Lost $70 on a fake "vintage" IBM keyboard last week

I found a guy on Facebook Marketplace selling a Model M from 1989, paid $70 without testing it in person. Got it home and it was a reproduction shell with cheap membrane switches inside, not the buckling spring at all. Has anyone else run into these fake retro keyboards floating around?

2 comments

2 Comments

stellafisher22d ago

Yeah I've been burned by the same thing. There's a guy near me who buys up old IBM shells, paints them, and drops cheap rubber dome guts inside. He even sands off the original logos and makes them look aged. I got wise after I saw the price was too good to be true. Now I always ask for a photo of the back label and the green PCB inside before I hand over cash. If the seller dodges that, I walk. Have you tried testing it with a multimeter yet to see if the switches are actually mechanical?

river18221d ago

Honestly @stellafisher I think you're overthinking it. It's just a keyboard.