How can retailers justify asking £550 for a now discontinued Nikon D90 (Body only)?

I was thinking about upgrading my elderly Nikon D40 camera. Retailers are asking £550 for the now discontinued Nikon D90 (Body only) Please remember that you are buying technology when you buy a camera now. What was once the latest very soon becomes "old hat".It might have been the dogs nuts way back in 2008 when it was launched. But in mid 2011 it seems fairly low spec when I look at what other makers such as Canon, Sony and even Pentax have on offer for the same money.
Sorry back to my original question. Is the Now discontined Nikon D90 worth £550 GBP for the body only.
Thank you for your answers… Have a great day

Added (1). I would keep my little Nikon D40. However it does not have any form of dust reduction to stop dust specs from getting on the sensor and the 6MP are a bit on the wee small side for cropping and poster size prints. Also 3 auto-focus points are a bit on the small side. Other than that it is a great little camera still.

The replacement -- D7000 is priced $1, 200USD. D90 is $800USD. The lenses are interchangeable. I suppose you pay $400 difference to gain more pixels and more FPS. Nikon holds its value. When traveling you see 9 out of 10 tourists with the Nikon camera strap around their neck.

Both are sweet cameras, but I'm holding off. I'm more excited about the newer technology, so I'll wait.

It's an excellent price!

DSLRs tend to retain their value quite well - what was a good camera back in 2009 still is one today. Sure, the specs of newer ones exceed them, but those specs aren't all that important given how far camera technology has progressed today.
And keep in mind, it's not all about measurable things like MP - but also ergonomics. A second dial, top LCD; and overall superior build quality have their price.

Compare it to the other cameras in Nikon's lineup. Is it a better camera than the D3100 or D5100? Unless one cares about video, most people would say yes. I wouldn't trade mine for a D5100. Hence a price tag slightly above that of a D5100 seems justified. Also keep in mind, that by buying a D90 you can autofocus with older AF lenses and save some money over the more expensive AF-S ones then.

I did an upgrade from a D40 to a D90 myself… You'd love that camera! When i did it, it gave me all that i had missed on my D40.

Very well worth every square mm of it. All cameras, huge price tag or not, high-end or entry-level, old or new, are all basically the same. There are some however that excel in those basic qualities and those are the ones that are sought after the most.

I'm a Canon person but I could have easily gone the other way. My friend bought a D90 with kit lens at the same time I bought my first Canon which also had a kit lens. From memory I think he paid about $1400 although I could be wrong. That was 18-20 months ago. He's only a part timer but one of the photos he took with that combination won a photo competition last year. There were over 11'000 entries!

The price is determined by what people will pay.

If it sells, the price is right (or too low!)

If it sits on the shelf, it is over-priced.

Simple market economics really!

The price of anything is what you are prepared to pay for it. If nobody buys the D90s at £550 then the price will eventually come down.