The value of "real" Amiga hardware

[Lando]

I wonder what other people's opinions are on the value of classic Amiga machines.

I haven't looked at Amiga stuff on eBay for years as I sold off all of my classic hardware years ago.  I thought I'd have a look tonight to see what things were selling for these days and I was amazed.

I had 3 or 4 Blizzard PPC boards and at the time I sold them they went for about €180.  I saw one sold recently for €1200?

I sold my Blizzard 1230 Mk IV for about €70.  Now they seem to be going for €250.

I sold my BVision card for €90.  One just sold there for €350.

Used A1200's used to sell for €30 to €40 now it's around €150.

My Phase 5 CSPPC+060 board I sold for €280-ish with 128MB RAM.  I don't even know what that would be worth today, but a CSMKII with just the 060 sold for €600!

Are these prices more or less the norm these days?  I was thinking of picking up some classic hardware again but at these prices it's difficult to justify when a middle-of-the-road classic system would end up costing me the price of a new retina MacBook Pro.

How much higher can Amiga prices go?  This is 20 year old hardware and as beautiful as the machines are, they will eventually fail.  Is it wise to be investing 4 figures on this stuff?

[Iggy]

I wonder what other people's opinions are on the value of classic Amiga machines.

I haven't looked at Amiga stuff on eBay for years as I sold off all of my classic hardware years ago.  I thought I'd have a look tonight to see what things were selling for these days and I was amazed.

I had 3 or 4 Blizzard PPC boards and at the time I sold them they went for about €180.  I saw one sold recently for €1200?

I sold my Blizzard 1230 Mk IV for about €70.  Now they seem to be going for €250.

I sold my BVision card for €90.  One just sold there for €350.

Used A1200's used to sell for €30 to €40 now it's around €150.

My Phase 5 CSPPC+060 board I sold for €280-ish with 128MB RAM.  I don't even know what that would be worth today, but a CSMKII with just the 060 sold for €600!

Are these prices more or less the norm these days?  I was thinking of picking up some classic hardware again but at these prices it's difficult to justify when a middle-of-the-road classic system would end up costing me the price of a new retina MacBook Pro.

How much higher can Amiga prices go?  This is 20 year old hardware and as beautiful as the machines are, they will eventually fail.  Is it wise to be investing 4 figures on this stuff?

Prices have become rather ridiculous lately, except perhaps for A2000 which can still be had at a reasonable price.
Should the UltimatePPC make it to market, accelerator prices may drop.
And as FPGA projects are refined, prople may find those preferable to legacy hardware.
I myself tend to resort to emulators.  or NG operating systems.

There will always be a small base of those that retain and push the old hardware though.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

Your analysis on prices is pretty much spot-on.  Here on the other side of the pond it's about the same, when you can even find the hardware.  About the only things that are occasionally still "reasonable" priced are A500's ($50-$100) and A2000's ($200-$300).  The more high end stuff, A3000's, 4000's, or any of that PPC hardware you listed... fuggedaboutit!  :cry:
 
About the only thing that doesn't seem to be worth any money is 1084 monitors.  I've had about five of them go through my hands recently, they don't survive being shipped very well so I usually try to just give them away to good homes locally.  Still have a couple sitting on the floor in my office, tired of tripping over them!  Make me an offer, LOL.  
 
Am sure there's a lot of factors involved, a few off the top of my head would be:

- Hoarders :pissed:
- Systems breaking down
- High end systems that people built in late '90s-early 2000's sitting in people's closets, no longer used
- People thinking they can get a king's ransom for "rare" or "vintage" hardware
- People who wanted high end systems when they were kids and couldn't afford them back in the day, now that we're all (somewhat) more financially sound, buying up things
 
I still see a lot of Amiga stuff turn up online as part of estate sales.  Wonder what the average age of an Amiga user is, now?  At 37 I think I'm one of the younger ones.  Eventually (sad to say it, but it's the truth) some of these people will pass on, or are already.  Wonder if their kids will know what to do with this stuff?  Or just toss it?

