Walkman prices skyrocketed for sure

Not sure in what way this toy could be worth more than what you paid at that time TBH.

I, for one, like my players to have some technical value sound-wise, or at the very least they have to be iconic in my eyes and refer to something I could have been dreaming about when I was a teen. No way for me with this kind of stuff, so I always find it funny when I notice that some of those things actually did find someone to pay such an amount of money to buy it.

I understand of course that other people might be interested in other aspects: rarity... color... name of the brand, whatever. I have some doubts about some so-called "successful terminated sales", though some buy-it-now things have had their price negociated actually, but then the final amount might be "private"... which doesn't help to know the "real price of things".

 

The truth is, the economy has improved in most countries over the last few years, and it will take another recession to knock prices back down.

 

If I were you, guys, with all the skills and knowledge you have, I would buy all the walkmans I could, I'd repair them little by little and I'd make big money.

 

hmmm, yesterday a black WM-2 was sold on ebay for just over 10 bucks (...i wasn't the lucky buyer, forgot to bid...)

 

...b.t.w. do you believe, anybody is buying this crap ???

 

When fashion and tendency strike hard, people tend to pay whatever amount of money for what they crave.
A couple of years ago, there was a high fever for the Casio A159 gold-plated.

 

Actually, I find the back window revealing a uniquely colorful mechanism to be quite attractive. I wouldn't pay that much, but would definitely consider paying good money for this...

 

interesting topic
Walkman prices tripled over the last 2- 3 years. I believe it will stay the same range fro another 3-4 years and then it will double/ triple in price again.
If you have collectible walkman in great condition it will always appreciate in price.
I don't think even recession will drop the price of quality/collectible walkmans like: Boxed mint TPS-L2, WM-3EX, DD100, DD9, D6C.

 

You can still get good Walkman's/Cassette players at a good price this usually means stalking e-bays new listings.
A suprising one for me on uk auctions is the EX615 although a very stylish Walkman this has sold for more than a BoodoKhan
I hope prices stay steady ready for my retirement : )

 

So true! But not just Walkmans, unfortunately for me. I had to check my mailbox to see if I am not dreaming this up and Yes, on May 13, 2015 I won Nak ZX-7 for $207.50. Sale did not get thru because seller was sick, then unresponsive, then on vacation,... so I just asked for refund. I did not bid again when ZX7 got re-listed and in July 2015 finally sold for $180. Look at the prices for top Naks now

 

I think the only way to find a true value is to switch to the "Sold listings" view on Ebay.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-WAL...394776?hash=item2f0fd9cc58:g:64oAAOSwEaBaHqjQ

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SONY-MY-...416438?hash=item2f0e8a6f76:g:d04AAOSw7z1aA17m

Admittedly a lot more than you paid but not much more than you would pay for a Bush / No Brand stereo new.

As for prices going up and up they could easily stall and fall when most adults never saw a cassette when they were kids.
The "Nostalgia Wave" theory. In thirty years time the biggest collectables are likely to be PS3s and Xbox 360s.

I have just sold five items on Ebay and one, a brand new Meccano set, that cost £21.50 in 1978 went for £31
A 40 year old colleague said that although he knew of Meccano (called Erector in the USA) he had never played with any.

 

Real good or good and rare or good rare and complete/boxed walkmans were always overpriced on ebay.When is the last time you saw a sony wm-504 low priced on ebay ?
And I don't mean the occasional buy it now 10€ bargain.
What I see happening is lesser walkmans asking indeed crazy prices but as @Longman pointed, true value is in the"Sold listings".

 

thing is also, that many people use the "buy now" function with ridiculous high prices for price-pushing...

 

High prices for walkmans that don't work...

 

This also happened with consoles and games some 15 years ago, they then dipped for a while and now as your aware they are stupid prices (well in the UK anyway)
I sold a SNES a few months ago on Schpock for £40 and the guy who bought it was doing cartwheels. "I'm surprised you didn't sell it for more"
I was just glad for it to go to a good home.

 

My fear is that once our "analogue generation" moves on past this hobby our collected walkmans and boxes will radically come down in price because our target audience (ie those old enough to love these items) will have moved onwards to purchasing adult diapers and not many Sony DD's anymore

I speak from personal experience of course

 

I believe there will be more people interested in vintage electronics in the future. So in time some of us will lose interest in collecting these beauties but there will be more people joining this hobby.
Imagine years from now many audio enthusiasts will love to listening bohemian rhapsody prerecorded on cassettes.