Denial

How much would you pay for a C64 today?

I did most of my collecting of vintage computers in the 1990s, when stuff was dirt cheap. I never picked up a C64 though.
A work colleague has one he's interested in selling and has invited me to come look at it first.

From the description, I expect I'll find the computer, a 1541 and a bunch of games on disk.

What's a fair offer to make on this now?

I'm not desperately in the market for a C64, my heart is in the VIC-20. Frankly, it will probably go into storage for the time being if I do buy it. But I've lately begun to realise that if I ever do want one, they are showing up in the wild (i.e. non-ebay) less and less, so maybe I should pick one up while I still can.

I want to offer a fair price, but I really don't know what's fair nowadays.

The best I paid recently was 20 euros for a breadbin and a c64g. Both were stored in a cellar for 25 years judging by the crust of filth. Remarkable both still worked. Similarly I also bought 2 (one 1987 aldi and a mustard keys breadbin) for 30 euros posted. Both were broken, but repaired easily. Both had fantasticly low serials.

On the other hand when the machine is mint condition, complete in box, low serial, silver label, early motherboard, original chips and maybe with ceramic chips then expect to pay alot more.

For a C64 and a disk drive, I'd say $50 was a fair price.

i will not pay more than 30 euros for c64+1541 - IF it is in very good condition.

mind you, ebay is not a very good place to buy, prices are often much higher

What Groepaz said!

Fair price in Denmark would be around 150 usd$ for C64 + 1541.

It seems to vary a great deal from country to country...

I used to have about a dozen C64s and C64cs, which I sold off for about AUD$20-40 about 8 years ago.

Now, you'd be lucky to get a good condition C64 for much less than AUD$100, a good 1541 would be about the same price.

(AUD$100 ~ US$75)

Cheers,

Mike.

It seems to vary a great deal from country to country...

from my experience, it does not - it does vary a lot depending on where you look though. you should ask starting your friends, relatives, workmates, etc. with some luck, you'll even get a setup for free then

I've looked around a fair bit, but no-one seems to have any old stuff lying around the the cupboard.

Most of the old Vic-20 and C64s seem to be in the hands of collectors now and when they want to sell it's not for peanuts!

Many years ago (10-15?) I used to do the rounds of s/h shops and recycling centres. My best score was a couple of
PET systems (1 x 4032 and 1 x 8032) with floppy drives, printers, software. Even had the original purchase receipt
for over AUD$20,000! I picked that lot up for about AUD$30.

I also scored a complete Vic-20 setup with 1540, 1515, 1010, dozens of carts, books and memory expansions for $20.

But these days I never see anything. The last 'score' was an Amiga 500 main unit for $5...

Mike.

Regarding eBay, patience is a virtue. The problem for us Canadians is that (unless you seriously overpay for the item) the shipping is always same or more than the purchase price. And then there is the US to Canadian currency conversion ...

I just bought a C64 and 1541 for 49.99 posted. I have no recollection of bidding for it, but the mail arrived this morning. Just checked the listing, even said it is broken.

Condition, condition, condition.

Untested but OK condition, maybe 30-40 for both. If broken or very dirty, $20.

Tested working, cleaned, with all the cables? $100 or more.