my Kawai K5000R has gained a lot since I bought it but it’s probably not worth more than when they were new
When I decide to let something go, I always do a non-reserve auction on eBay with a starting price of zero and let it ride. With the fees and all, it’s almost always a loss that I write off as money spent on using the thing. Anything I bought new always takes a hit, of course. Two exceptions:
I bought new Rickenbacker 4003 (my third one), and about 5 minutes later, Rick had massive across-the-board price hikes. I sold it later at a good profit, but can’t remember how much.
I once bought a used Alembic Stanley Clarke on eBay for $3100 USD, which was very consistently the auction price for that model, so I could be confident that when I would sell it, I’d only be out the selling fees. When I put it up for auction about two years later (I couldn’t slap it because there’s no space to avoid the pickup digging into your hand; also, that body shape is impossible to play sitting down), a buyer offered me direct sale outside of the auction site (no fees), and asked me if $4500 seemed fair. I said, um, yes. I checked, and they were still going for $3100, so I don’t know what was up with this person, but the $1500 I made on that covers my years of small losses very nicely.
1 Like
Paid $800 CAD 15 years ago for a Memorymoog Plus. It had several issues, which cost another $800 to repair. Still working perfectly today. Steal of a deal. Todays value ?
I’ve only ever sold one synth that I bought new, the Bastl XOR. I think I sold it for double the new price after it was discontinued, it was so cheap though after selling fees I want to say I made like $20s. I got a 1920s national tenor guitar for $600 and I think they sell for around $2,000 now but I kind of feel like that instrument is attached to my soul or something… not really the type of thing I use in the music I release though, just a wonderful instrument to play and enjoy. Plenty of used stuff has passed though my hands now but I generally just break even or make 20-30 on the sale after fees. Probably the rarest sampler I own is the Rexer tokyo sound DRS-10 someone is currently asking $700 on reverb but I don’t know if they will ever get that price, got mine cheap, it sounds great but I don’t think more than $300 is a practical ask for it.
Maybe still deals around. I got mine last year for about $250 of your usd and a 3 hour return drive… but yeah, not a common sight.
Some of my old rack gear has gone up Nowadays looking at sold prices. Original Overstayer VCA+FETs, Kawai K1+XD5, Yamaha TX81z, tc finaliser etc etc. Guess the 80s (and 90s) synth revival and music computer alienation has created demand. Kinda wish I bought an OP1 when they were selling for $600 second hand.
Def appears like an upward trend, though surprising a bit as the ND3 has some advantages I thought, besides form factor.
Its irritating as hell. Used AH were around 600$ now the RRP is 1400, cant find a used one for less than a grand. Thats the pre covid RRP!
1 Like
Same same…but for the first time EVER if I sold all my gear I would make a profit even after owning it for years.
Also had a sovtek Russian green Big Muff that i bought for $150.00AUD and in 5 years sold it for $450.00AUD…nasty and noisy on synths but great for the wallet
I got an og 808 at an estate sale for $80. They had no clue what they had.
I Played with it for awhile, sampled it and sold it for a few grand.
Definitely wish I’d held onto it.
4 Likes
I got given a Korg Mono/Poly a few years ago. Made some tunes with it but never gelled with it really. Sold it to a collector for 1500AUD, donated the money to my local rural fire brigade during the horrendous bushfires last season because our dipshit government wouldn’t spend money where it was needed.
Sure I could have kept the 1500, Im just not into the whole capitalism thing.
9 Likes
Ooohhh I wish that would ever happen in my favour 
that’s why i never sell gear.
i suspect that Command Stations and Novation Nova Laptop are future classix.
I wish I would have kept it. Super dumb of me to sell it.
1 Like
I bought a used Juno 106 for $100. I ended up selling it to a good friend for the same price years later when I was reorganizing my studio. He still has it at his place in Berlin, so I’m very happy it has found a good home.
I’ve had some good luck with cool old guitar amps as well, particularly obscure amps from the 1960s and 1970s. I love those things, but with a small space I almost always move them along. Nothing I hate more than cool gear not being used.
2 Likes
Had an original Waldorf MicroWave that i sold around 2011 for £400.
One of those moments of madness, also sold the Roland 2080 and the Korg MS2000R.
The price of the Waldorf has pretty much quadrupled in price. 
1 Like
A friend of mine a few years ago scooped an XT for 100usd. This was when they were selling for 600-700. They sealed the deal and then the seller asked him how much it was worth. It got awkward.
1 Like
Is this the thread where I talk about that time in 94, when I decided to pass-up on a Moog Prodigy for £100 because I thought a Soundblaster AWE32 for £220 was a better long term investment if I wanted to write music? Think I got an AWE64 to use as midi interface a couple of years later for £20… in my defence I was 18 and my sum musical knowledge was having read two issues of Future Music and been relegated from recorder to triangle in Primary School music lessons.
To be fair, I did get a Juno6 for £140 in 2002 that I sold a couple of years ago for about £500…
4 Likes
I have a number of things that have jumped in value. A few include:
SCI Pro-One paid $87
Juno-106 paid $300
MC-202 paid $325
Korg 770 paid $375
Roland MKS-30 with PG-200 $50
Roland VP-330 $225
Basically, if you bought anything analog in the mid 90s and held on to it, you made out like a bandit. The Pro-One was so cheap because it made no sound. I took a chance because it was so cheap, I got home and saw the attack was set to 10…
I got the MKS-30 at a pawn shop, I think they believed it to be some kind of dead format VCR as it was in a pile with a bunch of old school VCRs and tape decks.
4 Likes