Bought a "vintage" IBM Model M keyboard for $150, got a modern knockoff instead

Found a listing on eBay from a seller in Ohio claiming it was a genuine 1987 IBM Model M. Got it in the mail, checked the serial number, and it was a Unicomp from 2019. Lost $150 on that mistake before I figured out how to spot the real ones by the rivets on the back plate. Anyone else get burned by fake retro gear on auction sites?

3 comments

3 Comments

shane_clark1mo ago

Honestly I used to roll my eyes at people who got all worked up about fakes on eBay. Like it's your fault for not doing your homework right? Then I bought what I thought was a vintage Kermit the Frog puppet, great condition, totally legit based on the photos. Got it and the thing smelled like a basement and the stitching was all wrong, some cheap modern repro the guy tried to pass off as 70s original. That changed my whole view, now I get why people get burned and it sucks.

jamie_webb671mo agoTop Commenter

Caught a "vintage" pyrex on ebay once that was actually just someone's old tupperware with a sharpie.

nguyen.angela1mo ago

150 bucks for a keyboard is steep even if it was a real one from 87. @jamie_webb67 the tupperware story is funny but honestly I don't get why people get so heated about this stuff. It's a keyboard, not a rare painting or something. If you can't tell the difference by the rivets maybe you're just not the target audience for vintage gear. Unicomp literally makes the same keyboard today for like 70 bucks less with better switches. You probably saved yourself from having to learn how to fix a 30 year old keyboard that would have broken anyway. Sometimes getting a knockoff is the universe doing you a favor.