Advice on selling Powerbook

chadgroove · Dec 13, 2006

Hi all. I don't have enough posts to put this in the Marketplace forum; so I thought I'd post here. I apologize if this isn't the appropriate place to do so.

I am just looking for some advice from everyone as to how much you think my PowerBook is worth. A co-worker of mine would love to buy it and is offering me about $550 cash. It's a bit less than I think I could get, but I don't have to deal with ebay/paypal fees, shipping etc. It's in pristine condition aesthetically.

I bought it 11/28/05, and it has AppleCare until 11/28/08. What do you think I can catch for it. EBay it or sell it for the cash? Here are the specs:

PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD):
Introduced: October 2005, Discontinued: February 2006
Apple PowerBook G4 (Purchased 11/28/05; Powerbook5,8)
Model #: M9969LL/A

Display
15.2-inch (diagonal), resolution, TFT widescreen

Processor
1.67GHz PowerPC G4 processor

Memory
1.5 GB (DDR2, 4200, 333mhz)

Graphics
128MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (AGP 4x)

Hard disk drive
100GB ATA/133; 7200 RPM

Slot-loading optical drive
Dual Layer; Slot Loading SuperDrive 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD¬±RW/CD-RW)

Video Outputs
DVI, VGA, S-video and composite

Audio:
Analog/Digital Audio
Stereo Analog line-out, Optical digital line-out
Stereo Speakers, microphone
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme (Wi-Fi 802.11g)
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR
Built-in 56K V.92 modem

Keyboard
Full size, illuminated with ambient light sensor

daneoni · Dec 13, 2006

Your friend is trying to rip you off i just sold mine for £650 which is about $1275 to a used computer reseller. Mine had the similar specs as yours sans AppleCare (only have standard 1yr), 2GB RAM and it was a refurb.

You should be able to fetch more on eBay or look for trade-in folks.

MacManTexas56 · Dec 13, 2006

chadgroove said:
Hi all. I don't have enough posts to put this in the Marketplace forum; so I thought I'd post here. I apologize if this isn't the appropriate place to do so.

I am just looking for some advice from everyone as to how much you think my PowerBook is worth. A co-worker of mine would love to buy it and is offering me about $550 cash. It's a bit less than I think I could get, but I don't have to deal with ebay/paypal fees, shipping etc. It's in pristine condition aesthetically.

I bought it 11/28/05, and it has AppleCare until 11/28/08. What do you think I can catch for it. EBay it or sell it for the cash? Here are the specs:

PowerBook G4 (15-inch Double-Layer SD):
Introduced: October 2005, Discontinued: February 2006
Apple PowerBook G4 (Purchased 11/28/05; Powerbook5,8)
Model #: M9969LL/A

Display
15.2-inch (diagonal), resolution, TFT widescreen

Processor
1.67GHz PowerPC G4 processor

Memory
1.5 GB (DDR2, 4200, 333mhz)

Graphics
128MB ATI Mobility Radeon 9700 (AGP 4x)

Hard disk drive
100GB ATA/133; 7200 RPM

Slot-loading optical drive
Dual Layer; Slot Loading SuperDrive 8x (DVD+R DL/DVD¬±RW/CD-RW)

Video Outputs
DVI, VGA, S-video and composite

Audio:
Analog/Digital Audio
Stereo Analog line-out, Optical digital line-out
Stereo Speakers, microphone
Built-in 10/100/1000BASE-T (Gigabit)
Built-in 54-Mbps AirPort Extreme (Wi-Fi 802.11g)
Built-in Bluetooth 2.0 +EDR
Built-in 56K V.92 modem

Keyboard
Full size, illuminated with ambient light sensor

you should definitely not be friends with this person....that's super lowball. just a year old computer and they are only offering $550? that's ridiculous. u could definitely get over $1,000 on ebay. hit it up

bearbo · Dec 13, 2006

you can get more than $1000 easy on this thing...

