Sansui G-33000 - $7000 (Lancaster)

That's getting pretty silly. Can't blame a guy for trying. The market is at it's peak right now. 10 years into the future and these things will be fetching a fraction of what they do now.
 
That's getting pretty silly. Can't blame a guy for trying. The market is at it's peak right now. 10 years into the future and these things will be fetching a fraction of what they do now.

10 years ago they(almost all audio) was selling for WAY less than now. Why would those drop in price in the future?
 
You can ask whatever you want; whether it sells or not is a whole 'nother ball game.

Like anything and everything else- supply and demand, supply and demand.
 
crack_pipe.jpg
 
10 years ago they(almost all audio) was selling for WAY less than now. Why would those drop in price in the future?

Some of this stuff is lusted over due to fond memories or nostalgia. Once the folks who are purchasing this stuff stop buying, stop collecting and/or pass away then the huge demand for that particular gear will decrease.

I can guarantee you in another decade people will begin looking at the 80s gear as vintage and it will see a big uptick in value. I am from a different era than most of the vintage folks on this board, so I see things a bit differently. Maybe I am wrong, only time will tell.
 
10 years ago they(almost all audio) was selling for WAY less than now. Why would those drop in price in the future?

There is no way to really know. I remember everyone saying that real estate is a great investment as they don't make land anymore and homes will always be more expensive, tell that to all the people who purchase homes! Just go to Florida where homes selling for half a million and now you can't sell them for 150 thousand.
 
10 years ago they(almost all audio) was selling for WAY less than now. Why would those drop in price in the future?

It's happened in almost every nostalgia-based market. As the target audience gets older and moves to fixed incomes or, well, you know... the demand decreases dramatically.

It's not like real estate where even a burst bubble will eventually recover, because they're right- you only have so much land, with an increasing population. With vintage gear, yes you only have so much of it but you have shrinking demand. You never really get beyond supply and demand. The only way price could keep going up is if somebody hid or destroyed units at a rate faster than the market will be shrinking. There will probably be a bubble then a gradual decline then a falling off of a cliff of prices.

And vintage gear is very much a product of a generation. Yes, there are younger fans but they make up a small percentage of the buyers and their attachment to the gear isn't as inherent in who they are. They are also probably more easily persuaded to buy something else when the prices of vintage get insane, like this sale in question. That is a price tied to nostalgia and collectibility, it is not at all representative of what kind of performance you can get for that coin.
 
Of course if our offspring fall in love with the stuff..... :)

Sometimes they do and then hear something more recent and turn their back on it, which is easier to do because they aren't as connected to it by nostalgia. (Not that I'd know anything about that....)
 
Stuff like this is collected by the people who lusted after them as teens. The stuff you wanted, but just never could afford. For example, the 77-79 Trans Ams have skyrocketed. Wasn't too long ago, $10,000 would buy you a beautiful TA just like Burt Reynolds drove. Now the nice ones are over $40K.
What drives the prices of this stuff up is the emotional attachment people have since kids. Once they leave the market, prices will plummet. Stamp collections are the perfect example. Except for the real rarities, you just can't give them away anymore.
 
Sometimes they do and then hear something more recent and turn their back on it, which is easier to do because they aren't as connected to it by nostalgia. (Not that I'd know anything about that....)

I'm a perfect example of turning my back on it.

At 21, I left a beautiful Marantz 2270 that I got from my parents, at a Montgomery Wards Electric City repair shop because it didn't click any more when I powered it on and had no sound.
 
What drives the prices of this stuff up is the emotional attachment people have since kids. Once they leave the market, prices will plummet.

I'm 32 y.o. and my family wasn't into audio at all when I was young... I can't qualify buying vintage for nostalgia.

I bought pristine restored vintage equipment for the aesthetics and performance. I carefully chose units who were well rated and sought after.

When I was 19 y.o., I shopped for a Trans-Am (but hadn't bought one because my father told me it wasn't as good as a japanese car (or even a Chrysler)). But... it interested me because it looked like a badass car and it was within my budget.

Though we can't predict in which direction a market will go... my feeling is that pristine highly sought after vintage units (top of the line ones or those who benefit from raving reviews) will at least keep their value. A 1978 Lamborghini will always be a Lamborghini ! As long as it's not beaten up, it'll have high resale value.

Middle of the line (like the Trans-Am) to bottom line unit's prices will retain value while nostalgia is there... after, prices will fall. I think we can already feel that the value of low en units is dropping as there seems to be an "Audiokarma trend" of members getting rid of their unused stuff.
 
Back
Top Bottom