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I saved these radio and tv tubes over some time scrapping. Yesterday I advertised them on a local buy/sell facebook page and immediately got an offer of 30 bucks. I didn't really know if there was any market for these beforhand. I agreed to the 30. and then someone else offered $35. The first guy came right over to pay and pickup his goods. Sometimes it pays off to save stuff.
Sad part is some of them you could have probable got $30 a piece for them.
You did good at $30. TV tubes trade in a narrow market - certain sizes are really valuable but most are run of the mill. Odd thing is a lot of folks saved the bad ones.
If you get big tubes, they're usually worth the most. The smaller tubes with colorful lettering are usually 60's TV tubes and worth the least.
I'm no expert but trade in these every now and then.
There is a decent market on eBay for them.
The tubes with a silver metal top piece that a wire snaps onto are power tubes (nickname top cap) and usually worth some money.
Why are they worth anything? Is their a vintage tv market or they used for something else? Ham radio, other old electronics?? Please enlighten me
The top caps will produce some hi power and in the 60's and 70's they would use the innards of these tube type tv's and make a illegal cb radio amplifier, there was big demand for them. Even today some of those older amps are still running so they need extra tubes, plus you have the ole tv restorers trying to rebuild the tv's. They just don't make some of those tubes anymore, Russia is making some but I don't know if the quality is there or not. Also some of the small tubes were used in early car radio's.
Those who will buy radio tubes inculde. Ham radio ops who use vintage equipement and design new radios using tubes. Some people pay big bucks for audio equipement that use tubes. The numbers are small but they are very committed to the vintage equipement. If you check out ebay you will find a lot forsale. Also if you run into a tube tester they sell for good money. Mike.
I figured this was worth a bump. I have many old tubes. Some might be worth something as they were from auctions and sales that if I bought them they were interesting in some way.
You never know just what others may want and with the internet it is not very hard to find who might want it and why.
Last week, I watched a tv show about weird electronic stuff found in Japanese stores and one of the shops was still selling NIB tubes.