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QRP kits retirement plan
20 December 2010 | by I’ve always thought it wise to stock up on some good kits as part of retirement planning.
Results in a couple of eBay auctions just concluded make me think the kits might even perform better as investments themselves.
A few minutes ago one of Steve Weber’s ATS-4 kits – presumably the earlier version, not the recent ATS-4a – just sold for US$280.
This represents a profit of $55. Just shy of 25% is quite a return on a kit that you could have bought five weeks ago for $225.
Of course its rarity drove the price that high. A few minutes before one of the earlier ATS-3B kits sold for $250.
Like a vintage wine maker Steve only releases a limited number of his kits at a time. It’s a case of the quick and the disappointed.
Also today an early version of Doug Hendricks BITX20A 20m CW/SSB kit – minus the enclosure – sold for $152.50. Its current price – including enclosure – is $180. Three current Elecraft K2 options were also sold at prices very close to the official Aptos rate.
Quite frankly I can’t think of anything worse than choosing QRP Kits to ‘lay down’ as an investment, rather than build. Mind you it doesn’t look like they need to be put in the cellar for very long!
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