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Thanks all. Understood that details matter. As much as anything I’m trying to understand the used market in general.
The most you can say, in general, is to buy used audio gear based on what it's worth to you. Don't be concerned about resale value. Do your research and use common sense. Beyond that, focus on the potential enjoyment, not the price. Example -- there's a particular tube amp I want that's unique in its price range. If it shows up on the used market, I'm gonna buy it, even if the price is close to its retail value. I would never do that for cables or speakers because there are many other options available.
In your case, if you're eyeing a particular pre-amp, let us know what it is.
This old topic from 2017 very useful especially Elizabeth and Roscoe65 posts:https://www.audiocircle.com/index.php?topic=152780.0
When you look at the price of a new unit minus the trade in… then the HiFi shark price history… the $3400 seems “ in the ballpark “ given a market that has been seeing plenty of price escalation on new gear.
PS Audio is a special case in that none of their products are sold at retail, they're all highly discounted at time of sale. So you can't go with 50% off retail as a rule of thumb. Btw I haven't seen that mentioned here, the standard starting place I always thought was 50% of retail, then adjust up or down for condition, age, desirability, etc. Ebay is a quick reference if you look up completed sales, esoteric items may not have a big history, but most common products do.
Eliazabeth’s response begins with:“A general 'rule of thumb' for used audio equipment which is 'just like new' is 50% of list price.For 'some' equipment which are 'classic' (if you also have the box) is 60% of new list.”
What is the ballpark? There are lots of examples above of how to determine the ballpark.