are these seriously walkman prices now?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/116124478524 (300-400 wm-40)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/395081944463 (170 dollar busted f10ii)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/186372081249 (120 f10ii with case, not that bad)
https://www.ebay.com/itm/315226778160 (300 basic servicing f10ii, seriously?)

the only decent pricing i saw
https://www.ebay.com/itm/355560283546 (125 for a f100, ~40 dollar increase)

disclaimer: these are slightly cherry-picked since i was going for models in decent shape and fixable condition like i used to buy, or had basic servicing done

all of these models were maybe 1/2 the price or lower not too long ago (~2-3 years ago) when i was still buying them up regularly, i figured of every model the 10 series would devalue drastically with the bad capacitor problems they suffer from (since they cant really be replaced, currently)
i only got into working on these and fixing them since they were cheap at the time, my first wm-f10 model i got for 60 dollars and just needed a belt and cleaning, wm-40 i got for 90, wm-w800 i got for 120 with a mic, prices have gotten absolutely ludicrous for these models lately

even for basic serviced models they were still sub-200 dollars to buy, now people want 250-300 for cleaning it up, tuning speed, and replacing a belt? has me considering setting up and doing commissions/reselling

am i crazy thinking they are drastically overvalued now? these prices were pretty unheard of back then

 

when something costs 10x what it was new it's not worth buying imho

i value electric and food more than some way overpriced broken walkman or boombox

 

It's a natural progression really. The hype over that movie Guardians of the Galaxy with the first Walkman was the start of this, now reaching the manic phase, which will only see price reductions / dips during the next financial crisis, in, some say, the general period period 2026 - 2029. Of course, there is a non trivial chance prices could suddenly drop to zero as the nukes start going off around that time too

All in good fun guys

 

First of all, I think the market is no longer based on demand vs. supply, rather it's driven by demand only, sometimes even by perceived demand.
Some will say that's perfectly normal as supply is fixed and the only variable is demand. I disagree, let me explain why.
In my view, supply means the number of units available at a certain point in time on the market, NOT the total number of units that have been produced.
Then, this is what the demand should be compared with. In reality, in a majority of cases the supply is exceeding demand, sometimes by significant margin.

Of course, the fact 70% of the listings of a certain walkman are a certain value, doesn't necessarily mean that's the market value (sometime it is, sometimes it isn't).
We also have to keep in mind there are many re-sold items, case in which the price can be doubled even if item is not serviced.

As long as there are people paying what sellers ask (especially if they do it quickly), prices will go up.
The logic of many sellers is simple: if he gets what he wants, the next listing of same item will be listed at a higher price.
Because from many sellers' POV one sell on their terms = demand has increased. And when "supply is fixed", price goes up with every sale.

What I recommend for people reading this is being patient and searching for good deals, as there are plenty.

 

Some sellers keep re-listing their items over and over (continue here).
They might do this for 1 year, and they may find the occasional, not so cost-conscious buyer that will take it.

 

Its the same old story,they dont make them anymore,people covet them so the prices are inflated.
to be fair you were looking at some very nice condition models.
Fortunately i got in when the prices were cheap and no one was interested in them.
i would hate to try snd buy some of my good models now.
think my boxed mint dd-9 was £200 at the time.
I thought that was a fortune,not now!

 

The models you have chosen are incredibly desirable and hard to find in good cosmetic shape. All of the ones you have linked to are in really excellent shape… and some even have the leather cases. I just don’t see why you’d expect a honest seller with good feedback to sell a working full metal Walkman with its metal case for what they were selling for 5 or 10 years ago… and the market has proven many times that the WM10, 20, 30, 10ii, f10ii etc. are definitely selling for these prices. I’m honestly glad the nicer models are being looked out for by sellers and people are more conscious of them… even if it drives the prices up some. It’s a cool hobby.

I think prices on some Walkmans are still very reasonable. You can get the cheaper plastic models for a super decent price, and while they aren’t as cool as the metal ones, they still play great.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1349230438...MZ_XxPmROi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1963404330...MZ_XxPmROi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

https://www.ebay.com/itm/2260866379...MZ_XxPmROi&var=&widget_ver=artemis&media=COPY

These are all cool vintage units… for around $50. I’d honestly expect some to be more, but prices have remained low for these models, and from experience I can say these sound quite good, and that second Sanyo has a loud headphone amp!

