Ilwrath wrote:
If prices drop cheap enough, any hardware that breaks or is not wanted anymore, people will just trash. If there is a healthy resale market, there's a better chance of preservation.
Sorry, but that's just absurd. Anybody who is a collector or enthusiast is going to know people want this stuff even if it's cheap... and they're probably not going to throw things away.
People who aren't into Amigas aren't likely to know the stuff is worth anything and will throw things away even if the same item is selling on ebay for $400. To most people who aren't active Amiga users, they're just crappy old computers and are junk. I've gotten quite a bit of Commodore equipment for free or very cheap from people who were just happy to get the crap out of their house and save them the hassle of taking it to the dump.
The fact that some people will pay a lot for this stuff is not saving any hardware. The people who are just throwing the stuff away generally have no contact with the people who are buying and selling on the collector market. They don't know the stuff is worth anything, and probably assume that it's worthless because the computer industry has indoctrinated everybody to equate old with bad.
Some people will take those things for free/cheap and turn around and sell them online for hundreds of dollars. I've gotten things for free or under $50 which I could EASILY have sold for several hundred bucks, but I'm not going to be a douchebag like that. I'd wager that many people who are frequently selling expensive Amiga stuff online are making massive profits on things that otherwise would probably be selling for $10 on craigslist or in flea markets.
Saying these inflated prices are good for the buyer is laughable.