Is a 46 worth 1000 Euro?

[Marcus von Cube, Germany]

On TAS you'll find this offer (#200255157612):

HP/Hewlett Packard 46 Rare Vintage Calculator w/Case !

Is it really worth the stated price of 1000€/$1286 ?

Disclaimer: I neither plan to buy it nor am I the seller or have anything to do with him. My id is "mvcube".

[Juergen Keller]

This offer runs since several weeks so up to now nobody wanted it for that price. It is difficult to fix prices for collector's items; if somebody wants it so badly and has enough cash it might go for that price ...

[Maximilian Hohmann]

Hello!

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Is it really worth the stated price of 1000€/$1286 ?

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Hopefully! Because if vintage HP calculator prices really have risen to these levels, I might be tempted to sell all my stuff and finally buy the castle in Ireland I have been dreaming of for the last twenty years ;-)

But maybe the growing distrust in "financial products" from banks and investment firms starts driving people into collecting valuable goods to invest their money? Just in these minutes, on the German site of the big online auction house an HP41 with a few accessories is rapidly moving towards 500 Euros ... County Cork, here I come :-)

Greetings, Max

[Mark Edmonds]

People advertising unrealistic high prices annoys me! It all leads to accelerated price inflation. People get more and more used to seeing and accepting high prices. Sellers who don't know much about HP machines see the high prices and sell at similar levels. Eventually, the base line prices rise because sadly, there are always people who don't do their research properly or simply have too much money to care or can't control themselves in auctions.

I've watched this happen recently with HP85s and people selling junk versions for nearly $300!!!

Anyway, HPs are never going to be a serious investment.

Let's take a 15C at 1983 prices - list price was $120.

25 years in a saving account would yield about $400.

A mint 15C in box with docs would probably reach $400 on ebay today but I'd rather have the money in a safe place like a saving account rather than take a chance on ebay.

If you use official RPI figures (UK) since 1983, the retail price of the 15C today would be $250.

Mark

[Mark Edmonds]

Actually, just looking at the price list I used shows some interesting prices.

The 12C, 15C and 16C were all the same - $120. I expected the 12C to be cheaper.

Also, the 10C was $70 and the 11C was $90. Only $20 difference? No wonder not many 10C were sold!

For a shock, the 75C is listed at $995! Anyone buying a crate of 75C for a future investment will be taking a bad loss!

Mark

[DaveJ]

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On TAS you'll find this offer (#200255157612):

HP/Hewlett Packard 46 Rare Vintage Calculator w/Case !

Is it really worth the stated price of 1000€/$1286 ?

Disclaimer: I neither plan to buy it nor am I the seller or have anything to do with him. My id is "mvcube".

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The Casio CFX-400 scientific calculator watch has gone for over $1000€ on TAS. I paid $20 for mine back in the 1980's, and sold it broken for around US$300 many years back before TAS craze took off.

Dave.