[WTB] [US] SKCM NEON GREEN ALPS

[Vito300]

I'm planning on putting together a custom alps keyboard here soon and would really love to use some SKCM Neon Green alps, I would prefer Bamboo but I can't be too choosy. I am looking to buy around 30-70 switches depending on the price and availability. The price would be dependent on the condition of the switches. I would be willing to pay upwards of 6-7 dollars per switch if they are NOS. Even if the switches are dusty and scratchy I still might be interested just to harvest the tactile leaves, but the tactile leaves must be in good condition and not bent or damaged in any way.

I will be paying with paypal.

[mcmaxmcmc]

Hate to break the news to you, but $7 for NOS SKCM Green is super low nowadays. Even for used switches SKCM Greens are around $12-15 per.

[Vito300]

Oh wow really? That's absurd. I haven't seen any sales to base my pricing off of except for some stuff a few years ago when people were buying NOS switches and saying how insane $8 per switch is. Do you have any examples of people selling SKCM greens lately?

[thefarside]

Don’t know the price per switch but this might have sold for $2000:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/305013365283

[Vito300]

Don’t know the price per switch but this might have sold for $2000:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/305013365283

Ugh man, I know the docutec boards go for big bucks. I think the pine greens are a little more desirable and rare. I actually missed one a few months ago that sold on eBay for a good bit under a thousand bucks. I decided not to bid on it for whatever reason. I was kind of scared it would end up having brown alps. I’m sure someone here bought that.

[Vito300]

Also, if anyone has some skcm neon greens tell me what you’d want to sell them for if I’m on the low end. It’s a small market and I’d like to get at least 30 of them.

[maxgpdx]

Don’t know the price per switch but this might have sold for $2000:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/305013365283

Ugh man, I know the docutec boards go for big bucks. I think the pine greens are a little more desirable and rare. I actually missed one a few months ago that sold on eBay for a good bit under a thousand bucks. I decided not to bid on it for whatever reason. I was kind of scared it would end up having brown alps. I’m sure someone here bought that.

You made the right decision not bidding, that board was sold by a known scammer who was hiding the fact that it had brown alps to make people bid higher in case it was neons.

[maxgpdx]

Unfortunately there is a next to zero chance you will find loose neons. They just don't sell. Very rarely a board with them comes up for a crazy high price, but most people would agree that harvesting the switches from a Docutech is wrong. The sources of NOS ones from years ago are long gone, and it's highly unlikely the owners of those would be inclined to respond to a WTB post. I hate to break it to you, but that's just the state of things now. Neons are interesting, but not nearly worth the price and rarity they come at.

[Vito300]

Don’t know the price per switch but this might have sold for $2000:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/305013365283

Ugh man, I know the docutec boards go for big bucks. I think the pine greens are a little more desirable and rare. I actually missed one a few months ago that sold on eBay for a good bit under a thousand bucks. I decided not to bid on it for whatever reason. I was kind of scared it would end up having brown alps. I’m sure someone here bought that.

You made the right decision not bidding, that board was sold by a known scammer who was hiding the fact that it had brown alps to make people bid higher in case it was neons.

Oh really? That makes me feel good I didn’t miss out on anything, but also, screw that guy, that’s shameful. I’ve had a watch on eBay for docutec boards for 4 years now or something and that was like the second one in all those years I think. It’s crazy how rare these stupid switches are.

I appreciate the honesty, I know you’re right. But I figured I’d try to find something before I “settle” for brown or cream alps. Browns are amazing, but they’re just a bit too heavy. That’s what makes these greens sound so appealing, less heavy and slightly more rounded brown alps sound like my perfect switch. Oh well.

[Muirium]

"And all I got were these lousy brown Alps." —first world keyboard problems

Still, when paying for unicorns, one should receive unicorns, it's true.

[thefarside]

You made the right decision not bidding, that board was sold by a known scammer who was hiding the fact that it had brown alps to make people bid higher in case it was neons.

Just curious what you meant by it having browns. Are all the keys brown and he put in a green alps to make people think it had all neons? I saw he posted one pic showing a presumably neon green alps:

IMG_9233.jpeg (332.01 KiB) Viewed 14694 times

I think that seller used to be called keebmeup and thought it was strange they changed their username.

I’ve seen some sellers mention their board doesn’t have the original alps, like the IBM 5140 and am hesitant to buy an expensive board now without confirming the switches.

[Vito300]

You made the right decision not bidding, that board was sold by a known scammer who was hiding the fact that it had brown alps to make people bid higher in case it was neons.

Just curious what you meant by it having browns. Are all the keys brown and he put in a green alps to make people think it had all neons? I saw he posted one pic showing a presumably neon green alps:
IMG_9233.jpeg

I think that seller used to be called keebmeup and thought it was strange they changed their username.

I’ve seen some sellers mention their board doesn’t have the original alps, like the IBM 5140 and am hesitant to buy an expensive board now without confirming the switches.

