Well, in one respect, vintage equipment is a real bargain.

This past year I purchased a set of Heathkit SB-series amateur radio
“twins” for the collective price of about $350. If you include
related expenses need for getting the set on the air, the total cost
was probably about $500. That’s in current dollars (2008).
Accounting for inflation, this is equivalent to $80 in 1968, a year
during which the same and equivalent items could be purchased. Going
the other way, I’d say that in 1968, the same Heathkit station would
have cost about $650, which in today’s dollars is about $4000. So,
even if I had been ripped off and paid twice what I did this year, I
still would have paid a low price.

-Dave Drumheller, K3WQ