Bottom line is, I don’t think the entire Walkman market is inflated, but hobbyists and users have congregated around those really small metal early 80s Sony units… and because good ones without corrosion and dents are getting so hard to find, that drives the price up. This happens in every industry. You can still find good deals, and buy a portable cassette player on almost any budget.

 

Back to the reason I originally joined this forum, which was to point out that many of the desirable stereos were never cheap in the first place.

Casting my mind back to the 1980s I never knew anyone who had a genuine Walkman. Like many people, my first personal stereo was a Sanyo because they were much better value than a Sony. Both I and my Mother bought Sony Stereo Radio Cassette Recorders, but with those the Sony range seemed to be a bit cheaper (and lower performance) than the ones from the likes of Sharp or JVC.

Proving that people were prepared to spend money on items they valued a colleague bought a Nakamichi cassette deck (rather than a turntable) and was keen to tell people how much he had paid and how great he thought it was.

Finally lets factor in inflation. In 1984 the WM22 was advertised as the Sony Walkman for price of an imitation at just under £30.

Feed that through an inflation calculator and you get £93 in today's money ------------
for a cheap plastic personal stereo without Dolby (although they are supposed to be quite good).

 

This doesn't seem to apply to antique...and art.

 

Well let me just say... I don't have anything nice to say about Mr./Mrs "Vintage Walkman Lab" and neither do many of the people doing business with them. In my experience buying Walkmans usually goes like this for me:

1. You meet the kindest, most empathetic and enthusiastic people who are selling Walkmans for a fair price, which have been generally extremely well maintained and/or totally restored or recapped etc. These people are some of the nicest, most passionate people who pour their lives into these devices. With these people, it's money well spent and you feel like you are contributing to a small but honest community of amazing people. If you are lucky, the device comes even with a story of how it was purchased/found and when you get it, there is a sense of owning a real treasure.

OR

2. You meet someone who is basically your token 'scalper' who is trying to pawn off some of their collection at the highest possible price, and often they have been trying to sell this specific listed model for MONTHS without success (but it has many "watchers"). The photos are conveniently shot to make it look like the Walkman has no damage, there are missing shots of one or more sides of the device, or blurry images, explicit "NO RETURNS!" written everywhere and yet the price is extremely high. Often you'll get some cr*p like "I don't have an AA battery to test it =)))" (Yeah sure!) and they have written in the listing "I am selling as broken", but the item is listed as "Used" or even worse "New (Other)" (coz no one would look at "For Parts or not Working". These are basically a complete gamble, and generally you will lose. You are buying some B-grade stock actually which is not properly described on a marketplace that the seller is 95% sure you will just accept the condition of, when they explain "But it's 40+ year old vintage item!!" and then will try and fight you via eBay/Paypal/whatever.

I have been an extremely slow but careful buyer and 90% of my dealings are in the #1 category. This has become a community that I am completely in love with and I am thankful to be able to recognise some names both on eBay, here, tapeheads and a few other places. Of people who I know I can trust. Sadly it also means I recognise some names which I would not hesitate to say that they are preying on the would-be buyers and enthusiasts. These people only care about money and they see these items mostly as 'gold bars', which they can try and make good money out of people who are desperate to own one.

It's an extremely confusing community. As sometimes you will contact someone to ask even the most basic question and they will get extremely defensive and say "Well maybe I would have sold it to you but now I definitely won't!" Even if you just asked something literally as simple and innocent as "Do all the functions work as intended?" (because this was never mentioned on the listing, only that the physical condition is A+).

All of this said, I have spent thousands of €€€€ on my devices. I overpaid for some, others I probably grossly underpaid. So maybe it's evened out. If you want a bargain, you have to be lucky enough to buy from some lady who found something in the attic in perfect condition and spent 5 minutes Googling and just set the price 25% under the first mid-tier price she saw. I am not exaggerating either. Either that, or as I said someone who is extremely kind or really in need of the money and isn't looking to wait a few months to sell to someone desperate or with cash to burn.