Anyhow, enough ruminating on this subject, I still say damn the hoarders!  :destroy:

[nOw2]

I had a shock awaking to the prices being asked when resurrecting some physical Amiga hardware earlier in 2013. I hit a total block upgrading my A1200 to 68060, never mind PPC - the hardware is still out there but selling for more now than it did new (and it was expensive then).

I still use Amigas, this may change as every one of my machines now has some fault and it is cheaper to buy an iMac and run UAE.

[mrmoonlight]

Hi,well my opinion  on the value of classic Amiga machines,yes it is pricey ,but the buzz I get when my 1200 fires up is worth twice the price of a pc  and as for failing Amiga's  ,there's loads of parts still to be found so I don't think the Amiga is going to become extinct overnight ,and the kids of today still love them ,best wishes Brian.

[nOw2]

and as for failing Amiga's  ,there's loads of parts still to be found so I don't think the Amiga is going to become extinct overnight

I've had to write off an A1200 and A2000 due to lack of affordable parts.

[Tenacious]

I am fascinated by this pattern you mentioned, folks who sold everything labeled Amiga and then nostalgically return to the platform some time later.  There seem to be many who do this, some more than 1 cycle.

I wonder, did you sell off because of dissatisfaction with an ubber expanded Amiga?  I still use and treasure my Amigas.  However, I seem to be going thru a phase of appreciating more modestly expanded A500s, 600s, and 2000s atm.  Even these are commanding higher bids these days.  I was in the "got to be online with Amiga" crowd a few years ago.  Now, I feel that being connected to the world with every available machine is not desirable or practical.  A computer should be useful without the cloud.  

Just a few years ago, there was far more classic hardware than there were users to appreciate it.  With people dutifully recycling (scrapping, binning) old hardware over past 20 years, the pond has shrunk considerably.  Hardware failure (some simple, some not) is also taking its toll.  Amiga hardware will probably never again be as cheap or plentiful as it is today.  

[AAACHIPSET]

ive always wanted a top notch amiga1200 ..i had a good a500 ..but sorta jumped over the 1200 ..so  piece by piece ive upgraded my 1200 ..still want a 060  or a ppc (dreaming) ..prices  are crazy  ..though i do think the usb subway an the indivision aga  are worth every cent ..
in working or sorta working condition ive held on to 2 a1200s ..one is 99% working other keyboard is on an off again ..several accel cards ..one works somedays once it warms up ..other 3  no go for no reason ( 040 ppc ) ..in the hope one day i can do a trade or they get fixed ..unlikley ..only hardware i got that prob will never be used in ful working condition is a g rex card ..and ill swap that for a working 100% internet card an fully working software to put me online ..
oh..an theres a box or 3 of a500  stuff ..but i would never part with that ..
ebay  ..love it  ..cant afford it  ..

[psxphill]

I've had to write off an A1200 and A2000 due to lack of affordable parts.

I sold my bare A1500 for around £100 a year ago on ebay. I had planned to upgrade it to A2500/30 spec, but it was just too expensive (and I got ripped off on amibay by a hacked account on an A2091).

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

I wonder, did you sell off because of dissatisfaction with an ubber expanded Amiga?

I didn't own any classic Amiga hardware for nearly 10 years, sold off my moderately expanded A1200 piecemeal out of frustration in 2003 after all three of my hard drives crashed within a week of each-other, taking with them 11 years worth of data and countless nights of customization work.  Right before the last one went I ran out and bought a new 20GB hard drive (not cheap at the time) and got as far as installing 3.9 on it, with the plan to try to transfer everything onto it, but then a failed file transfer left me with a corrupt recursive directory structure (that looked like Libs:Libs, Libs:Libs/Libs, Libs:Libs/Libs/Libs, etc.) that the OS couldn't validate and would Guru...  and that's when the last HD failed.

Sad story!  I still have those old hard drives, someday I'll send them to a data recovery place, haha.    And these days all of my Amigas use CF cards instead of hard drives.  LESSON LEARNED.  :idea:

I still suspect that periodically we'll see the market flooded with hardware if/when one of these old collectors/hoarders dies.  I've heard (and seen a few pictures) of people that have 20 or more Amiga systems.  Just hope that this stuff gets put on Ebay or somewhere and not trashed! :pissed:
 
Personally I don't try to keep more than one spare part for each critical component in my Miggy's.  Everything else I sell off.  I'm too OCD to hoard this sh**, LOL.  

