get another TV. Frankly, going thru all this crap is not worth $30. Had it been a high dollar TV, I might be more willing to bend over backwards for him. I'm trying to decide if I should give him another TV, give him a refund, or remind him that he bought a USED $30 TV with NO WARRANTY and tell him to kiss my @$$. I'm probably going to simply give him the other TV and stress to him that it's his TV and I won't refund any money or give any free repairs in the future.

Given the number of used TV's that I've sold over the years, very few have come back. Some of the ones that brought them back were nice about it and I tried to help them. Some even said that they knew there was no warranty and that they expected to pay me for the repair. Some of them raised all kind of hell and I ended up giving them their money back and instructed them to go to wal-mart if they wanted a warranty. In many cases, there's no way I can determine what is about to fail in a piece of equipment. I could turn my TV on right now and it may not work. And, you'd think people would have sense enough to know that when they buy something on the cheap that's used, they get what they pay for.

I remember, years ago, that a guy wanted to buy a TV; but, he didn't have the $75 that 19" sets were going for at the time. He just kept begging me for something cheaper, even if it didn't work as good. I finally showed him an old Philco with a very weak CRT; but, it was watchable. I showed him how it worked, explained to him that the picture tube was very weak and I couldn't guarantee how long it would last, and told him that he could have the set for $40. Of course, he jumped all over it. About two months later, he was back over here with it, raising hell because the picture was now too dark to see. I reminded him of what I told him and he still acted like I pulled one over on him. He ended up taking the TV back while blowing off steam.

I've bought a lot of used equipment over the years. Some of it turned out great and some of it not so great; but, I never went back on anyone. I had sense enough to know that what I was getting was used and that it could die at anytime.

So, what do you guys think? Am I being too unreasonable here?

I understand as after being in this business a long time that even though it's rare to sell an older tv and then have it crap out within weeks of selling it, sometimes it happens. It's really tempting to just unload on the customer for bringing back a tv that you let go super cheap with no warranty, but that customer doesn't know about the 100 tv's that you sold before that one that have had no problems, in his eyes you're the "tv guy" and you knew that it was about to crap out and you stuck him with it. He has no idea what is going on inside the back and he doesn't understand that for example you fixed a problem in the tuner and now the flyback took a crap. He just knows that he spent $30 of his beer money for a broke tv that he can't do anything with. I hate it when that happens but I think back to a business seminar that I attended about 15 years ago and they said research shows that a satisfied customer tells on average 2 people, while a customer that feels you ripped him off tells 10+ people. It's getting harder and harder to make a living in our industry and it just seems like it's in our best interest to keep the customers that we have happy.

radiotvnut - I do not think that you are being unreasonable. I have learned that people will take advantage of you, no matter what you do to try and please them, they will rip your fingernails off when they shake your hand while pretending to be friendly.

Since he doesn't understand the concept of NO WARRANTY and he keeps coming back even after you were nice enough to repair it once, I feel that your best bet would be to take the set back and give him his money back to end the cycle because he will find some fault with the replacement TV too. I personally would tell him to kiss my @$$ - but that is just my way.

And, I failed to mention one other thing. When he was over here on Saturday for me to fix the TV, he spotted a stereo system in my shop and wanted to know if I wanted to sell it. I told him what I wanted for it and he offered $5 less, which I didn't mind and accepted his offer. Then, he told me that he wouldn't have any money until next week. Now, that ticked me off. Don't bargain with me if you're not prepared to deal. He said he'd be back after the stereo; but, I don't think that will happen now. And, it will be just fine with me if it doesn't. He'd probably take it home, blow it up, and then be back on my butt with it.

A woman just called, wanting to buy a $30 Zenith floor model TV that I had listed in the paper for sale. I had to explain to her what a floor model TV was; but, I still don't think she got the concept. I then told her about a newer SPC 25" TV that I was selling. She told me that they had just moved to the area and simply needed something to "get them by" until they could move their TV's here and then she added that she really missed her 70" TV. Then, I heard the "I'll talk to my husband and get back to you" line. Over the years, I've learned that "talk to my husband/wife" actually means "I'm not interested". Hell, she probably expected a flatscreen TV for $30 (that seems to be the way most people think today). I'm already pissed off enough by having to sell a 25" color TV for such a low price and people calling expecting a later model TV with all the "bells and whistles" for $30 doesn't help my mood any.

I go to the auctions around here, and TVs with a CRT are only bringing $3-$5 no matter what the screen size. A friend of mine who owns one of the auction houses usually gives me any that he gets in since they just aren't worth the effort for him to sell any more.

