Trends in value of vintage / used audio equipment?

Under the presumption that technology improves the performance of the newest gear over anything from the past, and because most buyers put a premium on buying something new (meaning instantaneous depreciation after purchase), all gear lose value quite quickly.  However, some gain favor with enough buyers that the price slide comes to a halt and can even reverse.  While it is extremely rare that this reversal can be so extreme that the vintage price exceeds the original price.  Western Electric gear is an example.  Their amps and speaker components can sell for many times the original price with inflation factored in.  Even parts are expensive.  The input transformers in my amp now sell for $10k a pair, and the output transformers sell for about that much too.  Their wire used to hook up telephone switch boards can now command up to $10k for an 8” diameter spool.

No one has to tell me, I already know I'm a low percentile kind of guy. But I collect Carver amps, and I have noticed an increase in prices. I think the increase is ahead of inflation. In the past I was (happily) surprised at the value of Kenwood KD 500 and 550 TT's (I have 2 in the TT stable). As new equipment prices climb out of the reach of common folk, the market for "Vintage" will grow.

I bought a decent Marantz 2285B years ago for under $400 on Ebay, probably 20 years ago, and the asking for these nowadays is getting close to $2K.

Similarly, I purchased a basket case 2235B for around $200K, put a bit of sweat equity into it and now it’s worth about 3 times what I paid for it.

I purchased a classic 1060 from someone who didn’t want it for $200, I need to clean it up a bit, and I’ll probably just replace the main filter caps, I wont’ sell this one since it’s such a sweet little Amp with the classic Marantz sound.

I have a Yamaha IR on my workbench right now that I need to do something about, but unfortunately, the front panel has some wear on it that will make this more a labor of love than something that will increase in value.

Marantz was the Cadillac of receivers in the 70’s for good reason. They also looked great, something that is severely missed in most of today’s gear.

Bottom line is that certain brands from the 60’s and 70’s have continued to go up in price because of reputation and looks, and others may be better technically, and probably overpriced for what you get, but they’re going up at roughly the same rate as the stock market.

Vintage gear is holding with inflation. Used high end is not selling like it used to. People are asking too much money for used gear. I notice gear that hasn’t sold for years and people still aren’t bargaining or lowering the price. It seems people feel as if they should never lose any money on any piece of high end gear they’ve bought. It’s not a classic Ferrari! 

I closely follow the used market for brands I like. It's kind of an obsession- probably from my years as a futures trader. Here's my take:

2020 COVID EIDL and PPP money gave a lot of people who don't handle money well a lot of buying power. Things that should have stayed cheap got stupid expensive. Those stimulus dollars left the weak hands and went to the strong hands. Now the weak hands find that lowering the ask is the only way to get a bid.

For at least 3 years prices have been dropping. The time it takes to sell is expanding. The market is slow and slowing. December-Feb are peak value selling months and once spring comes HiFi slides further. 

Sellers hallucinate that there must be a greater fool out there somewhere and price their gear at 1/2 or more of retail. The truth is that 1/3 of retail is the figure that gets the buyers cash into the seller's hands.

Some premium gear holds value better than others.  McIntosh- love them or hate them, has the best resale value. I don't know why exactly but they do.  PS Audio gear-which is excellent has poor resale- mostly because Paul MsGowan keeps running specials that depress the resale market. 

My beloved ARC gear is slouching toward Gomorrah as well. I had a seller beg me to buy his Ref 250 monoblocks that he listed for $8000 for $5,500.  I passed. Ref 75s are now offered at $3500-$4000. The Music Room will pay $3000 if the units are mint. Ref 5s are offered in the fives and can be bought in the $4000 range if the seller wants it gone. In December 3 units hit the market with ridiculous asking prices. This will slow the market even more.  Interestingly many of the items for sale have been offered well  over a year. Some guys offer an item over market that they really don't care to sell and will run the ad for many months to even years. I see that a lot. 

There is another factor that's difficult to quantify: Typically sellers made their purchase choices carefully and paid dearly for their prize. Many hours of bliss were spent listening to music and admiring their gear. They love their gear and it's a personal affront to them when a wise buyer makes that fair market offer. It hurts to sell in this market. Sadly, reality is cold and uncaring. As a seller the buyer is in control of the price. Sellers who don't understand that the buyer controls the price will have a very hard time selling as their gear continues to slouch in value.