Cost for a Used LYNX

[gilsaluki]

I have noticed just how much a Lynx unit cost (either model) now.  I was thinking you could pick up a working one for about $50, $60 about a year ago.  Ebay prices (Best and B&C for that matter) have gone completely through the roof.  They cost more now, 30 years on, than they did new!  Hummm.

[+karri]

I noticed the same thing. This is really crazy. You get Evercade with all the games cheaper than a Lynx with no games.
All the hype with the new Songbird releases in those adorable boxes, multicarts and amazing competition entries with AtariGamer blogs seems to have created some interest in this amazing handheld.

[Nop90]

If you are lucky you can find a working Lynx for 60-70 €, but not on ebay.

 

In Italy there is a site for announcements of used items in sale (economic transaction not handled by the site and usually items can't be shipped) where you can buy at incredible good prices if you have patience to wait. Last year made 300 Km by car to buy 5 not working Lynx II at 120 €. 4 where incredibly working and 1 was an easy fix.

 

I suppose there are such sites in other countries. It's a matter to check frequently.

 

On ebay you can risk with a faulty unit, most of them can be repaired with 5€ of components. Last month I was lucky again and bought a not working Lynx I for 27€ + 10 € shipping, and (apart the chipping surgace paint) was in perfect state. 

 

If you don't want to spend a lot of time searching and if you don't want to risk with a faulty Linx, about 100-150 € is the price at the moment.

[Songbird]

On 11/4/2020 at 10:51 PM, karri said:

All the hype with the new Songbird releases in those adorable boxes...

I only wish my sales were strong enough to affect eBay prices for Lynx units!  But yes, I noticed even a year or two ago that Lynx prices have definitely climbed a lot.

[LordKraken]

Probably a combination of the anniversary and the events around it, the new screens, the new SD card, the new games, the "deluxe" version of older ones, and some decent coverage from relatively popular youtubers.

 

I'm glad I have four at home that I bought cheap a long time ago

[No One You Know]

Haha I remember looking on ebay in 2017 expecting them to be mega expensive and being surprised at how little they cost. Of course that's the usual trap of looking at lowest price auctions with about a week left. I ended up buying a mark 2 with 6 games, 3 with flattened boxes, a couple with manuals, the machine's manual and a weird bag thing that is much longer than it is tall but doesn't seal at the top, for about 70GBP. At the time I thought I might have spent a little much but maybe it wasn't such a bad deal after all? I think the screen might be dying though and it has what I think is a fault but am not sure where the backlight seems to illuminate the top of the screen much more than the bottom.

 

But I'm sure some competitions and homebrew action can't affect prices that much? Only within the people already interested in them surely?

[Turbo Laser Lynx]

Facebook selling seem to have ruined ebay a lot, which is annoying, because on facebook it's all spread out over a million groups and everything would go under your nose. As nop90 says, the market has become much more local again.

Edited November 7, 2020 by Turbo Laser Lynx

[No One You Know]

On 11/7/2020 at 10:16 PM, Turbo Laser Lynx said:

Facebook selling seem to have ruined ebay a lot, which is annoying, because on facebook it's all spread out over a million groups and everything would go under your nose. As nop90 says, the market has become much more local again.

That reminds me, I vaguely remember somone showing me a sega master system being given away on freegle (platform like what gumtree used to be) and me not being interested at the time. I am not sure if that did happen but i am kicking myself because while they are not too expensive, it was free and i turned it down for some reason.

[+davidcalgary29]

Maybe it's the rising-tide problem: now that retro-gaming has been legitimized as a "thing", instead of just a fun pasttime, prices of all systems have gone completely crazy. The Lynx was one of the last systems to go, but prices really have doubled or tripled in the past five years. It wasn't too long ago that you could get a five-pack of commons NIB for ten bucks, but I just about gagged when I saw that Rampart is now going for about thirty or forty dollars. It probably also doesn't help that lots of us who grew up with these things, and who want them now, are in their peak-earning years, and have lots of dollars (comparatively) to compete with each other and drive prices up.

[No One You Know]

13 hours ago, davidcalgary29 said:

Maybe it's the rising-tide problem: now that retro-gaming has been legitimized as a "thing", instead of just a fun pasttime, prices of all systems have gone completely crazy. The Lynx was one of the last systems to go, but prices really have doubled or tripled in the past five years. It wasn't too long ago that you could get a five-pack of commons NIB for ten bucks, but I just about gagged when I saw that Rampart is now going for about thirty or forty dollars. It probably also doesn't help that lots of us who grew up with these things, and who want them now, are in their peak-earning years, and have lots of dollars (comparatively) to compete with each other and drive prices up.

Rampart for Lynx costs 40 US dollars over there? Rampart? I think you just made my day. Meanwhile it is frustrating for the (i suppose few) of us who like these things but are still kids. I suppose I need to think about it like I am getting the full experience with prices more like they would have been at the time (still much cheaper to be honest especially with cartridge games) but with no prospect of anything going down in the future. I read a few months ago that when the SNES classic came out it actually reduced the value of original ones. I would have thought that it would have legitimised them as something "vintage" or whatever word you want to use, as you said has happened to "retro games" in general now.

[+davidcalgary29]

Well eBay's the only game in town for most buyers, and those are the going rates. I actually saw a copy of Rampart going for over eighty bucks! Insane.

 

Clearly, you want to source out games at the few stores with reasonable prices first. I see Xybots is going for $6.94 at the GOAT Store, and you can get Qix for $20, as well. Those prices are as good as you're ever going to get now.

[gilsaluki]

I did pick up one of Bruce's (B&C, MyAtari) $149.00 Lynx II.  It is in really good shape, the screen is good, and the buttons are fresh.  I knew I could trust Bruce.  Always a fair seller. 

[No One You Know]

On 11/11/2020 at 5:26 AM, davidcalgary29 said:

Maybe it's the rising-tide problem: now that retro-gaming has been legitimized as a "thing", instead of just a fun pasttime, prices of all systems have gone completely crazy. The Lynx was one of the last systems to go, but prices really have doubled or tripled in the past five years. It wasn't too long ago that you could get a five-pack of commons NIB for ten bucks, but I just about gagged when I saw that Rampart is now going for about thirty or forty dollars. It probably also doesn't help that lots of us who grew up with these things, and who want them now, are in their peak-earning years, and have lots of dollars (comparatively) to compete with each other and drive prices up.

Wait a second, all games are just fun pastimes.

[+davidcalgary29]

1 hour ago, No One You Know said:

Wait a second, all games are just fun pastimes.

It seems to be a generational thing. I was annoyed last year at PRGE when twentysomethings kept asking me -- this ancient 47 year-old -- when I became a gamer, as if it was a legitimate profession or cherished part of my identity. I scoffed at first, and then realized that they were completely serious.

 

 

[No One You Know]

On 11/21/2020 at 8:37 PM, davidcalgary29 said:

It seems to be a generational thing. I was annoyed last year at PRGE when twentysomethings kept asking me -- this ancient 47 year-old -- when I became a gamer, as if it was a legitimate profession or cherished part of my identity. I scoffed at first, and then realized that they were completely serious.

 

 

Hahaha. So its like (at least as far as outsiders are concerned) people into fashion? I'm not sure why I think that to be honest. The impression I get from people my age (born 2003, 2004) is that it is expected that everyone plays video games, so I would have thought that it would mean less to newer generations as it is more commonplace. Reminds me of the Nintendo Eshop review thing.