"Chris Nicholl" wrote in message
om...
I was there last year too, and you could _NOT_ buy a Nagler or a
Panoptic
for anywhere near 1/2 price.

Al-
I haven't been to NEAF, but am considering going this year. My
understanding is that TeleVue still sells their blems there.

Maybe the root of the disagreement is lack of specificity. Are you
saying that the blems are no longer on sale, or simply that the
discount (off new price) is less than 50%? If it's the latter, what
is the discount that you saw last year there? Maybe there are timing
issues that account for the difference - such as someone arriving
earlier (for the better deals) and someone arriving later (when the
better deals have dried up).

Chris Nicholl

Hi Chris,

You should certainly go to NEAF and the TV sale should not be a factor in
your judgment to go or not go. There is much to do and much to see aside
from buying TV products. However, if you plan on buying bargain TV
eyepieces, you should plan on getting there long before TV opens their
doors.

The blems are still on sale, but the 50% sales are not what they use to be.
To be perfectly honest, I have given up on the sale long before last year.
Consequently, I did not get myself to NEAF very early last year, nor did I
take any large amount of cash with me, so it's possible but not very likely
that some eyepieces were sold at bargain prices before I got there.

I've been attending NEAF shows and the Tele Vue sales there for many years
(9 years or more). I have bought and still use every Nagler ll and Panoptic
made, and I love them. In the past, eyepieces were sold at slightly more
than 1/2 price. As an example, a 20mm Nagler type 2, which retailed for
$395 was selling at the TV sale for about $225 with no limit on number of
pieces you purchased. As a result of the lengthily and very emotional
threads right here on SAA (about 4 years ago...maybe 5), many people
telephoned Al Nagler and expressed their displeasure regarding these sales.
They complained that people were buying up these eyepieces early (leaving
none for people who only wanted one for their own use) and selling them on
line at much higher prices. In other words, the eyepieces were purchased
early expressly for the purpose of turning a quick profit for a few.

As a result of the complaints (this is my conclusion and not something I
actually heard from Al Nagler or any TV people), future sales were modified
by (a) limiting the number of any style available to one person, (b) all
NEAF eyepieces were identified by a "dot" appearing with the logo on the
eyepiece barrel, (c) a reduction of available eyepieces for the sale, and
(d) an increase in price. The last time I looked, the prices had increased
closer to 75% of retail value or more. In my judgment, it was no longer
worth the effort to wake up early, drive to the sale and wait on line. If
there were 15 people on line ahead of you, the limited number of "nice"
eyepieces were sold by the time you got to the head of the line.
Additionally, if you bought something new and found you didn't like it, it
was difficult to sell...even for the price you paid for it, as all NEAF
eyepieces were now identified.

Al