Is there a "how much should you pay" thread?

[Lalaland124]

I'm not quite sure if this is bs, but as someone who has quite recently stumbled into the mechanical keyboard hobby, I noticed that a lot of the times people doesn't really know how much they should pay for a certain vint keyboard. Quite a lot of them spent so much money on eBay for sth that's worth like 2 Euros in the end and that can be really frustrating especially if your budget is limited lol. Don't know if that's the "risk" that should always be connected to that hobby, but still I wanted to ask if there is a thread dedicated to eBay, etc. findings and if they are worth the money ?

[Findecanor]

I think the thread: "Price Check: How much is my _____ worth?" could be used for that purpose, to a degree. It was made for the opposite question though.
Prices are sometimes discussed in the Great/Interesting Finds thread also.

One thing I do to estimate something's value is to search on eBay for completed auctions, where the item sold. Check at multiple auctions and gauge a general ballpark figure, disregarding outliers.
Be also aware that the condition something is in matters also. Sometimes a seller offers very little information about the internal condition or what particular variation/type something is, and then I think the price should be lower.
You sometimes see sellers who ask for too much because they misidentified the condition or variation of what they have, after having seen something better sell for that.
Then there are those sellers who "go fishing": initially asking for a too high price and progressively lowering it, hoping that someone would "bite".

The price level could also be different in different regions. For instance, Cherry G80-series are often cheaper in Germany (where they are more common) than elsewhere. IBM Model Ms sell for much more here in Sweden than in the US, etc.
And as with any collectables, the price will go up and down as trends change. When I started ten years ago, I could get a good vintage keyboard for scraps, and that time is over. Nowadays, some modern keyboards are too common on the second-hand market that their price is a fraction of what they had cost new.

[fohat]

search on eBay for completed auctions,

All good advice, but on ebay there are "Completed Items" and "Sold Items" so you want to study "Sold Items" because "Completed Items" also includes listings that are merely over and may not have been consummated.

Also, be patient and start a "search list" for things you might be interested in. Good deals turn up at random and cannot be predicted, and you should be ready to pounce on something when you see a bargain.

[Lalaland124]

Thanks for the input, I will definitely start making my own search list, hoping that my patience will pay off

Thanks!

[Palatino]

Be aware that there is a maximum number of searches you can save on one eBay account (200). I hit this maximum a few months ago, so now if I really want to hunt for a particular keyboard, an older search has to make way. I feel I should learn something about myself from this, but really I'm just annoyed that there is a maximum at all.

[Polecat]

Be aware that there is a maximum number of searches you can save on one eBay account (200). I hit this maximum a few months ago, so now if I really want to hunt for a particular keyboard, an older search has to make way. I feel I should learn something about myself from this, but really I'm just annoyed that there is a maximum at all.

I save mine as bookmarks in the browser. I've been doing that for over twenty years now, no limit, and no issues to date.

[Palatino]

Ah, good idea. I mainly use the phone app, but bookmarks for the excess will do nicely, thank you.