The first thing you should make your mind up on, is what you want to buy and how much you are prepared to pay for it. To do this successfully, you should have some idea as to what sells for what in the current market, which means that you must do some research. Not only will this help to prevent you from paying over the odds, but it will also help prevent you from being overly optimistic regarding low bids on highly desirable bits of kit. There is a plethora of informtion on the web, from such sites as Vintage Synth Museum, as well as numerous forums maintained by long-term dedicated users.
Some bits of kit are, indeed, highly desirable, and there are many people out there who regularly scan Ebay for these items. Therefore, you are not going to pick up (say) a Jupiter 8 for less than 1,500 unless there is something wrong with it, or it's a scam. Of course, if you are a seller, you can help encourage the removal of time-wasters by listing the kit at a realistic reserve (based, of course, on condition and rarity). A fully working Jupiter 8 in good/average condition, for example, could reasonably be listed with a reserve of 1,000. But resist the temptation to be too greedy too early on, otherwise bidders will be detered from bidding early on. If you set your initial asking price too high (eg if you ask for an opening bid that is bang on the price that the kit is likely to sell for), bidders will simply wait until near the end of the auction to put down that asking bid, and you will not generate the bidding frenzy that will lead to the sort of "rip-off" price that you are hoping for. If you are too scared to leave the bidding to the vagaries of the market place, then put it up for a "buy it now" price. Better still, list it for sale on a specialised music site, such as Sound On Sound.
And bidders can help out by putting down an initial realistic first bid, as this will usually see off the time-wasters. What's the point in putting down your highest bid on a Jupiter 8 at 500, when you know it's going to go for at least 3 [edit - 5] times that sum? Do yourself and everyone else a favour by putting down the bid that you are actually prepared to pay (unless, of course, that is all you can afford, in which case, do not get your hopes up).
At the time of writing this, the following bits of kit are (typically) going for the following prices:-
Jupiter 8 - 2,500
Jupiter 6 - 1500
Roland MKS80 - 1,200 (expect to pay 1,500 with the MPG80 controller)
Prophet VS - 800
Mini Moog - 2,000
Oberheim Xpander - 1,000
Sequential Circuits Pro One - 400
Sequential Circuits Six Track - 300
TB303 - 1,000
TR808 - 600
TR909 - 1,000
Linn Drum (LM2) - 350/450
Prophet 5 (Rev3.2 and Rev3.3)- 2,000
OB8 - 1,750
Juno 106 - 375
Oberheim Matrix 1000 - 300
Andromeda A6 (not vintage, but a classic in the making) - 1,000
SH-101 - 350 (grey model) (Expect to pay 400 plus for red or blue models, which are exceedingly scarce)
[I will endeavour to update this list from time to time, so please do revist, or send me your suggestions for items to include] [I last editted this guide on 14 February 2009, and confirm that these prices are roughly accurate. The older analgoue kit continues to experience steady growth in prices. The asking prices of the Jupiter 8 and Prophet 5 have seen a massive hike, with sellers asking huge "Buy It Now" prices, usually well in excess of 2,000. A Prophet 5 (without midi) sold recently for more than 2,500. The recent market has seen a scarcity of good quality analogue machines over the months since Christmas.]
These are the bits of kit that I regularly keep my eyes open for. I would like to strongly emphasise that these prices are a guide only, and some items have sold for considerably more than these prices, especially where there is a bidding war going on. The condition and service record of vintage analogue kit counts for a great deal, and the prices I have listed above are what you should expect to pay for gear in pristine condition. Kit with sticky keys, "missing" voices and dead L.E.D. lights are a sure sign that something potentially seriously wrong is amiss, and a warning to you that you should be extremely weary about bidding anything at all. Certainly, for such bits of kit you would not be bidding anything near the prices I have listed above, although some unscrupulous sellers do periodically try to pass off dude kit for top prices (usually with such feeble excuses as "I'm selling this for an uncle, and I don't really know what the buttons do... etc").
Bear in mind that some bits of kit are extremely rare and can only get rarer, so prices for fully working and well maintained kit are likely to increase rather than drop over time. It would not be unrealistic to assume, I believe, that prices on these bits of kit could double over the next 5 years, with the rarer items (such as the Prophet5) becoming very expensive to acquire.
By and large, analogue kit is pricier than digital kit, and pure analogue kit (eg the Prophet 5, Jupiter 8 or OB8) is usually pricier than digital/analogue hybrids (such as the Juno, the Prophet VS, etc). Earlier versions of kit (such as the Prophet 5 Revs1 and 2) are pricier than later versions (eg Revs3.2 or 3.3), usually because they incorporate older components. But beware, that many of these items are irreplaceable should they blow. I own a Prophet 5 (Rev3.2), which has factory fitted midi that is rock solid. The synth had beenfully serviced two years previously and is a verygood example, for which I paid 1,550. Some say that the Rev3s don't sound as good as the Revs 1
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