Sell your old stereo…Prices Up? Down? The Same?

Far from a scientific study, I watch prices on certain stereo / hi fi components. It’s now 2019, are average selling prices going up, down, or stable? There is NO easy, accurate answer. For a few components I am interested in the prices have gone up, well sorta. Here is the dealeo…they have gone up in value outside of the US. That means you will have to sell these particular units to various countries in Asia to make the big bucks. You might even sell to a local exporter who will pay more and sell in foreign lands for ridiculous profits(on certain brands/models.) For the most part prices seem to be stagnating or going down on many common once pricey items. Turntables are losing traction, I even see some nice Technics SL-1200 MKII’s and Thorens selling for half of what they did a year or so ago. Mid-Fi equipment from Pioneer, Sansui, and even Marantz is selling for less then it did a year or two ago. Sure, some rare models sell for as much or more then before. But, for the most part many brands and models are decreasing in value.                                                                      Times are changing. Everyday there are less buyers of anything “vintage.” Most people under the age of fifty want no part of Old, Vintage, Collectable, etc. People argue this all the time, and of course I let them win. There son wants a 1987 Chevy instead of a 2019 Honda. Ok, very possible but for the most part most people would take the Honda. My son wants a Fisher 500C, yes he does but he is just one of the millions of kids who want personal electronics with Sirius or Pandora. So what’s to argue? I am also a Ham/Amateur Radio Operator. I have talked to one or two people under the age of fifty in the past five years. When our generation is gone chances are Ham radio will be gone. It will be a ghost town since most operators are fossils and there are no middle aged or young people to take there place, NONE. There are still a few young people out there interested in old school electronics, but not enough to sustain any kind of vintage business anymore. When was the last time you witnessed a kid playing with trains or slot cars? Listening to a full size stereo or even carrying a boombox? I would guess not many. I do see many youngsters glued to a smart phone or video game on TV. Or manning a drone buzzing around.                                                            Technology has taken over virtually everything. Even Lionel Trains which is still in business believe it or not has incorporated all kinds of modern technology in their once basic electric trains. To answer my title question, I will state that prices are slowly declining for Most vintage electronics in general. Reasons: Interested population is declining everyday, modern technology is many times cheaper and more appealing to millennials, older things many times take up more real estate and people don’t have room for equipment with a large footprint anymore, old things always need service and repair and there are few are far between reasonably priced service centers or individuals, there are very few companies producing new audiophile equipment since demand is so low and prices are so high, the list goes on….So, demand, desire, consumption, etc. for vintage/old stereo/new audiophile equipment is declining. Therefore prices are slipping. Sorry, but the party is almost over.