In short, there are some reasonable prices still, but they are usually:

1. People who have no idea the street value of the Walkman
2. Kind members of the community who are not trying to make $$$$

When I feel kind of bitter that some people got these for only $$, some with HX-NG heads as low as £1 each lmao. I feel a little better knowing that regardless of the cost, prices will only ever, and I mean ever, go up. My wife jokingly said to me when I discussed buying some company shares that I was offered two months ago. "Hang on, don't you have like over
€10,000 in Walkmans by now? Why not just buy a few more of those? Didn't you just tell me they tripled in price recently?" In all irony, she is probably right. It's a better investment to buy good quality Walkmans than company shares. LOL.

P.S. If there's a specific model you want, I am happy to help you find it and I am sure many other people here would be also. There are a lot of lovely people here who would be happy to help you finally nail your favourite Walkman at a fair price. You'll only need two things, some money at least and a LOT of patience. I am no kind of "genius" Walkman finder but I have my ways and I own some very nice models which I think I got at a fair price.

 

Last thing to mention is that generally I go with the following:

1. Do I really want this specific model and why? Do I like it only because it *looks* nice or because it's actually high quality?
2. Am I going to actually use it to play tapes, or is it just going to be a prop (read: paperweight) for my desk or whatever? So is it even going to compete with my current models?
3. Who is the person selling and can I trust them, like do they describe the item in detail and with passion or is the listing short/ignorant or dismissive?

Then if there are any problems:

1. I always buy with Paypal or some kind of buyer protection, ALWAYS. Especially if item comes from outside the EU.
2. If there really is some inexcusable problem I message politely with "Hey this is not as described etc..." giving fair but polite reasoning and asking for a resolution.
3. 98% of times (there has only been 3 occasions) we have been able to come to a fair arrangement.
4. Other time (only once) we go through Paypal and I win because it's clear the seller was a joker.
5. If you can't solve it like that, then well tough luck as that's the life of collecting vintage goods.

If buying online is a problem, you gotta know people (I mean literally locals) in eg. Malaysia, Indonesia, Taiwan, Thailand, Japan, South Korea and China (not in this order) and be located in some BIG cities to have any luck. Even then, good luck not getting ripped off or just spending a lot of days walking for a Walkman

 

It is good to vent. You have gone a long way and paid your tuition.

 

oh sht made this post shortly before moving and forgot to check back in for a bit
but one comment id like to reply to real fast

i did preface in my post i was going off models close to the condition of what i used to buy previously when i just got into it years ago when i was 14, not play for play identical cosmetic condition but about as close as i could nail it
*eh youll have to take my word on it, i got it so many years ago its no longer saved on ebay but i do have a picture from a few months after i got it, this being the ebay price for it. hell i even got a wm-w800 for 150 bucks post-techmoan effect
there were way more going for that price at the time though, it was usually just a case of "which has the least cosmetic damage" and "which can i 100% determine the cause and is it fixable"
admittedly this one has never worked too well, bearings were worn iirc and i was nowhere near competent enough to fix that at the time so its on the "to do" list still lmao

 

I'm trying to follow you here, but it's not adding up for me... you are saying that prices on good Walkmans have risen and you cannot get the models you just mentioned for similar prices today? You can, and I have proven it below.

So you got a WM-W800 for $150 before Techmoan's video? It would have been 2017 when he did his video. Here's a great condition WM-W800 with case for only $225. Just needs a belt. Not even any corrosion. I think if you paid $150 in 2017, you could adjust that up to $193 with inflation... add in the case, I think it does check out. Here's another that just sold... a little worse condition, for $160. This proves that you can find this model for a good price, and you don't need to shell out big bucks.

So you got a Wm-F10ii for $80 after shipping and fees? You shared a link to one in great condition with the case for $120. That's not off by much... factor in the condition and the case... it checks out. In fact.... here's one that just sold with headphones... for even cheaper than you paid all of those years ago... just $64.95. I think if you revealed you were buying these at $20-$50 you'd have an argument... but $80 and $150 ain't cheap either...

Here's my friendly advice: Stop looking at all of the higher than usual priced models on eBay, and look at sold listings + keep an eye out for those sellers who list the ones I linked above. There are still plenty of good condition examples out there for a good price, you just have to be patient on eBay and not be in a hurry to grab one right off. I really wish People gave the Sanyo, Panny, & other lessor known models a chance... these same Sony models have been overshadowing them for years, and I dare say that the WM-10, F10, 30, F10ii, etc, are talked about way too much. Let's talk about the Panasonic RQ-J6 and it's full size RCA stereo jacks!

