[SOLVED] Why Are 5-1/4" Floppy Disk Drives So Expensive?

[steve45]

I stopped at an estate sale yesterday. The guy had owned a computer business at one time and he had a bunch of new old stock PC stuff. I noticed a case of 5-1/4" floppy disk drives for sale at $50 each! What the...? I asked one of the guys working the sale and he said he knew nothing about it. One of the other customers piped up that they were selling for $100+ on Ebay.

When I got home, I looked on Ebay. Sure enough, there are a number of them in the $50-150 range.

Why???

 

[USAFRet]

On ebay, you need to filter for Sold/Completed.

I see many that sold for for $30-$50.

Why so "expensive"? They are no longer made. People that actually want/need them will pay.
Basic supply and demand.

 

[mdd1963]

makes no sense, as they are completely useless..

Let everyone that wants one for $30-$100 have one, and, good luck to them finding media that actually works this many decades later, as most have corroded /oxidized/or molded by now...

 

[Corwin65]

Actually not completely useless. Some industrial manufacturing machines still use them.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Are you kidding? I did some of my best programming on an old Zenith Z-100!

-Wolf sends