Price guide for walkmans ?

Hi there !
I'm wondering if there is somewhere a sort of price guide for walkmans ? I'm wondering how much costs different models

Thank you!

 

Do you mean price now or price when new?

 

I mean price now . ..But price when new would be interesting too !

 

Price now, is what ever people are willing to pay. It only take's 2 people fighting over the same thing for the price to go up.

I can only give you the price for units I own, D6C came out at £250 but by the end it was £330. DD33 came out at £80 by the end it was £120. DC2 came out at £160 and I don't think the price went up as it was not around for a long run. DD9 not Sure of the original price, don't quote me I think it was £200.

 

Thank you!

 

I agree with @TooCooL4, the price now is whatever people are willing to pay (at least that's what it should be, practice is more complex).
In practice, the market is more of a seller's market than a buyer's market because many sellers have the mindset: "We own the assets, so we decide the price. You don't like, you don't buy."
Would dare say it doesn't even take 2 people fighting on the same thing to rise the price.
Prices are usually (but not always) high by default because some sellers think what they own has a lot of value and are not willing to drop the price even if they don't sell (meaning they don't react to market feedback).

From a buyer's perspective, you should avoid the above mentioned sellers and look for ones that DO want to sell, not just speculate.
There are out there people who just buy these walkmans and re-sell them for a high profit, without doing anything on them not even bothering to clean the case.
The sellers that do want to sell will have prices that are aligned with what people are willing to pay and are also willing to drop the price if an item doesn't sell.

You also should be aware of the common problems walkmans have as there are quite a few sellers who will try to sell you a device with a serious problem claiming that's not a problem at all.
Do keep in mind that most of the older devices (80s and early 90s) will need to be fully serviced, meaning they will need more than just a new belt for example.
So just the fact that a particular device is "working" doesn't really mean much in practice. Even NOS devices will need to be serviced most of the times.

Now, going to the cost of different models: the same exact model can be sold at very different prices depending on where it's sold, who the seller is and what luck you have at that time.
On ebay the prices are the highest, but even there you can find many good deals if you're patient. Just don't jump on the first one you see.
Going to less known websites, prices will drop dramatically for the same device and same condition.

There is a thread that covers walkmans' common problems (updated regularly) which everyone new in the market should read: https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/list-of-walkman-portable-recorders-common-problems.7535/
Here are 2 buyer's guides for DD range and D6/D6C:
https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/sony-wm-dd-series-buyers-guide.7657/
https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/sony-wm-d6-d6c-buyers-guide.7801/
And yet another example of some JVCs (these are sold as working many times) which are quite complex to repair properly: https://stereo2go.com/forums/threads/jvc-cx-5-cx-7-cx-f5-cx-f7-cx-r7-cx-v9-clutch-repair.8461/

 

Wow Thank you very much for all these advices !
In fact I'm looking for a Sony WM-20 pink Walkman, i was wondering how much i should pay if one day i find one

 

Thank you! So, to be sure I understand, these were the prices in shops when they were new ?

 

In regard to the WM-20 you want, I can't give you an exact amount on how much you should pay on one (that's something only you know).
Prices on these WM-10/WM-20s varies A LOT depending on many factors.
You can find cheap ones that are in very good condition, you can also find very expensive ones that are in poor condition.
The ones that are in very poor condition can only be used for parts and are not worth much.

Given it's a rare walkman and the pink color is especially rare, those who have it will naturally want to sell it for a high price.
However, just because the device is rare does not mean people are willing to pay any amount to get it.

This said, I have a WM-10 in my personal collection that I won on ebay auction at 130$ (in 2022).
The device is in very good condition, but was sold as not working.
While making it power on was relatively straight-forward (the leaf switches needed cleaning), it had other problems that needed a much deeper disassembly and service:
- motor bearing was making a very loud noise and had to be lubricated. It is integrated into the supply reel assy and needs full disassembly of the device to get to that bearing;
- the takeup reel ring was broken and needed to be repaired with epoxy (it's a common problem on these); for more info check the common problems thread;
- the idler wheel stays at an angle causing contact between the brass wheel and other parts of the mechnaism (common problem on all of them);
This will create a grinding noise in fast forward or play. Will make a thread in the future covering this problem.
Do keep in mind that these issues can exist in ones that are working as well and the fact that's working doesn't mean it doesn't need to be serviced.

Do note that what I paid is by no means a reference and I did search quite a bit until I got this one. And I was also lucky.
But the idea is if you're patient you can usually get a good price or at least better than the average.

The link @Mister X provided are the original retail prices. The WM-10 had a price of $100, which adjusted for inflation means $292 in 2022.
They are MSRP (Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price) and the actual prices in shops certainly varied depending of factors like taxes in certain regions, currency value, profit margins of the retailers etc.
It's also to be kept in mind some of these walkmans were never available in shops (this varied by country) and were sold through different channels possibly at higher prices than MSRP.

 

Unfortunately yahoo.jp is no longer available to EU and UK since April 6, 2022. And I have an impression that is the case with other Japanese auction websites as well.

 

Wow too expensive
And no Yahoo.jp is not working. I even did not know this