 

yeah w800 prices tbf havent increased much
also, that wmf10ii has some cosmetic damage (more noticeable on the glossy black model, seems way more prone to warping and dents). if they didnt check it powered on its highly likely its dead and they dont want to mention it. been there done that. the headphones arent worth anything since they are solid plastic and cut into your ears
that one has a broken radio cable aswell so the radio wont work, pretty much to my knowledge impossible to repair. plus i think i spot a cracked takeup reel. i was tryina avoid showing ones with that kinda damage since i always avoided them myself
i might have opened the wrong listing by accident on my post or something too? i dont recall the f10 being so screwed up there but this is more accurate to what id buy. minimal cosmetic damage, good take up reel, intact radio cable, no other clear signs of damage or someone opening it. looked through other current listings and couldnt find anything close to that kinda shape so, take that as you will. oh and no fault on you i assume you probably dont know these models well, theyd be decent for some parts atleast at that price

 

I just talked to a guy who was selling a W800 for about €600 but it was in absolute mint-tier condition with new belts and caps and everything. I think that's honestly a fair price for such a ridiculously rare model. It was arguably one of the most expensive Walkmans I think Sony ever made. As I understand they discontinued it pretty quickly and probably even lost money on the model. It's big, heavy and having two tape players, heads, 4 motors? et cetera packed into one thing. It looks like you're carrying around a brick. Sure as far as portability goes, I doubt there was much else available at the time for what it does. But in any case this was a "once and done" experiment by Sony. It's supposedly not all amazing in terms of its playback or recording quality. More of a museum piece. I mean the record is only 60-9000hz :/

As I see it, sellers can ask whatever they want and the market is determined by whether or not people are willing to pay that much. Vote with your wallet or feet.

For specialist Walkmans. I am talking about those with the best heads ever, the most interesting features. eg. recorders with an NG head and a radio + dolby, full metal body etc. I will pay the earth for them if they are in stellar condition.
Some parts of my collection I would not part with unless they sold for double the price I got them after all the care, work and maintenance that has gone into them.

If the device looks like it just came out of the factory, I think a high asking price is completely understandable. We're talking some 40+ year old items that look like they were produced yesterday. If the seller has recapped the entire thing with tantalum caps and I can tell it's going to survive a nuclear bomb, again I think that comes with a premium.

You can buy all sorts of semi-junk stuff and restore it to near mint condition if you want to put in the time and effort. Some people do God's work in restoring and caring for these devices, despite the challenges of tools, old technology, lost service manuals etc. literally with these kinds of devices everything is working against you.
It takes someone truly dedicated (and gifted) and with a lot of time on their hands to really give many of these the justice they deserve.

Or... or you can buy a couple of near mint items from Japan for next to nothing, and flip them on eBay for 10x the price like a lot of people do. But then you can't complain that everything is so expensive

 

Is the W800 that rare? I thought it was a fairly straightforward combo of 2 well known mechanisms? 4 motors, I need to check the service manual.
In good condition, as already mentioned, it is worth a good amount - I agree. Whether it is 600 or 500 euros, or 700, it is for the buyer to decide if that is a fair value or not.
I believe that a lot of the buyers that pay top dollars, are only buying to put that specific device on prominent display in their collection.
Who else would pay 2000 euros for a Dolby C playback only cassette device in 2024? I can't believe it will be used on a regular basis, if at all.

 

Production cost and how much money they may have lost on the model are not relevant for today's prices. Only thing that matters to some degree is the original retail price.
"ridiculously rare" is an exxageration, these are regularly up for sale on ebay and elsewhere. We can't only consider like-new units and draw generic conclusions based on that.
Have walkmans in my collection that appear for sale once per year or less. In comparison, the WM-W800 isn't rare with 9 items listed just on ebay at the moment.

Yes indeed the WM-W800 is 2 x WM-10 type mechanisms, so only 2 motors. The design itself is pretty straight-forward, only extra feature being the recording functionality.
In my opinion, there's nothing super special about this walkman apart from the concept itself which is unique to it and Panasonic RX-HD10 (which is way rarer).