Has price of used 802N's shot up?

Just wondering out loud here -- B&Ws like other import items may have increased in price as a result of unfavorable currency movements of the US dollar versus the British Pound Sterling and/or the Euro. I don't follow the B&Ws, but I do follow Paradigm speakers which are a Canadian import.

Perhaps some may recall not so many years ago when the one (1) Canadian dollar was worth only $.70 US dollars. Today, the currencies trade at near parity. So ... do the math. A pair of Paradigm S8s might have retailed in the US for $6000 when the exchange rate was 1 Cnd dollar = .70 US dollars. Forgetting inflation, those same speakers might retail for $8700 today, which btw, isn't far from reality (MSRP of $9K).

And forget the fact that Paradigm can achieve operating efficiencies that alude most smaller American based companies, plus lower labor costs to boot.

I've read that the cost of Chinese made audio gear is increasing too -- for many of the same reasons just mentioned. If this trend continues, domestic companies may get to a tipping point where they bring the work back home. Bless the free market.

It is not just B&W, this is happening to a lot of used audio gear. Mainly due to the sky-rocketing prices of new gear, and the weakening USD.

Just wait. If our major trading partners ditch the US dollar as a reserve currency, you ain't seen nothing yet. All imported commodity prices will increase. One reason that more countries haven't pushed the US dollar down even more is because their currencies and economies are in even worse shape that ours. It's called a flight to safety.

61% of government bonds are now owned by the Federal Reserve. China and Japan announced they are no longer purchasing US Government debt, so the Fed has become the buyer of last resort. So they just print money to cover government revenue shortfalls. This diminishes the purchasing power of the dollar, because an expanded money supply means more dollars are chasing the same number of goods and services.

Eventually you may see used speakers cost more than current msrps, and the cost of new products high still.

US Federal Reserve owns 61% of all U.S. Government debt as of 2012, it's probably even higher now that China and Japan publically said they are no longer going to prop up the U.S. Economy. When government prints money to make up for budget shortfalls, more dollars chasing the same number of goods and services means increasing costs. This is why you don't price items in dollars, you price them in gold or silver, which is real money.