Comment by bombcar
They never were terribly cheap, but there was a time when people who hadn't seen a single-board computer (that small) and didn't really keep abreast of the used market gobbled them up.
One advantage over the used market is that you can easily keep getting the exact same one over and over again.
>They never were terribly cheap
Not really, no. Not if all you need is "a computer". They're more interesting if you want a cheap ARM computer, or a tiny computer, or a server that sips power. Although for that last one they're also kind of dubious. If you can somehow get away with running what you need off a phone, that's way better value.