pete@octopus.UUCP (Pete Holzmann) (09/04/88)
In article <16800352@clio> berger@clio.las.uiuc.edu writes: > >Those figures seem to be about 30% higher than the actual selling >prices for those machines, at least here in the Midwest. IBM has >recently announced a trade-in policy if you want to upgrade to a >PS-2 machine. They're allowing a little over $ 400 for the same >PC that you list as being worth nearly $ 800. I hope you aren't taking the IBM trade-in values as the "actual selling prices" of these machines. By all reports, the IBM trade in program is essentially unused. There was a lot of interest, a lot of inquiries, but almost nobody used it. I think the overall report was something like 1-3% of the expected response (i.e., they expected X number of tradeins, but only got a fraction of that). The places where the tradein program worked well at all were where the dealers upped the ante to the true tradein value. IBM obviously has a vested interest in lowering the market value of the traditional PC and AT machines. Few people actually believe that their idea of a PC/AT's value is realistic. The major effect of the tradein program has been that the whole used PC market is now 'legitematized'. This is kind of a summary of articles over the last several weeks in Computer Reseller News and other dealer-oriented magazines. These mags are hardly anti-IBM by the way: they cater to the big chains, etc. Pete -- OOO __| ___ Peter Holzmann, Octopus Enterprises OOOOOOO___/ _______ USPS: 19611 La Mar Court, Cupertino, CA 95014 OOOOO \___/ UUCP: {hpda,pyramid}!octopus!pete ___| \_____ Phone: 408/996-7746