I blame the NES classic for kicking off this retro craze.

I blame teh internets.

Unknown_K wrote:

If you think old PC card prices are bad go look at what anything Amiga is going for these days.

Indeed, everything with an Amiga label is worth its weight in gold nowadays 🤣 I've owned a lot of Amiga's but I still don't get where the fuss is all about. Some people are just insanely nostalgic and think everything different than a pc must be better 😊

Last few years Amiga was hyped up through the roof by many youtubers.

On the subject of console gaming, there are some stores that price their games and systems based on their condition, for example: Here in Seattle, we have a store called Pink Gorilla, they go by this guideline when it comes to pricing their inventory, their expensive items are usually games that are either sealed in the original box or refurbished (with fresh save batteries), their used games are the cheap ones. This might not be the only reason for overpriced online listings, but in some cases, this is relevant.

gdjacobs wrote:

With P4 systems increasing in price, does anyone have any thoughts on the next approach to cheap retro computing?

AMD Athlon 64 desktops? XP-era laptops? any of those two options ring a bell? Judging by how many people are finding ways to build crazy fast 9x rigs through the means of Athlon 64 hardware and/or early Core 2 motherboards with AGP/PCI. I imagine it won't be long until those two platforms become the next targets for cheap retro computing, until the demand becomes high enough to warrant a price increase, of course.

I sure am glad I got my hardware when I did. I've had a hard enough time finding a Pentium III desktop that wasn't insanely overpriced when I needed one last year, but somehow I managed to score one at a decent price. For the old and obscure pieces of hardware, you just have to be patient to snag a lucky deal.

I'm not so sure. P4 hardware was everywhere. AMD stuff, not so much.

Some months ago I made a win 98 p3 equivalent underclocked and undervolted athlon 64 machine. Perfect for most all things win 9x. Don't see a need to waste money on a p3, but maybe I'll get one when people move onto the athlon 64.

gdjacobs wrote:

I'm not so sure. P4 hardware was everywhere. AMD stuff, not so much.

Here it was the opposite, AMD was cheaper (and usually faster at that price point) so everyone bought it. I've only seen a few P4 rigs and they were mostly company computers.

I don’t think any pc hardware beyond the year 2003 or so will ever become really ‘collectable’. Around that time pretty much everyone owned a pc with an internet connection, Windows XP was very user friendly (it certainly wasn’t for the geeks anymore), pc’s became black/silver boxes, laptops too became throw away goods, games just became nicer.. since then not much is changed. On top of that, old pc hardware from this millennium requires special tools for repair. I’ve recently hired someone to recap some of my early 00’s motherboards and graphics cards, because my Weller soldering iron couldn’t get the solder connections right.

I was trying to find one of those late 90s/early 2000s Compaq Presarios but they're mostly $100+ on eBay. Posted a wanted on craigslist, someone wanted $100 for his P4 Compaq. Nope.

A few observations/responses from someone who has been doing this for awhile.

-Amiga hardware was never particularly cheap. Even back in the late 90s-early 00s I had problems finding even a decent Amiga 2000. I didn't actually acquire an Amiga until 2012 and that was a "needs work" Amiga 4000 with Toaster 4000 card and I still had to source a keyboard/mount separately. Since then, the machine has shot up in value, much to my surprise. Leaking batteries and caps are a factor here.

-SCSI cards for the Apple IIgs were never cheap. Production of new ones ended by 1996ish. I got lucky acquiring most of my Apple II hardware as I was "late to the game" even back in 1998!

-Whoever is paying big bucks for P4 era hardware is either lazy or there is ebay "funny business" going on (see below). P4 hardware is still EVERYWHERE.

-Ebay is a BAD gauge of market pricing. There is a total lack of transparency since they have started hiding winning bidders (and feedback history) and now they are making it difficult to see selling prices of many auctions, particularly "make an offer" listings. Shill bidding is now commonplace and ebay does nothing about it because they profit from the inflated listing fees. Its not just auctions where a seller is trying to boost the price, but auctions that have a ridiculous price to begin with. People will bid on their own $1000+ auctions in attempt to price drive certain items ("see, someone paid this much for XX, so my low price of $YY is cheap").

Blaming Phil's Computer Lab? How come nobody is blaming VOGONS? VOGONS is at least 50% of the reason prices are going up. This is the premier site for retro PC builds, and anything that is posted here makes the information easily available to the masses with minimal googling. VOGONS is pretty much always the first topic to pop up when searching for obscure retro gear on google.

In the past you could get a lot of cheap gear on eBay because the person selling it had no idea what it was, and there were few resources online to identify such hardware. Prior to VOGONS I relied mostly on TH99 and usenet posts to track down hardware...a very time intensive process that few people were interested in doing.

Where are you getting 50% from?

From all the research and data compiled by world renowned scientists and experts, no less. 😎

Cambridge Analytica?

Yeah what's the deal with people just cancelling eBay auctions if the bidding isn't going as they like? Isn't this supposed to be against the rules? If it doesn't sell as high as you intended just suck up the loss and put a higher minimum bid next time.

A hobby about owning scarce items is becoming more expensive by the day. You heard it here first. News at 11.

Anonymous Coward wrote:

Blaming Phil's Computer Lab? How come nobody is blaming VOGONS? VOGONS is at least 50% of the reason prices are going up. This is the premier site for retro PC builds, and anything that is posted here makes the information easily available to the masses with minimal googling. VOGONS is pretty much always the first topic to pop up when searching for obscure retro gear on google.

I'm not so sure about the marketing power of vogons for many things. Seems more a niche circle, which is fair enough. If you want to ensure your posts don't hike up the prices, reduce the hyperbole if any and be critical.

Are we ever gonna stop getting threads like this? It's been addressed ad nauseum; there's no more discussion value to be had, just more complaining and epeen-measuring. It will always be the same "supply and demand", "LGR/Phil/(insert youtuber here) caused inflated prices" and "Back in my day I could get twenty 486 boxes for a quarter".

It is still plenty possible to get old hardware for cheap or free. eBay isn't everything. Go to thrift stores, dumpsters, flea markets, garage/estate sales, and especially hamfests/vintage computer fests.

This is why I go through the trouble of hoarding in the first place, do it on the cheap when no one gives a rat's ass or thinks you are insane and profit later by not having to pay out the rear later. I wonder how many here are regretting not stocking up on 3DFX cards..

I wonder how many here are regretting not stocking up on Pentium 4s.