'No Bids?' eBay Seller Mystified By Lack Of Interest In Vintage Cassette Collection

EAU CLAIRE, WI—It was an overflowing closet that needed cleaning, not a time machine. But, when he saw the well-worn carrying case laying on the floor of the closet, Theodore Poole traveled back in time.

"I used to have a pair of house speakers strapped into the backseat of my Vega, with a Sanyo cassette deck mounted beneath the glove box. Pretty awesome sound. It left no legroom, but it pumped out the tunes."

The case, not seen for over thirty years, holds what Poole believes is a valuable time capsule of classic Rock and Roll. The twenty-two tapes inside certainly represent some examples of great music. So why has the eBay sale of this treasure trove of hits drawn such an anemic buyer's response?

"It's beyond me," said Poole, refreshing his eBay account. "We're talking Bat Out of Hell by Meatloaf. Frampton Comes Alive. Quiet Riot. The 1970s K-tel hit series K-tel’s Super Hits of the ‘70s, K-tel’s Power Hits of the ‘70s, and K-tel’s Super Power Ballads of the ‘70s. That's a lot of number ones."

The fourteen-day auction ended on Friday at noon without receiving the opening bid of twenty dollars.

"That's less than a dollar a cassette. What do people expect?" Poole asked. "They cost five times that much new—if you could find them. And, some people may not realize that the carrying case is included and holds twenty-five tapes. There's room to grow."

The online marketplace was not the first place Poole attempted to turn his discovery into solid gold.

"With all due respect, the old guy at the pawnshop knows nothing. Vintage vinyl is big again. It's just a matter of time that vintage cassettes follow."