Yes, supply and demand. If you need parts ASAP, you can pay up. If one has time AND luck, you van get stuff for cheap or even free.
And as you state, it depends where you live.

Amibay is the better alternative for selling stuff if you ask me.

Rare ISA video cards are sky high as well.

ATI Mach 64 - $1000
ET 4000 W32i - $1000
CL GD5434 - $500

Some VLB video cards are up to $500 too.

Another thing to consider is that our money (certainly in the US) has been devalued by inflation. I'm sipping a Starbuck's grande mocha right now; I paid $5.75 which seems crazy because for many years it was just under $4.00 for the same drink.

Back in 1999 or so I purchased a 1oz gold US proof eagle for maybe $450, gold is now $4000+ an oz. Inflation is a thing.

The vast majority of the old hardware has been recycled and what is left is supply and demand. I think some of the crazy pricing is because people see prices rising and want to get it before it is not affordable anymore (maybe an investment).

What you see are list prices, not market prices. Market price is hidden from you as the listing disappears. I'm selling some stuff too and can say people rarely buy the expensive hardware. You can get many observers but they don't buy. It feels like I will have to use supermarket sale tricks to make the observers buy stuff.

Yep. I agree. It's absolutely crazy.

Like many others have said. Supply + Demand + Inflation = Crazy Prices. Add trade wars on top and that drives up costs even more.

The supply of working old tech is very limited, but the demand for it is also very high right now. Those two factors alone drive prices up. Trade wars drive up the cost of modern alternatives as well as shipping both old and new tech.

What sucks is, here in the US, many prices are based on what eBay sellers are asking, driving up value/cost, but people are willing to pay it so prices stay high. I would LOVE to use Amibay over eBay, but shipping to the US is also crazy right now.

So, I tend to just rely on the "time AND luck" method. See if I get lucky and find something local.

Also don't forget that the items you see listed are the ones that did not sell yet. So the real price is probably lower...

AlexZ wrote on 2025-10-15, 16:34:

What you see are list prices, not market prices. Market price is hidden from you as the listing disappears.

True, and this also affects local ads. Somebody finds something covered with vintage filth, checks the listings on ebay in US dollars, converts it to local currency and asks for that much. Doesn't matter if that amount equals 3 monthly salaries in local currency.

The truth is that hidden beneath the hysteria-driven prices is a supply reality: it's going down and will continue to go down. This will only drive prices higher. They could go down if sellers stopped dreaming, but the floor is higher.

This is inevitable and will only induce people to make more "retro clone" hardware.

As others have mentioned, just because the listed price is expensive, doesn’t mean the actual sale price is. For like two years I saw the original pc booter Archon going for $80 to like $200 on eBay, so I never even considered buying it. Then one day someone put one up for bid, and I bid like $25 for it, expecting someone to outbid me. Only one person bid against me, and it didn’t even reach my $25 limit. The game and packaging arrived a week later in great condition. So, yeah, don’t always believe the prices you see. Shop around a little.

I partly blame the recyclers, their listings flood my searches with overpriced cards and usually bury the listings of normal people selling stuff from their own person collection / storage. Then the sellers who are unsure of the value of what they have follow what the recyclers are listing them for.

I set higher price for items I would prefer to keep, but if someone really needs it they can buy it. But sometimes people still don't get it and buy it. For items I want to sell I start with higher price and decrease it by about 5% every month. Eventually market price will be found.

Well, it's the same old story: hardware from years ago is objectively rubbish. It can only be considered objectively useful in specific cases, for example, to repair a 30-year-old industrial machine that is still in service and difficult to replace.
Then, for me and I suppose for most users of this forum, old hardware is a pastime and a hobby with a touch of nostalgia and comfort because it is something familiar.
Of course, there are probably users of this forum who do business with this.
In summary, if you think it is illogically expensive, do not buy it, and the price will drop out of necessity; if there is no demand, it will not sell.
I only buy something when I think the price is appropriate for its usefulness. In this case, I don't like to spend more than €50, and that's in a very, very specific case. Normally, the limit is €30.
The only reason those prices exist is because someone pays them. I think that's called speculation.

AlexZ wrote on 2025-10-15, 16:34:

What you see are list prices, not market prices. Market price is hidden from you as the listing disappears.

You can search for sold items on Ebay and see the price they sold at. This is how I tend to determine fair market value for items.

Still do not understand why good old members can not sell and trade x86 hardware in here.

Surely this is a for sale ad. Other than that, plenty of retro stuff people aren't interested in is as dirt cheap now as it was before.

Cyberdyne wrote on 2025-10-15, 18:32:

Still do not understand why good old members can not sell and trade x86 hardware in here.

I believe it's due to the liability that comes with the forum used for commercial activity.

Same reason why abandonware links are prohibited; the admins never want to even have to think about spending money on lawyers.

Because people get very angry if a forum member rips them off.