The State of the Used Ham Radio Market

Transceivers from the "big three" — Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood — make up the bulk of what qualifies and gets tracked, which makes sense given how much of the used market they represent. Among listings that already cleared the 25% threshold, two smaller, specialty brands consistently post the deepest average discounts.

Heathkit and Ameritron gear tends to run the deepest below market on average — likely because these are older, more niche items with a smaller pool of buyers actively searching for them, which means less competition driving the price back up.

Transceivers dominate simply because that's what most sellers list and most buyers search for. But the discount percentage tells a different story — smaller categories like power supplies and amplifiers, while less common, still show up when a genuine below-market opportunity appears.

These are the ten deepest discounts flagged since tracking began — real listings, real comps, real math. A few of these are older or specialty items where a smaller buyer pool meant a seller was willing to let a piece go well under what it would typically bring.

This report is built entirely from real listings tracked by Ham Radio Bargains — a site that aggregates used amateur radio equipment sold across eBay, QTH classifieds, Facebook Marketplace, and similar sources, and flags the ones priced meaningfully below fair market value.

Important context: this is not a snapshot of the whole used gear market. Ham Radio Bargains only publishes listings that come in at or below 25% under fair market value — the rare exceptions run slightly above that line. Every number in this report reflects that pre-filtered set, not typical used equipment pricing. In other words, this report shows what the best deals we found actually look like, not what a random used listing looks like.

Every number here comes from actual comparable sales, not estimates or industry guesses. This is the same underlying data and methodology used every day to flag listings on the site, summarized here so you can see the bigger picture: which brands and categories tend to produce the deepest qualifying deals, how often they show up, and what a genuinely exceptional find looks like.

How we calculate "below market"

Every listing is checked against a set of comparable recent sales for that same model — not a single reference point, but a range. From that range, we calculate a median price, which becomes our estimate of fair market value. A listing's "percent below market" is simply the gap between its asking price and that median.

This is the exact same method available to you directly on the site — type any model into the "Is This a Good Price?" tool at hamradiobargains.com, and you'll see the same comps, price range, and median calculation used throughout this report.

How to use this report yourself

• Don't rely on a single listing to judge fair value — a real price estimate needs several comparable sales, not just one.
• Older or niche gear (like the Heathkit and Ameritron items above) often shows deeper discounts simply due to a smaller buyer pool — don't assume something's wrong with the item.
• A wide comp range (some listings selling for much more than others) usually means condition and included accessories matter a lot for that model — read listings carefully.
• Seller vetting is a separate step from price. A good price on paper is still worth checking against seller feedback, account age, and return history before you buy.