Ham Radio and Hobbyist Electronics Deals on Craigslist and eBay

Ham radio operators and electronics hobbyists sit on a mountain of gear their whole lives — radios, test equipment, soldering stations, antenna hardware, power supplies — and when they downsize or pass on, all of it ends up somewhere. Usually Craigslist. Sometimes eBay. Almost always priced by someone who has no idea what it's worth.

This is one of the most underserved niches in the deal-hunting world. The sellers are often family members clearing out a shack they don't understand. The buyers who know what they're looking at are a small crowd. If you can bridge that gap, you'll find some of the best value per dollar of any category on these platforms.

Why This Category Gets Slept On

Most casual Craigslist browsers scroll right past a listing that says "old radio equipment" or "ham stuff, not sure what it all is." The photos look like a pile of beige boxes with knobs. The description is vague. But inside that pile could be a Kenwood TS-850 HF transceiver that sells for $600-900, or an Icom IC-7300 that goes for $1,000 new and regularly shows up used for $500-600.

Test equipment is even more overlooked. A Tektronix 2465 oscilloscope from the late 1980s is still a perfectly capable bench instrument that professionals use today. They sell on eBay for $150-300. Brand new entry-level scopes cost twice that. Sellers who list these on Craigslist often price them at "what it looks like it might be worth" — which is almost always less than actual market value.

What to Watch For

HF Transceivers

These are the big radios used for long-distance communication. Popular brands are Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood. Specific models to search:

• Icom IC-7300: One of the most popular modern HF rigs. Holds value well. $500-700 used is a fair deal, anything under $450 is a steal.
• Yaesu FT-991A: All-band, all-mode portable rig. Shows up used around $600-800. New it's over $1,000.
• Kenwood TS-2000: Older but capable. $400-600 used and still very capable for HF/VHF/UHF work.
• Elecraft K3/K3S: High-end kit-built radio with a cult following. Used prices are strong ($1,200-2,000+) but still well below new.

VHF/UHF Radios and Handhelds

Entry-level handheld ham radios ("HTs") from BaoFeng flood the market and aren't worth much used. Focus on name-brand gear:

• Yaesu FT-60R, FT-70DR — solid dual-band handhelds worth picking up at $50-80
• Icom IC-2300H, IC-5100A — mobile VHF/UHF rigs for vehicle installs, $100-200 used
• Kenwood TM-D710G — popular APRS-capable dual-band mobile, $200-350 used vs $500+ new

Test Equipment

This is where the real hidden value lives. Most people don't know what an oscilloscope or a spectrum analyzer does, so prices are set by gut feel rather than research.

• Oscilloscopes: Tektronix 2465, 2467, HP/Agilent 54600-series. Analog scopes from the 80s/90s are still reliable workhorses. $75-200 on Craigslist is normal. Even basic digital scopes from Rigol or Hantek show up used at half retail.
• Signal generators: HP 8640B, Wavetek, Rohde & Schwarz units. These can be $100-400 at estate sales vs. thousands new.
• Frequency counters: Often $20-50 at ham fests and Craigslist. Rarely worth much individually, but useful on the bench.
• Antenna analyzers: MFJ-259, RigExpert AA-55. Show up used for $100-200. New the RigExpert is $300+.

Power Supplies and Accessories

Every ham has a 30-amp regulated DC power supply for running mobile radios on the bench. Astron RS-35M, MFJ-4230MVP, and similar units show up constantly on Craigslist for $50-100. New they're $150-200. They're also nearly indestructible — a used Astron from 1990 is functionally the same as a new one.

Search Terms That Work

On Craigslist, obvious searches like "ham radio" and "amateur radio" work fine, but you'll catch more with specific brand/model terms. Try searching for:

• "Icom" / "Kenwood" / "Yaesu" on their own
• "ham shack" — often turns up whole-lot listings
• "estate electronics" or "estate radio"
• "oscilloscope" / "signal generator" / "freq counter"
• "Tektronix" / "HP test equipment" / "Agilent"
• "transceiver" — works on both Craigslist and eBay

On eBay, use the "For parts or not working" filter in reverse — filter it out if you want working units, but check "not working" listings separately because ham radio gear often just needs a fuse, a missing mic, or a recalibration to be fully functional. Sellers slap "for parts" on gear they couldn't test.

Know Before You Buy

Ham radio gear has a strong collector/user community and good reference resources. Before bidding on something unfamiliar, check:

• eHam.net reviews: Every popular radio has dozens of user reviews with common failure modes and realistic value assessments.
• QRZ.com forums: The main ham radio community forum. Search the model number and you'll find threads on known issues.
• eBay completed listings: Filter by "sold" to see actual sale prices, not asking prices. Ham radio gear often has a 30-40% gap between listing price and what things actually sell for.

One specific thing to check on HF transceivers: ask if the finals (output transistors) have been replaced or if the radio has been modified. TX finals fail over time. A radio with bad finals will receive fine but not transmit — which is useless for actual operation but sometimes not obvious in a quick test. If you're buying in person, bring a cheap SWR meter or ask the seller to key up into a dummy load.

Ham Fests: Craigslist's Offline Cousin

If you're serious about this category, ham radio flea markets (called "ham fests") are worth knowing about. They happen at fairgrounds and convention centers across the country, usually on weekend mornings. You'll find tables full of gear priced by actual operators who know what things are worth — but also estate dealers who are there to move volume and will cut deals late in the morning.

The ARRL ham fest calendar at arrl.org lists events by state. Even if you're not a licensed operator, most ham fests are open to the public and you don't need a license to buy equipment.

Set Alerts and Move Fast

Good ham radio deals on Craigslist move quickly in metro areas. A clean Icom IC-7300 priced at $450 will get calls within hours. The same is true for quality test equipment — any working Tektronix scope under $100 gets picked up fast.

The play is to have specific searches saved and check them regularly, or use an alert tool so you're notified when new listings match your criteria. Craigslist doesn't have native alerts, so most serious buyers use a third-party service to watch for new listings and get a notification before the listing gets buried.

This category rewards the prepared. The gear is there, the sellers often don't know what they have, and the window to act is short. Get your searches set up and you'll be surprised how often something worth grabbing turns up.