Ken
While I can see the point you're making, it bears mentioning that the law of supply and demand determines prices, even in the antique market. Since most antiques that people collect are either able to be used for their intended purpose(think clocks, vases, furniture, etc....) or they're small enough to display on a shelf or in a curio cabinet, demand for these items remains fairly strong. But in spite of this fairly strong demand, the dramatic increase in supply brought about by the advent of eBay and other sites like it has hammered prices for such things pretty hard. Now to make things worse, the vast majority of people view vintage washers and dryers as junk. They think I'm nuts for buying the pair I have, and when I mention the pair I picked up for my parents it takes me twenty minutes of explanation before they can start to see the logic of it. Even then I'm sure they go off and tell their friends about the nutcase they had a conversation with that replaced an old washer with an even older one. I can't see that perception changing any time soon. Especially since these same folks simply refuse to accept that a forty year old washer is still going to be usable for much longer, and if it can't be used they don't have the space or the inclination to display it. So though these vintage machines may technically be antiques, the only thing "antique" status does for them is make parts harder to find. Their value is still determined by the simple rule of supply and demand, and for the next ten years or more as baby boomers continue to downsize or pass away, and the stuff they had crammed away in the garage and basement continues to find its way into the market place, supply will continue to greatly exceed demand. There just aren't that many people looking for vintage washers and dryers. Of course when something unusual happens, like the discovery of a desirable pair of vintage NOS machines in a rare color, all bets are off as far as price goes. But that's also a result of supply and demand. The combination of rare and desirable machine, rare and desirable color, and extremely rare and desirable condition, would naturally increase demand and therefor price. But in the case of these Maytag's, we have common machines, rare color, and common condition. Hardly a justification for the price being asked. So while I can certainly appreciate your larger point about an increase in selling prices resulting in an increase in preservation, I still think $2499.99 for this pair is getting a bit carried away.
