[sdiy] Holy price tags, Batman!

[Glen]

At 11:46 PM 9/17/03 , James Patchell wrote:
>This guy has other stuff for auction...I just watched a auction for an AMEK 
>HENDRIX automated mixing desk (starting bid $22,000.00) end without any 
>bids....

If you visit this auction, another of his mixing console auctions, it
mentions that the console was built for film production work: 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=23785&item=2558293534

Maybe that explains the high prices? I've always heard that people in the
"movie biz" could afford the really big ticket items. Perhaps he's a bit
spoiled and thinks everyone else can afford it also? 

Then again, maybe this might have some sort of twisted connection to a tax
write-off of some sort? I've heard of people locally that have office space
for rent at very high rates, just so they can take a tax write-off on the
"loss" of not being able to rent those suites. Instead of renting the
spaces for whatever they can get, they keep charging the high rates and
writing off that "loss" instead. I was told that if they rented them one
time at a reasonable rate, they couldn't make a credible claim that they
were actually "losing" money, or something like that was what I was told.
Personally, I don't understand how such things work.

If I ever had enough money for a large building "downtown", I'd sure as
heck use it for *something*--even if I gave away some of the space. I'm
sure I could find *someone* who needed some office space, but couldn't
afford to pay big rent. I just think it's a such a waste to build something
so expensive as a multi-story office building and let it sit empty, when
that money could have done something really productive and truly useful.
Heck, give a couple floors to your favorite charity to use for office space.

later,
Glen