Pricey household items from 1985 that have lost most of their value today
An IBM PC XT cost $4,395 in 1985, with two disk drives and a 10-megabyte hard drive, AARP reported. A working one lists for about $150 to $200 today, one collector’s site says.
Six pricey 1985 purchases follow, with what they cost then and what they bring now. A few have found second lives with collectors. Most haven’t.
The IBM PC XT
It was the flagship of home computing in 1985.
The price tag was $4,395 for the configuration with a hard drive. Today, collectors list working units for about $150 to $200. The machine was made in the thousands, so it isn’t rare, the collector’s site notes.
The Sony camcorder
Sony’s CCD-V8 was among the first all-in-one 8mm camcorders. It came out in 1985 with a suggested price of about $1,175, Wikipedia notes.
You’d pay $100 to $300 for a working one now, Capture reports. Not nothing, but a fraction of the original price.
The big-screen TV
By the mid-1980s, nearly 200,000 projection sets sold each year, at $1,500 to $4,000 apiece, Tedium reports.
One 50-inch Sears model listed at $1,980 in 1985. A price guide puts a used one at under $100, and an editor recalled a similar set selling for $5, one AV forum notes. Some owners just want them gone. One writer got his free, MEL Magazine says.
The 20-inch color TV
It cost about $500 in 1985, according to AARP.
Today, many thrift stores won’t take a tube TV, and recycling one can cost $20 to $60, Recyclics says. There’s a twist. A working one can bring $25 to $100 from retro gamers, Recycle Old Tech notes.
The encyclopedia set
Mid-to-late 20th-century sets cost about $500 to $900 new. Now, a 1950s-to-1990s Britannica typically sells for $50 to $300, Appraisily reports.
Many charities won’t accept them. Goodwill, Savers, and the Salvation Army reject encyclopedias, the New Mexico Literacy Project says.
The VCR
In 1985, prices ran from $169 to $400, Wikipedia notes. A working one now typically sells for $50 to $100, Reclaim says.
Funai, the last maker, stopped producing them in 2016, CBC reported.
The bottom line
An IBM PC XT cost $4,395 in 1985 and now lists for about $150 to $200. A 20-inch color TV cost about $500, and many thrift stores won’t take one.
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