I bought over 6 Pvms for 20 a piece. Bought a 2530 NOS in the box for 50. More than fair.
Yeah, but people need to stop bragging about their scores like this. It isn't the norm nor will it fall into your laps this easy. PVMs are going for 300+ not just on eBay but also on FB marketplace and Craigslist. The world caught on. Places like Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Maine, etc. (i.e. places not NY or CA) are not overflowing with them and BESIDES, buying HD Retrovision component cables (instead of Scart/RGB) and playing your games on a high quality Sony, JVC, etc. consumer grade TV looks pretty fucking good. I'm sure 800 TVLs are the devil's tits but a consumer grade Trinitron look decent too.
Disclaimer: I own a PVM and still stand by this opinion. This trend is beyond saving, better snatch up a cheap high-quality CRT before prices go up and supplies diminish (most people are trashing them).
edit: For those not in the know, HD Retrovision makes systems that were previously thought to only support composite or SCART able to use component.
Here's a list of component capable systems that use HD Retrovision
SNES
Genesis
And then these three can use the Genesis cable with an adapter:
Saturn
PC Engine (with a 25 dollar adapter from ebay or SSD3)
Neo Geo
Future:
Dreamcast
That's super solid. HD Retrovision is pricey but you get the genesis cable you can just reuse it for other systems. If you're into PS1 games buy a PS2 and component cables (not sure PS1 is component capable).