Quote:
Originally Posted by YamahaFreak
Ha, the ad made me laugh. 
On a more serious note, I just don't think it's fair what flat panel technology has done to CRT sets. |
I agree. And, I also don't think it's fair how the bottom fell out of CRT set prices over the last 15-20 years. There was a time when this town was full of TV shops and all of them stayed busy repairing old and new TV's. And, one could sell just about any kind of working TV for decent money. Then, 19" color TV's went from costing $300 down to $150 and then down to $89 for a brand new set. It even got to the point where a 27" set could be bought new for less than $200. And, VCR's went from costing several hundred $ down to $39.99 for the "last gasp" models. With prices that low, most people are not going to pay to have an old TV repaired and they're certainly not going to pay any decent money for a used TV. Back when I first started picking up old TV's to fix and resell (around '90), I could get anywhere between $20 and $30 for a 12" B&W, $30-$40 for a 19" B&W, $40-$50 for a 13" color TV (have gotten as much as $85 for a 13" color set), $50-$85 for a 19" non-remote color set, $100+ for a 19" remote/cable ready set, $150-$200 for most 25"/27" table sets, and $100-$200 for most 23"/25"/27" consoles. And, I didn't have to sit on them for six months to get those prices. I've got a friend, who started selling used TV's in the late '60's, and he claimed he could get more than I was getting. He siad that he's sold 19" B&W sets for $100. And, people didn't bitch about how old the set looked or it's lack of features. All they cared about was the picture. When I first started letting my friend from the flea market sell TV's for me, he could sell them like hotcakes. He would take several TV's up on Thursday, sell them, and come by the house on his way home to get more for Friday, and the process would repeat itself for Saturday. Now, he's got one 19" set of mine that's been there for 3 months and people either walk right on by or give him the "I'll be back next Friday when I get my check" line.
Now, there are only 2 or 3 TV shops left and they mostly only work on flat panel sets. It finally got to the point where people would go crazy if I asked $50 for a nice remote controlled color 19" TV. I'd usually hear, "$50! I can buy a brand new one for $79!" I used to try and explain that the used TV that I had was a better made set than the $79 disposable set from wal-mart; but, it usually did no good. All most consumers see is a cheap price and they don't care that it will only last 2 years. I finally stopped trying to explain anything and I'd just tell them to run on down there and get one of those $79 sets.
Now, I often get depressed when I even think about working on an old TV to sell. I often look at the set and think to myself, "I'm going to spend my time and mony repairing this thing, only to have these SOB's call me up and whine when they find out it's not HD and/or it's over 1 year old and then it will sit here for six months before someone will actually give me any sort of decent money for it".
The days when electronics were quality made and priced accordingly need to come back, although I know I'm dreaming.