I don't know where these people are getting their asking prices from. Even if that amp was nos it wouldn't be worth the opening bid. I could see that amp sitting on a fleamarket table for $40. Then again I see many eBay items that look like they were found on that very table, bought then listed on eBay.
I have been asking myself that for about the last 2-3 years. People on ebay have gotten crazy on prices to the point that it is almost not worth having an account anymore if not for the Chinese stuff I buy. It is like they think every old CB is a gold mine. It has gotten to the point that it is getting cheaper to buy a new export radio than it is to buy an old SSB CB than buy parts to rebuild it. At some point, they are poisoning the well and are driving people like me to favor doing business with Chinese over buying from my own countrymen!
The sad part is there is no shortage of retired idiots that have more money than brains that will pay $600 for a Cobra 2000 that looks like it survived a hurricane or was fished out of a stream! These same idiots will spend another $300+ to have Super Snake quasi-restore it.
Then you have people that think they are Electronic Technician and will recap another wise good radio with the cheapest capacitors they can get which ruins the radio since you have to completely go in and undo everything they did. I would rather recap it myself once than have to put heat to a board over and over again risking lifting a trace to undo someones else's misguided efforts. IF they would have used cheap regular grade 85C Nichicons, Panasonics, Elna, Sanyo, Fujitsu, Chemi-Con, Dubier, Rubycon capacitors in it the radio would be worth every dime they are asking for it. Nothing ruins a radio and drops it's value faster than stuffing cheap parts init other than terrible modifications that buther the board.
There was a guy selling a Sears Roadtalker SSB that wanted $149 and had it been NOS or recapped with one of the standard brands of caps above I would I would have paid what he wanted no questions asked. BEcause he stuffed it full of cheap Chinese caps I would maybe be willing to pay $25-$40 for it as a parts chassis. Cheap caps will always fail when you need the device the most and always fail far too quickly.
I like older gear but I am not going to pay $175-$250 for a beat up ugly worn out HR2510 or HR2600 that looks like it was under water, has an inch of dirt it, is sold as is untested, has a display that is shot, has mutliple holes drilled in it etc....An untested estate sale find that looks like it was sitting in a basement for the last 10 years is not worth top dollar.Same thing applies to Cobra 29 and 25's that have been in a big rig for the last 20 years or a tractor etc.....
