Something I’ve noticed more and more (on here, Modwiggler, FB marketplace and other spaces) is people selling entire collections of modules, or trading without wanting more modular back in return. Plus with some great manufacturers (Mutable, WMD et al) closing shop last year… is the Golden Age of Eurorack over? Or is it just changing market forces, chip shortages, Covid fallout etc causing a downturn that will correct itself when exciting future modules are announced? Discuss.
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I got out of it for a couple months, but got sucked back in after a while. I think it’s just the natural ebb and flow of things. Popular modules still seem to have no trouble selling on Reverb and elsewhere.
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I personally think it’s the latter, but I’m no prognosticator.
I think covid resulted in an unnatural demand, that is starting to come back to equilibrium. Similar thing happened with video game sales.
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A lot of people are dealing with an unstable economy, Eurorack is expensive. It also takes a lot more work, time and research to actually make music with a modular system. Lastly a lot of people seem to have gotten into it during the pandemic and have maybe realized that it isn’t for them. With the aforementioned economic troubles for some, selling in light of that makes sense.
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January “tax sales” were not uncommon a decade ago on MW, I wonder if the sales we are seeing now are just proportional to Modular’s much greater popularity today?
For me, stand-alone synths do what I wanted my modular to do, but cheaper and in less space. Lyra, Syntrx & OPSIX in particular.
There are plenty of interesting modules, and video synths have become more popular and affordable, so I don’t see modular rugs rigs going away any time soon.
I’ve also got other expensive hobbies I’d rather spend euro-money on. 
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I’ve always preferred my rugs to have a fixed architecture.
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I built a synth out of carpet tiles, but the sound was a bit woolly.
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I think there’s a cyclical nature to this stuff — lots of people jumped into modular, some time has passed, now some of them are getting out, which means new people are getting in, they’ll eventually back out as well, etc. etc. until we are consumed by the sun.
As for me, I’m staying in it but not really buying any new modules these days. Still trying to figure out how to use the stuff I already have lying around here.
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Great acoustical properties though!
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Now I have no choice but to lean into the typo and seek out the infamous Rug Book.
I was hoping to spend that money on sailing expenses. 
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This topic is gonna turn into a pile on…
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Probably a bit of both. Seeing ppl sell whole systems is a quite recent phenomena that would kinda suggest that many of the sellers have just had enough of it.
I kind of regret the way I approached modular. My setups mostly consisted of high quality modules but as a whole the setups we’re pretty conventional.
If I ever get another system I will definitely buy mostly if not only esoteric and weird modules that I really don’t understand properly, to make the experience more surprising and to eliminate any attempts to get something traditional out from it.
The way eurorack suddenly became so popular was incredible.
The amount of stuff for sale on second-hand music sites etc. pretty much doubled in few years.
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Everyone just gets those fancy Elektron boxes now …
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It’s really not, though. I assembled much of my modular rig from similar sales on MW around a decade ago. Like clockwork, there would be several big sales starting in mid-January and maybe one or two people getting entirely out.
Ironically, the only New Year’s sale I see on the first page of the MW FS forum is @DonovanDwyer’s post. 
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I’m not but I’m not buying any new modules for a while.
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And virus and Waldorf boxes do a lot as well as Erica synths desktop synths
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I stand corrected.
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I feel like people jumping into modular and then learning it wasn’t for them has always been around…
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