Fair software pricing

From: Larry Groebe <lgroebe_at_insidermarketing.com>
Date: Wed May 20 16:13:13 1998

>I know that we recently discussed fair prices for hardware, but what
>are fair prices for software? I know that there must be hundreds
>of thousands of titles, but I have some specific questions.
>
>1)Software that once WAS expensive, like old versions of AutoCAD,
>SPSS, etc.
>2)Rare software, like Xenix
>3)Famous software, like VisiCalc
>Should these things be expensive?

>More specifically, and perhaps more to the point, do you think that
>a copy of VisiCalc (black binder/manual c1981) and MS Multiplan are
>each worth $5?

Good topic! I was just thinking about the same thing the other day.

I would certainly drop $5 on an original Visicalc, and maybe that for an old
Multiplan.

The nice thing is, it shouldn't be hard to find them for that price either.
Old software is NOT attracting the attention of old hardware. But why is
that? For the life of me, I dunno. But hey - I'm happy it's cheap - it means
I can still get some while the gettin's good.

What would I think is collectable?

Version 1 of anything that later became famous. (DOS, Windows, Visicalc,
Lotus, etc)
Oddball packaging (Lotus Symphony, early Infocom games)
Big-time failures and dead-ends (Lotus Jazz, GEM, Visi-ON)
Software from the cassette and paper-tape era (Apple Brickout, Microsoft
Altair BASIC)

My .02

--Larry
Received on Wed May 20 1998 - 16:13:13 BST