The street price for a stolen Selectric in DC was about $200 in the early 70s. They were relatively easy to acquire.
I remember in the late 70's, maybe early eighties wandering around the TI warehouse when I came across a big wire cage of nothing but IBM Selectric typewritters just tossed in there in a big pile, all helter skelter.
Not long after, I remember arriving to work with 2-3 technicians in my office. When I asked what they were doing, they said "installing your computer, everyone at you level and above must have a computer on their desk". Few of us knew anything about computers.