Don't forget to tell others that these finds took you years.
It's also high-risk (no returns), high-reward (deal!)
- Good Tevions sometimes get mistaken for bad Tevions, so that's why there.
- That TBC tends to go unnoticed by non-serious users, so that's why there.
- NIB doesn't really exist with old electronics, and $450 is fair for this risk tolerance.
In the past, though spaced years apart, I've gotten
- $60 like-new SR-V10U
- $100 TBC-1000, lightly used from original owner
- $160 new green AVT-8710
- $0 fuse-blown AG-1980P ($5 fix at Radio Shack)
- etc
... though none of that was recent, mostly throughout the 2010s.
If you have a project to complete, you can't wait for bargains that may never come. Bargain hunting for gear is mostly something that pros/hobbyists do, and they already have equipment. This is just extra/backup gear.
Many of us turn into gear hoarders -- welcome to the club, Barry!
That's something I try to resist in recent years. From about 2005-15, I'd accumulated vastly more than I needed. Then it took several years (about 2016-18) to re-home to members of this community.
FYI, I still have that $60 V10 and $160 8710. The 1980 failed, given away to a friend for parts. The TBC-1000 was refurb'd, and sold for market rate at the time ($800, I think?).