I'm about to the point of no longer taking them, unless it's something I want for myself. Even if someone gives me a late model TV and all I have to do is resolder the vertical IC, it's not worth the hassle of trying to get a few dollars out of it while listening to everyone whine because it's not flat enough for them.

Twenty years ago, I would have never dreamed that we'd be at this point today. Back then, I was selling 12" B&W TV's for more money than I'm getting for big color TV's today. Back then, people were not as snobby about what they'd own. All they cared about back then was that it was a working TV.

I gave up buying and fixing up TVs back in 1982. Prior to that, while I was in college, I was selling used color sets at the rate of several per week. In the late 70s, consoles sold much better than portables. I could get around $150 for an all-tube rectangular console set, like CTC-38, etc. For a hybrid set, I could get around $200. A color roundie was worth around $100 to $125. Portable sets (usually 17" or 19") sold for between $100 to $150, depending on what they were. In the late 70s, I did a lot of picture tube replacements on the older rectangular sets. There was a guy that lived a few miles away from me that rebuilt 25AP22 picture tubes in his garage. I could get a rebuilt tube for $50 exchange, and I charged $200 parts and labor to change the tube out. Good money in those days. After about 1982, it got to the point where nobody would buy a used set anymore and I got out of the business.

Hi-Volt;
I had similar experiences in this corner of the US also. I started repairing sets in 8th grade and because I rarely made anything worse, word got around. I started amassing the collection of non-salable sets, some that I have today. :D When I moved to Dallas with a 1967 Philco 19" color and 1969 Zenith 25" 16Z7C50) alot of this collection went in a big dump truck including some roundies:tears:, my parents saved a few after I begged them to save some from 1600 miles away.

However, sales after moving back from TX got me through college too!:yes:In the early 80s when I part-time jobs at TV dealer-repair shops, I was hauling home "old sets" like 1968-75 vintage, finding similar stuff at curbs, etc.
I could sell any 25" color set for $100-150 and 19" sets for $75-100. Real good money then as few of "MY customers" had the $400+ for a new set. It was great to hear someone say 2-3 years later "that thing STILL looks good" beacuse I only sold stuff I knew the "trade tricks" on.

By 1989, I got a different job, owned a home and did not like where the market was going as I saw BPC's selling for less than $400. I stopped mainly because my parts sources were getting scarce. Now customers are like RadioTV-Phono nut says, so i fix anything Im asked to and sell only old radios. TVs are now a nostalgic hobby but an obsessive one. You never get over the thrill of finding a diamond in the rough.

Times have moved on and well, CRT is dead to anyone other than collectors. People always have wanted the latest and greatest. My parents are in their 70's and still have a 1983 MGA in their bedroom they bought new and has never given issues. They also had a "32 CRT Toshiba that died twice over its 20-year lifespan, then my mom shocked me by going full out and buying a Sony "55 3D smart tv, Blu-ray player, soundbar, etc. I used to pickup/fix/sell various televisions curbside in the 1980's and early '90's to help out towards my college expenses. See televisions often on the streets but don't bother anymore unless it is LCD or plasma (can still flip them if they have unbroken screen). I have both a BPC in the backroom and a "30 CRT HDTV that I know I couldn't sell if my life depended on it. But that's how it goes sometimes..

I've got a 2010 47" Sanyo LCD that I could fix and sell if a main board would come along; but, I'd be afraid to sell it even if I fixed it. These idiots around here would crack the screen in the process of taking it home and then they'd be back on my butt, claiming that I sold them a bad TV and demanding their money back.

Also, the price of flat panels keep coming down and it's almost to the point that most people can afford to buy a new TV and used ones don't bring that much.

I remember the first TV I ever sold was back around '90-'91 and it was an early '60's 17" VHF-only RCA portable B&W. I sold it to a young married couple for $25 and they were happy to get it. Now, 99% of most young couples think they are "entitled" to the best of everything because their parents spoiled them rotten by giving them everything they ever wanted.

Well, I feel fortunate when I got involved in TV's in the mid-seventies. After the larger market volumes and popularity of color sets in the sixties, many folks and those starting out were thrilled to have a nice looking 10 year old set. At most they either needed a CRT or a flyback and I usually had a stream of parts coming in and good distributor/wholesaler's I could deal with too.

What a high point I believe this was. During the eighties and with the advent of solid state and cheap(er) imports things had become to change...

I've got a friend who's in his mid 70's and started fixing/repairing/selling TV's in the '60's. He told me that during the '60's and '70's, he could get $50-$60 for 12" B&W's and $75 for 19 B&W's. Color TV's of any kind were big bucks.

