[HoustonRefugee]

I really question the really unrealistic prices of these retro systems, both on auction sites and the "new" retro stuff.

They are asking $200 for the commander x16 keyboard not to mention vaporware like the Mega65 that never might be released but seem to get lots of donations and endorsement from PC magazines (endorsements are free?)

I have seen broken VIC20s and ZX81s go for $300+ on eBay. Why?

I am not saying people should not buy this stuff and if they is what their hobby is...cool. My wife cannot understand why I buy the things I like. But those prices are only going to have the choir as the customers. They should be eating the cost of that keyboards and new gear to grow new customers.

[onemoresoop]

Some've become collectibles. The market will speak up. If people are hoarding on them and demand is high price will go up. If more people are willing to part with them and the demand is low the price will drop. Also there's the nostalgia factor, the fact that these things are still cool after all these years, that they're still functioning, that they were pretty well built, lots of reasons.

Buy if you want one. Go for a hunt in thriftstores and fleamarkets, you might get lucky

[reaperducer]

The market will speak up

The real problem is greed.

People find these computers in basements and barns and flea markets and think they've found a treasure. They put it on fleaBay and expect to get instantly rich. When they don't, they throw the machines in the trash.

I've seen computers worth about $80 listed online for $1,000 or more. I've seen people win auctions for computers at reasonable prices only to have the seller ask for more money, then cancel the auction when the winner won't pony up another $800.

[zokier]

> worth about $80

How do you define worth? We are talking about goods that do not have any intrinsic value here, so their value is whatever people are willing to pay for them.

[Dylan16807]

That comment sure looks to me like a scenario where people are willing to pay $80!

[Jaruzel]

> The real problem is greed.

Yes, and it's getting worse. Nowadays it's quite common to see a retro computer broken up into it's respective parts (keyboard, case, mobo, psu, etc) and sold off as individual auctions because the seller knows they'll get more money that way.

And don't get me started on the sellers who rip the SID and VIC chips off of perfectly working C64 motherboards to sell them separately at inflated prices! Grrrr.

[skybrian]

That sounds like a rational market. Some people need parts and where else are they going to come from?

If the price for a complete system goes higher or enough people sell parts from broken machines and parts prices go down, they'll stop doing it.

[onemoresoop]

I mean I get that, you're right it's greed but, people can put whatever price they want, we're not obligated to pay that and doesn't mean it will sell.

Rent is expensive so generally people don't want to hang on to stuff they don't need so the price will eventually come down if supply goes up.

[monadic2]

> The market will speak up.

If only it had anything rational to say!

[WantonQuantum]

> They are asking $200 for the commander x16 keyboard

Some points:

- That keyboard is not intended to be the final keyboard. It's intended for people who like mechanical keyboards and are using the current emulator.

- $200 is pretty normal for mechanical keyboards. For people who use them, they're worth the money.

- All the reviews of that keyboard are overwhelmingly positive.

If someone makes a product and the people who buy it are happy, where's the problem?

[cable2600]

Broken systems sell for $300- on eBay because there is a racket for them. People buy 80 of them for spare parts and then salvage the broken units to build fixed units that sell for more.

I saw a complete C64 1541 Monitor Datasette and 100 titles on sale at Amazon for $2000 before.

The VICE emulator can emulate any 8 bit Commodore computer as long as you got a copy of the ROMs on file. But most people want the original hardware which is why it sells for $300+ broken.

The Mini64 and The C64 outsold themselves and are modern versions of the C64. A friend of mine who works at Sam's Club said they only lasted one day on the floor and sold out like the Action Replay video game consoles did.

[WantonQuantum]

> They should be eating the cost of that keyboards and new gear to grow new customers.

The target market for all of these things is nostalgia. No amount of loss-leading is going to grow that market.

[JKCalhoun]

You mean like this $5000 keyboard? https://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-Clare-Pendar-ASCII-keyboard...