ARC AAA Holding their value better than ever

It is hard to believe that the ARC AAA is holding its value better than ever. Looking at EBAY, even the standards which were being sold a few month ago for $22 in stores are now fetching over $100.00. Even the old style black body, not my favorite due to the eventual wear of the finish are also getting top dollar. My question is this. Will another company in the future, domestic or international, produce a better AAA than the ARC? Does ARC have patents that protect the AAA?

The rights to any patents *may* now reside with the receivers, just guessing. I imagine a lot depends on whose name(s) appear on the patents.

yeah...its crazy. Theres an auction ending in around 4 hours, and the value of it is at 113 right now

I saw one for the first time last week and i was like d@mN!! That's small. At this rate, 140$ for an arc would be worth its weight in gold.

ARC AAA is still the world's best 1x AAA LED light. not the brightest, tuffest, longest runtime, form factor, etc, but the best compromise of the above.

Of all the ARC's, AAA's seems to holding it's value the best. But all of the ARC's seems to be doing quite well value wise.

thought somebody would have come out with something better than ARC AAA by now.

It will happen of course. but not yet.

That last auction ended for 120 by the way, incase ppl were wondering

When (eventually) an ARC beater appears - will all these ARCs still hold their value or drop like a stone ??

How are the ARC LS prices going ?

I would imagine should there be a light the same size as the Arc AAA, which looks as cool and is brighter with longer run time, the Arc prices will fall as demand decreases due to only collectors wanting them. The same trend can be seen in many out of production desirebles.
I was happy to pay over the odds to get the brightest coolest looking, smallest AAA light available today. if there had been a Peak product of the same size, I wouldnt have throught twice about owning an Arc, especially at todays prices.

IMHO what's maintaining ARC prices in general is not just collectors. People are looking for the best tools.

ARC has always been about function first as a tool. Well the old adage about form following function applys especially with ARC.

ARC AAA's are still the world's best 1x LED light and most commonly own'd light by cpf'ers. ARC LS with 1x AA, 14500 li-ion, 2x AA, CR123 and R123 li-ion options is still one of the most versitile platforms out there.

Modded ARC LS commanded a high premium before ARC's demise. most are snagged up quickly. A stock LSHP no longer last very long at $180.

The world's market for LED flashlights is way larger than CPF. Witness the prices on ebay, which have been 2x higher than cpf prices for quite sometime.

collector may have driven up prices initially, but IMHO it's people looking for the best tools, keeping prices up now.

I agree with Cy. One ARC AAA is always in my pocket and is the most used light that I have and I own close to 100 good lights. I carry another ARC AAA on my main keyring and have two new ones as back ups that I just won't let go. There is nothing close to them yet.

The Peak lights might look similar, but it stops with looks. If I was forced to replace my ARCs, I'd go with coin cell lights before I'd go with Peak. I don't know why they haven't done a better job yet. The beam, color, output, and "regulation" is really **** poor.

The Peak "Snow" 3 LED AAA is really nice.
With the old style body like the ARC it is not much larger
and has a BRIGHTER & BETTER BEAM !
I have been using a NMh in it and do not know much about the regulation yet.

Glenn

OVER $100.00??? WOW!!! I'm going to start looking for some.

I completely agree that this tools intrinsic value is what's keeping folks coming back. After my first exposure to an ARC AAA, I bought several more "just in case". Those extras are nice to have (especially now), but that original is still going strong after years of daily use.

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[email protected] said:
OVER $100.00??? WOW!!! I'm going to start looking for some.

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Heck, I've still got one in like new shape that you guys were giving away. Sorry Frank, you can't have it back!

hahaa, not sure if its holding its value that much anymore...ebay is now flooded with them.

all of the auctions have bidders and quite a bit of time left on the clock.

yeah, thats true. But they wont get as high as 120 as the last one, simply becuase of supply and demand. There is way too much supply on ebay right now. If you search up arc flashlights, you'll turn up 27 results. I guess there is only one way to find out what they'll look like in the end!

But of those 27 ARC auctions, there are few of the same model.

I'm so annoyed. I haven't been on this forum for 1-2 years...I just got it in my head to replace the AAA that disappeared in a bizarre skateboarding incident and all of the sudden Arc is out of business and the lights are going for $100+. Dammit!

Even with sellers dumping their AAAs on Ebay, they are still going for $80-$100. The old black bodies are in the lower $80 range. I figure I easily have over $1,000 in Arc AAAs. And, I guess another $1,000 or so invested Arc LS. But as they say, all that and $3 bucks will buy me a cup of coffee.