(but if you want to play nice i'll give you $600

)

gauchogolfer · Dec 13, 2006

As the others have stated, don't sell it to this 'friend' of yours, as they are clearly low-balling you. Have a look for what comparable machines are selling for in your area (craigslist, for example) and I bet you see prices nearer $1,000 for that setup.

chrisxkelley · Dec 13, 2006

Just a few months ago I sold my powerbook g4 1.5ghz 12" with 2gb ram, 60gb hdd and 64mb nvidia card for $900. You should be able to get way more for that laptop. Sure it's not quite the latest technology but it's still a thin, good looking, fast computer.

aaronw1986 · Dec 13, 2006

I'd say $1000

phungy · Dec 13, 2006

Here is the price of a refurb Powerbook with 'lower' specs than yours.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-780-5009/WebObjects/EducationIndividual.woa/6384004/wo/9E2tBXNftIBc3vkLRWKmKRsH9nw/1.0.0.21.1.0.8.7.3.5.1.1.3.1.5.1.0.5.0

Clearly you can see how much that is going for. Your 'friend' is asking for less than half that price.

Counter offer with $1100 firm.

Bibulous · Dec 13, 2006

It's unanimous, $750 would still be a low, you should be thinking at least $1000 cash, or $1100+ on ebay. If you parted it out who knows how much you could get as alot of people will be using that laptop for the next couple of years.

But if your looking for a quick sale, I'll give you $600 today

iW00t · Dec 13, 2006

phungy said:
Here is the price of a refurb Powerbook with 'lower' specs than yours.

http://store.apple.com/1-800-780-5009/WebObjects/EducationIndividual.woa/6384004/wo/9E2tBXNftIBc3vkLRWKmKRsH9nw/1.0.0.21.1.0.8.7.3.5.1.1.3.1.5.1.0.5.0

Clearly you can see how much that is going for. Your 'friend' is asking for less than half that price.

Counter offer with $1100 firm.

I wouldn't pay that price for that machine though.

With Adobe CS3 beta out real soon now, there is no compelling reason for most users, even "Pro" users, to use the old PowerPC architecture, period.

Every Mac user I know has since moved on the MacIntels, and for good cause too.

$1100? I can buy a brand new refurb 1.83 for only $200 more. Mine you the PowerPC is almost a year old and running out of warranty. Buying that user's Powerbook with a single processor vs getting 2 faster processors and a fresh warranty term. Jeez, I am so strapped for cash so I guess I will go with the former option rather than just getting a more powerful Macbook

$700-$800 would probably be a reasonable price, but for those of you citing $1000+, you are just dreaming. Apple's prices never reflects reality anyway, especially for all the deprecated PowerPC models.

The myth of good resale value for Macs has ended since the Intel switch, get over it.

chrisxkelley said:
Just a few months ago I sold my powerbook g4 1.5ghz 12" with 2gb ram, 60gb hdd and 64mb nvidia card for $900. You should be able to get way more for that laptop. Sure it's not quite the latest technology but it's still a thin, good looking, fast computer.

A few months ago 2nd generation 2.0Ghz Macbook Pros are still selling for $1700 or so on eBay. Today you should count your lucky stars if you even get $1400. For Apple even a single day can make a huge difference since they don't make incremental product refreshes and do these big bumps from time to time.

chadgroove · Dec 13, 2006

ebay it is then!

Thanks for all the advice guys. I am going to list it on eBay. Any suggestions on starting price? Reserve? Length of auction etc.? Or other tips? I've sold a few things on eBay before, but not anything quite this valuable.

I already have the listing set up in Garagesale with lots of detailed pictures.

Again thanks alot!

iW00t · Dec 13, 2006

chadgroove said:
Thanks for all the advice guys. I am going to list it on eBay. Any suggestions on starting price? Reserve? Length of auction etc.? Or other tips? I've sold a few things on eBay before, but not anything quite this valuable.

I already have the listing set up in Garagesale with lots of detailed pictures.

Again thanks alot!

I find it good to start it off low at say ($0.01) and have it end on a peak period like say Sunday evening to attract that last minute bidding frenzy.

phungy · Dec 13, 2006

iW00t said:
I wouldn't pay that price for that machine though.

$1100? I can buy a brand new refurb 1.83 for only $200 more.

I wouldn't pay that price either. That's a brand new white C2D 2.0Ghz Macbook right there (with student discount + tax).

phungy · Dec 13, 2006

iW00t said:
I find it good to start it off low at say ($0.01) and have it end on a peak period like say Sunday evening to attract that last minute bidding frenzy.

I would advise this also. I always start off my auctions at a low $0.01 cause the higher you start, the more eBay takes away.