One day in the late '90's, I was at his house and witnessed a woman give him $125 without blinking an eye for one of those RCA 13" TX82 chassis TV's. I think that was a TV that he ended up with too much money invested in and he was lucky to be able to sell it for that.

In the early 2000's, someone gave me a near-mint mid '80's 13" knob tuned GE with a bad flyback. After I fixed it, an older man came over and fell in love with the TV. He asked the price and I told him it was $85. I figured he'd squeal to high heaven; but, he handed me the money and took the TV. Later, I was talking to someone who knew him and they said he was the type of guy that if he wanted something, he'd buy it, regardless of cost. They added that I probably could have asked $150 and he would have still bought it.

In the early to mid '90's, I used to sell a lot of 19" B&W sets to older people who didn't care for color and I usually got between $35-$50 for such TV's. The last 19" B&W I sold was a nice mid '70's Zenith that I let me friend sell at his second hand store. That was back around '01 and I think he finally was able to get me $10 for it. The last 12" B&W I sold was around the same time for $5. Now, I wish I still had that 19" Zenith. Today, most B&W's that I find either stay here or go to collector friends.

As recent as a few years ago, the SA was still trying to get $20-$25 for their 12" B&W's.

In the early to mid '90's, I used to sell a lot of 19" B&W sets to older people who didn't care for color and I usually got between $35-$50 for such TV's

Wow... those people must have been from the stone age!! :yes: Imagine that... people that didn't care for color! They must have never experienced true "lolypop" color! :D

I'm no longer fixing and selling used sets. But, when I did, I'd often replace parts that I'd seen fail in the past on other sets. My Sears service days taught me to do this.

I had a few sets come back, but not many. I know of one set I sold that had a new rebuilt CRT that I installed that is still running, poorly, 22 years later. I had to tell her that the picture tube was worn out. She actually got pissed because it didnt last longer!!

Wow... those people must have been from the stone age!! :yes: Imagine that... people that didn't care for color! They must have never experienced true "lolypop" color! :D
Old people used to tell me that color hurt their eyes. :sigh:
I used to tell them that a good well adjusted color set was actually easier on your eyes. :yes:

I had customers in the 70's that wanted no part of color tv. Then there was the customer with the stick on plastic color on their tv that would warn you not to take their color off. Those were fun days.

I had a customer almost to the end that had a B/W Zenith console in constant use in the living room. I put a rebuilt CRT in it around 1979. They are in their 80's now.

About 10 years ago I was making quite a healthy profit on selling colour TV sets at $100 a pop.. and people were happily paying for these old 1970's Philips K9 TV sets. For those that don't know what a Phillps K9 is heres a link to an example on my vintage TV page - http://nzvintagetvradio.blogspot.co.nz/2012/03/blog-post.html
These were and still are in my opinion one of the best TV sets ever made.
But now days I wouldn't even dream of trying to sell even a modern BPC CRT TV.
Yep..sign of the times... everyone wants the latest and greatest these days...:sigh:

We have a local facebook page for buying and selling items. A while back, I advertised a later model silver Apex 24" TV with all the jacks for $35. After several days, someone expressed an interest and tried to talk me down to $25. I thought for a few minutes and told them $30 was the best I could do. IMHO, $25 was too cheap to sell a set like that, I don't care how obsolete most people think it is.

Then, I tried to sell that '84 Zenith console that you've seen in a recent thread. I started out at $30 with zero interest. I knocked it down to $20, still no interest.

Today, in a very disgusted mood, I posted the following smartass ad:


"OK, let's try this one final time. I have for sale a 25" Zenith floor model color TV in good condition. I started out wanting $30, then $20; and, now it's $15 FIRM. I know it's 30 years old and I know it's not flat enough for most people; but, it's a working color TV and $15 is a steal. And, I apologize for sounding so grumpy. It's just that I remember when I could easily get $100+ for a TV like this and there was a time I could get more than $15 for a small B&W set. Of course, that was before everyone got so snobby and thought they had to own the "latest & greatest"."

Now, I seriously doubt I'll sell this TV and really didn't expect to when I put the ad up. In fact, my ad may even result in me getting blocked from using the page. The purpose of that ad was more for letting these modern day snobs know my feelings more than anything else.