[Tenacious]

I still suspect that periodically we'll see the market flooded with hardware if/when one of these old collectors/hoarders dies.  I've heard (and seen a few pictures) of people that have 20 or more Amiga systems.  Just hope that this stuff gets put on Ebay or somewhere and not trashed! :pissed:
 

I not trying to dampen the Christmas spirit, but, you seem to write a lot of posts villainizing and labeling folks who have more Amigas than you do.  How many Amigas makes an Amigan evil?  

Most of the Amigas in my possession were rescued from certain oblivion over the last 25 years.  I'm not sorry for it.  I intend to preserve them deep into the future.

On a positive note, I value your expertize that you have shared generously with me and other Amiga users.  You seem like a well rounded and balanced person otherwise.  

Sour grapes don't become you.

[Oldsmobile_Mike]

How many Amigas makes an Amigan evil?

Good point.  I applaud your rescue efforts.  I guess the question is, how many can you use?  I have two Amigas, one at home and one at the office.  That's really all I need.  What I dislike about "hoarders" is that they're keeping other people from possibly becoming Amiga owners themselves, or from access to repair parts.  As another commentor said, "they had to give up an A1200 and an A2000 due to lack of affordable parts".  That really speaks for itself.  It might be different in your area, but when I wanted to get back into owning classic hardware I searched for over a year to find a good condition, reasonably-priced system anywhere near me.  I'm happy with what I got, but it was a lot of work.  Oh well, everyone needs a hobby, right?  

PS - my girlfriend probably would not agree with you that I'm "well-rounded" or "balanced".  Although she does enjoy playing a game of Lemmings with me... even if I do kick her bu** at it, haha.  

[Tenacious]

For giggles, I just searched for "Amiga 500, A500, 2000, & A2000" on eBay.  It seems that there are fewer whole computers on offer compared to a few years ago.  There were various parts (chips, drives, keyboards, etc), a few accelerators, expansions, and a few 1080 series monitors.

The prices are higher, not just Amiga stuff, but, everything!  eBay has become a "buyer beware" bazaar (Try a search for Betamax.  ).  It seems there are many sellars now who are asking outrageous prices and hoping for that one fool who is unaware of an items real value.  Some items keep getting re-listed for months at astronomical prices.

Another surprise for me are the old green phosphor monitors (I need a replacement for an IBM 5150, & another for an Hp-86), you couldn't give them away.  Now 20 years after the last one was made, they go for hundreds of $$$.

[haywirepc]

I don't know I went back and forth when I came back to amiga from real hardware to dedicated emulation pc and aros pc, now trying to go back to real hardware but its expensive. I have a 1200 motherboard power supply and keyboard but I need a plastic 1200 or 500 case, leds/wires, joystick cable from motherboard to back of case. Also need a floppy power cable. If anyone has these please pm otherwise I will have to pay crazy high ebay prices to rebuilt this 1200...

Also need a cf card adapter 4 gig cf card, amiga joystick or sega genesis controller. could use pcmcia network adapter and driver, accellerator.

Argh down the rabbit hole... I also would like an external scandoubler, though I got a nice beigh kinda 20 inch crt svga monitor recently.
I think the monitor is supposed to be white... needs retrobright!

[Megamig]

Oh stop complaining...

Amiga hardware prices are fair considering legacy Amigas have not been produced for over 17+ years. I wonder how many of those complaining would be happy to sell their Amiga collection for fire sale prices. If so, I am more than willing to buy them!!

I recently listed a Amiga 3000 on eBay. I based my BIN price on the fact that Amiga 3000s do not appear often on eBay in my country (I check often) and that Amiga 4000s command high prices. It did not sell - who cares.. I will hold onto it until someone is prepared to pay a 'decent' price for it (just like many Amiga users on here)

As for those who purchased Amigas in the early days when they are cheap.. Good luck.. For those who want them now for cheap.. Bad luck!