EvryDayImShufln · Dec 13, 2006

Alot of logical people wouldn't pay the price, but that's not enough for any of you to say that "750-800" would be reasonable, as PEOPLE ON EBAY ARE PAYING OVER 1000$ FOR THIS MACHINE.

It is not your problem how much they are willing to pay, but as long as they are paying that much he could sell it for that much.

Anyway can't say I disagree that I wouldn't rather pay a little more than this and get a macbook pro considering its alot faster with large improvements.

Bibulous · Dec 13, 2006

combine eBay with a very nice Apple laptop and you will be feeling guilty with how much someone is willing to pay for it.

I recently sold a very nice but used item for $38 + $5 shipping on ebay when you could buy the same item new at amazon for $24 with free shipping.

Just can't explain the wonder that is eBay.

iW00t · Dec 13, 2006

Hmm it is true. Guess Americans on eBay are more easily excitable than the rest of us.

chadgroove · Dec 13, 2006

ebay does draw some suckers..

iw00t, I agree with you. After the Intel transition the value of the Powerbook was obviously going to decrease drastically. Things that hampered it were MacBook Pro issues (or reluctancy to buy rev. A), and also Universal Binary transition of Apps like Adobe CS, Macromedia Suite, etc. With the announcement of a CS3 beta and its imminent release I figured it was now or never to sell.

I'd be happy with $700-800, However sometimes eBay surprises, and people pay more than what is probably reasonable. If it goes higher; woohoo!

Before I click the "list" button, any input on the length of auction? 3 days looks like the best to me. I've been told Saturday and Sundays are the best days to end, however my eBay maniac friend says on Sundays eBay can be pretty bad due to traffic and server issues.

EvryDayImShufln · Dec 14, 2006

I would say 7 or 10 days. Make it end on sunday evening as earlier suggested, but people do not usually buy laptops as "impulse buys", so putting it for a longer time will allow for more people to view your item and add it to their watch list.

There would be a few bids here and there.
Then when the time comes nearing the end there will probably be a bidding frenzy by some of these people.

chadgroove · Dec 14, 2006

One more question if anyone want to toss me some advice. What do you think the reasonable reserve price should be? Seems like people think I can get between $700-$1000 for it.

buckwheat · Dec 14, 2006

Please help me. I have a C2D 233 17 and I want to sell it. Cheap. My “friend” offered me $200 in cold hard cash. He is a great guy. If I could only get a little more for it I would be so grateful. I’d like to put it on Ebay but they kicked me off a while back for fraud. But it wasn’t my fault, in fact nothing is my fault. If government was bigger like I’ve always wanted it would have never happened anyway.

I don’t think MBP unit is hot – but please advise me. What price should I ask? If just one of you would PM me with a better offer I’d take it. What should I start the bid? I am so stupid and you are all so smart. I also have a diamond ring and a Rolex for sale. My “friend” offered me $200 for them, but I don’t know how to Ebay. What are they worth? Will some of you please send me just a little more, like $210 (in cash please)? Then it’s yours! This is not a ripoff, I’m pretty sure. I am not baiting you either.

My babies are starving, and the puppies are cold. My roof leaks too. If only I could just sell this laptop that my “friend” gave me. In fact I found 4 of them in the trash can out back of a big government building. My friend offered me $140 for them. How much should I ask for it? Do you think this is a scam? You shouldn’t, I’m not related to anyone in Nigeria. You are such fine people out here, and so rich and I’m so poor. I love you all. What should I do?

jeremy.king · Dec 14, 2006

f1400 said:
PEOPLE ON EBAY ARE PAYING OVER 1000$ FOR THIS MACHINE.

Who says they are all actually paying?

chadgroove, just craigslist it at $950 and sell it to a real person in a face to face transaction.

iW00t · Dec 14, 2006

chadgroove said:
One more question if anyone want to toss me some advice. What do you think the reasonable reserve price should be? Seems like people think I can get between $700-$1000 for it.

Don't set a reserve price. More often than not it kills off the bidding frenzy at the end (even though your reserve is very reasonable).

If you have a reasonable expectation bidding will very likely exceed that.

I wouldn't have it end on the following sunday or even the one after though, due to people probably busy out buying gifts, but sundays during the holiday season when people are at home and stores are closed, those would be good times to have your auction end.

Advice on selling Powerbook

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