I'm interested to hear the story on this as well. I remember seeing keebmeup selling a bunch of interesting alps boards on ebay, but his prices were highway robbery. I also remember him selling video writers, 5140s, and IIcs, that he swapped the switches on. It seemed to me that he was trying to scam. His feedback on ebay also reflected that if I remember correctly. Then he changed his name because I assume people much like myself would click on a listing of an interesting alps board then see it was being sold by him and immediately close the tab hahaha.

[Polecat]

Just curious what you meant by it having browns. Are all the keys brown and he put in a green alps to make people think it had all neons? I saw he posted one pic showing a presumably neon green alps:

I think that seller used to be called keebmeup and thought it was strange they changed their username.

I’ve seen some sellers mention their board doesn’t have the original alps, like the IBM 5140 and am hesitant to buy an expensive board now without confirming the switches.

I'm not part of this in any way but I think you misread the original post. The ebay listing from the "scammer" was "...one a few months ago that sold on eBay for a good bit under a thousand bucks...", not the more recent one from zrrion that was pictured with neon greens. Zrrion is a valued member here, and as far as I know hasn't scammed anyone.

[Vito300]

Also, would like to just second what polecat said just to be clear. Zrrion is in no way a scammer, I've been lurking this forum and others for the last four or so years and I've always seen him contributing positively. I messaged him on ebay the other day asking about possibly buying some neon greens and he informed me that he sold that neon green docutec for 2k not long ago. If anything was wrong with that sale we would have heard about it.

[Muirium]

We often have our clashes, but Zrrion's no scammer. He is, though, "a jammy bastard" as we say in Scotland, for making 2k in bank. What a market!

[bit-shifter]

Let's quickly clarify something.

keebmeup renamed himself on eBay to zrrion, so the boards you are thinking are being sold from a trusted community member are actually from keebmeup (the well known market manipulating scammer)

[CoolPenguin1]

The listing Max is talking about is different from the one you're thinking of I think. There was a Xerox 6085 listed by a scammer that didn't show or say anything about the switch despite them knowing it was browns in the hopes people would think it's neons. The listing you're talking of is the one "zrrion" or in reality keebmeup bought the docutech from and scalped.

[Polecat]

Let's quickly clarify something.

keebmeup renamed himself on eBay to zrrion, so the boards you are thinking are being sold from a trusted community member are actually from keebmeup (the well known market manipulating scammer)

Unbelievable, but you are correct, and that explains everything.

https://keebmeup.com/index.php

"***05/30/2023 Update: Please refer to my eBay page going forward.
https://www.ebay.com/usr/zrrion"

[Muirium]

Scamtastic!

[Vito300]

Let's quickly clarify something.

keebmeup renamed himself on eBay to zrrion, so the boards you are thinking are being sold from a trusted community member are actually from keebmeup (the well known market manipulating scammer)

Unbelievable, but you are correct, and that explains everything.

https://keebmeup.com/index.php

"***05/30/2023 Update: Please refer to my eBay page going forward.
https://www.ebay.com/usr/zrrion"

Whoa, this is crazy. That's dirty, he knew what he was doing when he chose that name.

Is the real Zrrion aware of this? I'd be interested to hear what he has to say about this.

Keebmeup changed his name on ebay once before to something other than zrrion I think, but that account had a lot of bad feedback and may have gotten abandoned or shut down. It looks like this account doesn't have any bad feedback just one neutral, he must have started a new ebay account under the name zrrion.

[maxgpdx]

There were two recent xerox sales: first an auction of a 6085 board, where the seller didn’t disclose the switch despite knowing it was browns. That was sold by known scammer Rajkeymari, and went for well under $1000, so I figured OP was referring to that one.

The second was a Docutech with neon greens sold by KeebMeUp for $2000. He has been impersonating various community members and is currently renamed to Zrrion. By the way, he bought that board for $500 and sold it for $2000. A real shame that the last two sales of these Xerox boards have been from scumbags.

[Vito300]

There were two recent xerox sales: first an auction of a 6085 board, where the seller didn’t disclose the switch despite knowing it was browns. That was sold by known scammer Rajkeymari, and went for well under $1000, so I figured OP was referring to that one.

The second was a Docutech with neon greens sold by KeebMeUp for $2000. He has been impersonating various community members and is currently renamed to Zrrion. By the way, he bought that board for $500 and sold it for $2000. A real shame that the last two sales of these Xerox boards have been from scumbags.

You are 100% correct, Rajkeymari's 6085 keyboard is the one I was referring to.

I didn't know anything about the neon green docutech keebmeup scalped, or the fact that he is now going by zrrion. I'm glad I found all this out though, I don't want to give any of these people my hard earned money. The community would be a lot better off without people like this. I agree, it really is a shame, 4 years of watching ebay for these xerox boards and the only two that popped up were from scammers.

How the heck did Keebmeup get that docutec board for $500?

[maxgpdx]

How the heck did Keebmeup get that docutec board for $500?

He just got lucky on eBay before anyone else did. Unfortunately a lot of the people with the most time to spend checking eBay are flippers.