Ha Ha - your stories are pretty funny! But the world is very stupid, you guys are looking at a very small part of it. My wife sells Avon, and its a MLM kinda thing, you can sign up others on yer team and so on...... Well we live in hill-billy NY I mean real hill-billy. To start sellin' Avon you only pay $10. you get an account, 10 catalogs for this week, 10 for 2 weeks from now. After that you have to buy your own..... Well after a while some of her local sign ups call and complain they ain't makin any money...... First question "How many books did you hand out this week, and did you follow up ?" Answer.... "I didn't order any books....." Avon career ended. There are plenty of 'em that she drives across town, and meets with them, they say "I don't have $10." Others say they ain't ordering books and show up at her flea market booth expecting her to supply them with supplies for their business..... The better ones send in an online info response wanting to sign up, when she calls starts talking they hang up on her..... Or their phone has been turned off (very common) You gotta hope these people will soon be living under a bridge somewhere......

I tell ya- years ago when Einstein was around people may have been down to using only 10% of their brain, today its got to be less than 3% and dropping fast!

I quit selling used sets when the big-box stores started selling new 19" sets, for around $200. That would be around 1982, or so.
The only sets I sold after that, were the freebees I aquired, every so often.

Early to mid 1980's is when I pretty much stopped, too.

I did manage to sell a few really ornate cabinet sets that were made out of real wood to several folks whose living room consoles had died. I still do minor repairs on a big Magnavox custom console that is in a cherry wood cabinet. It's on its 2nd CRT, and I still have one new spare on hand. If the current tube dies, I have a feeling today that the owner will opt for the CRT before they go messing up the living room with something modern.

I've never seen another Magnavox like this one. On the little model ID tag, it's marked CUSTOM. It's a tube chassis, and has only required sweep, and audio output tubes in all these years. It was built in Fort Wayne, and features a pair of 15" woofers, midranges and horn tweeters. There is no phono/radio system, and never was. On the TV chassis, the sound PCB has everything except an output tube socket. I got it from the family of a doctor that lived near me. It took 4 people to get it out of their house. Until I sold it, I kept it wrapped in blankets.

I forgot to add: It used a nice little audio amplifier for sound.

I sold used sets right up until I closed my store (1998). At that time, you couldn't give away a tube type TV, but a decent looking 19" would bring about $40, or if it was a cable ready, remote control model the price might go up to about $60. A console would fetch about $80 (if the cabinet was in good shape).

It's amazing how cheap things got as the 80's and 90's progressed. In 1988, I charged $40 for a "Clean-Lube-and Adjust" repair job on a VCR....in 1998 you could buy a new VCR for about $50.

It's amazing how cheap things got as the 80's and 90's progressed. In 1988, I charged $40 for a "Clean-Lube-and Adjust" repair job on a VCR....in 1998 you could buy a new VCR for about $50.

I bought my first VCR in 87... a Teac 2-head Stereo (not Hi-Fi) for about 300 bucks... so back then I could see charging 40 to give it a tune-up. My next VCR came a couple of years later... a Teac MV-550 4-hd Hi-Fi for about 350 bucks. I used that VCR for 12 years before it croaked.

Those were big investments back then (and even more expensive in the 70's).

I bought my first VCR in 87... a Teac 2-head Stereo (not Hi-Fi) for about 300 bucks... so back then I could see charging 40 to give it a tune-up. My next VCR came a couple of years later... a Teac MV-550 4-hd Hi-Fi for about 350 bucks. I used that VCR for 12 years before it croaked.

Those were big investments back then (and even more expensive in the 70's).

In the early 90's, I was a Zenith, Crosley, and Quasar dealer. I remember buying plain-jane 2-head Quasar VCR's for $240 and selling them for $299 (which was a good price and profit margin at the time). Seems like the 4-head models were about $100 higher.

The first 4-head stereo VCR's I sold were Zenith models. They were a very well built unit that Zenith sourced from JVC, but were very expensive. Since most people didn't even have a TV with stereo sound, I didn't sell very many of them.

At any rate, when the retail price on new VCR's fell below $100, I "saw the writing on the wall" on the VCR end of my business.

I guess it was around 95 or 96 that I bought my mother a new VCR for Christmas. (the '86 Panasonic was about shot, a lot of hours on that machine) The local TV/appliance shop, a good customer of mine, wasn't far from getting out of the TV side of things but when I went in there he had a stack of RCA VCR's for, I think, $169. WalMart had the same model for $129. I decided to go ahead and buy it from my customer. I realized his profit margin was tight when I pulled out my credit card; he had to go in the back and do the math, to see if the fee would hurt him too much.

There was a place that did nothing but VCR repairs, and they did lots of sublet work for shops all around. Had flyers in all the TV shops plus all the mom & pop video rental places that used to be everywhere. Seems like the price was $45 for a long time, and might have started out higher...they dropped the price for a time but then closed their doors. They shared the building with an auction house; I was in there one time and peeked over to see shelves loaded with hundreds of VCRS stacked up like library books.