This was a rant article that I had to get out of my chest for a while.
People are increasing the price of their vintage computers as if it were a goldmine, but the facts are that there are shipping problems, defective components, non-working power supplies, and so on. We call this kind of bullshit behavior "scalping" (or price gouging, as some of my friends refer to it). and in this regard, eBay was no laughing matter.
My concern stemmed not only from eBay but also from the dearth of vintage computer goodies available in local thrift stores and flea markets! Sure, they're cheap to get on there, but it's a bit hit-or-miss. To make matters worse, the scalpers buy these vintage computer hardware from other eBay sellers, flea markets, thrift shops, and so on, and then resale them at a higher price for profit. And they create excuses for not lowering the price to make it more affordable.
To make matters worse for those who want to save the hardware, the scalper threatens to destroy it if it isn't profitable, such as scrapping CPU pins for gold (which isn't worth anything!). It's simply not worth it! It's not like plastic action figures or rare DVD collections, which might rise in value, and not everything lasts forever!
Keep in mind that because the components in vintage computers are so ancient, they may malfunction at some point. Yes, people may recap the faulty components and other bad portions, but still! This scalping issue is perhaps why people choose emulators like DOSBox.
