Old PPC Macs, and eBay

[Jethryn Freyman]

I appear to have a propensity to get drunk and bid on old Macs on eBay I think I have no chance of winning.

Currently, next week I am collecting [for $20, combined] a working 1.6GHz G5 iMac plus a Bondi Blue iMac G3.

The G3 is for nostalgia/collectors value one day, the G5, that will complement what is basically my LAN gaming area.

Any stories of epic eBay buys for PPC Macs? Any advice on selling, checking etc?

<3

[keremtezcan]

I saw 5 eMacs (4 of them 1.42 Ghz top of the line and 1 700 MHz) being sold for £49! Which is something like $75! I was going to buy but someone else bought them...

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They were a buy it now lot, so all of them together.

[AdrianK]

Originally Posted by Jethryn Freyman

Currently, next week I am collecting [for $20, combined] a working 1.6GHz G5 iMac plus a Bondi Blue iMac G3.

God damn, that's a deal just for the G5 on its own. I should scout eBay more often...

[eyoungren]

Originally Posted by Jethryn Freyman

I appear to have a propensity to get drunk and bid on old Macs on eBay I think I have no chance of winning.

Currently, next week I am collecting [for $20, combined] a working 1.6GHz G5 iMac plus a Bondi Blue iMac G3.

The G3 is for nostalgia/collectors value one day, the G5, that will complement what is basically my LAN gaming area.

Any stories of epic eBay buys for PPC Macs? Any advice on selling, checking etc?

<3

All of my eBay Macs have been good buys I think.

17" PowerBook G4 1Ghz: $152.50. Nov. 2009
17" PowerBook G4 1.67Ghz DLSD-HD: $250. Early 2010. Seller didn't mention that this was the DLSD version. It came as a complete surprise. I thought I was getting the standard res version.
12" PowerBook G4 1Ghz, 1.25Gb ram. $58+$23 for a replacement LCD. early 2011.
15.1" PowerBook G4 DVI Titanium 1Ghz, 1Gb ram: $20 including the shipping. I replaced the screen with one from an older Mac. Early 2012.

It's been my experience that most sellers don't understand Macs and sell for "parts or repair" at low prices. Generally it's Macs that only need a little bit of work. I've had two sellers in the past that refused to respond any more to my emails when I sent pics of the supposedly dead Mac I bought from them. 😃

[Liquinn]

Originally Posted by eyoungren

All of my eBay Macs have been good buys I think.

17" PowerBook G4 1Ghz: $152.50. Nov. 2009
17" PowerBook G4 1.67Ghz DLSD-HD: $250. Early 2010. Seller didn't mention that this was the DLSD version. It came as a complete surprise. I thought I was getting the standard res version.
12" PowerBook G4 1Ghz, 1.25Gb ram. $58+$23 for a replacement LCD. early 2011.
15.1" PowerBook G4 DVI Titanium 1Ghz, 1Gb ram: $20 including the shipping. I replaced the screen with one from an older Mac. Early 2012.

It's been my experience that most sellers don't understand Macs and sell for "parts or repair" at low prices. Generally it's Macs that only need a little bit of work. I've had two sellers in the past that refused to respond any more to my emails when I sent pics of the supposedly dead Mac I bought from them. ��

I'm dying to get my hands on a 2005 Powerbook 15"/17" G4 to go with my G5. Will I be able to get one on the UK eBay for cheap?

I got my Powermac G5 from eBay.

[ihuman:D]

Originally Posted by Liquinn

I'm dying to get my hands on a 2005 Powerbook 15"/17" G4 to go with my G5. Will I be able to get one on the UK eBay for cheap?

I got my Powermac G5 from eBay.

I got my HR PBG4 15'' for €180 on Adverts if that helps.

[skateny]

Originally Posted by Liquinn

I'm dying to get my hands on a 2005 Powerbook 15"/17" G4 to go with my G5. Will I be able to get one on the UK eBay for cheap?

I got my Powermac G5 from eBay.

I was checking out G4 1.67GHz PowerBooks on eBay last night. For whatever reason, I was wondering why I bought an iBook three years ago instead of the better G4's at the time I made the purchase. When I saw the prices, I then understood my choice. The PowerBooks in this class are still going for between $229 to over $500. I paid $200 for my iBook.

Today, I wouldn't even look at any rig at lower specs than my iBook and, since some of the offerings are close to $200, I'd definitely opt for the PowerBook.

[jbarley]

Originally Posted by Jethryn Freyman

Any advice on selling, checking etc?

<3

sure, stay sober...

[skateny]

Originally Posted by ihuman:D

I got my HR PBG4 15'' for €180 on Adverts if that helps.

I haven't checked, but I'll bet you can get a MacBook for little more than one some of the high end PowerBooks are going for.

The thing is, if you want to get some money for your PowerBook, the clock is ticking. Unless you're lucky to find a collector, someone who just really wants a PowerBook or an otherwise naive buyer, the current eBay prices for high end PowerBooks are quickly becoming too unattractive for most buyers.

[MisterKeeks]

I actually have never used eBay. I get all of my Macs from the local area. I got the following Macs from UI Surplus.

1. iMac G4 ($50, friend got one for $25)
2. iMac G5 ($90- don't ask me why)
3. Power Mac G5 ($50, friend got a DP 2.3 for $60)
4. Apple Cinema Display Acrylic 23" ($50)

I have gotten airport extreme cards from Goodwill Reboot.

I got an iMac G3 for free from a friend, an iBook G3 for $20 from a friend. Also got an iMac G3 off Craigslist for $10 on Monday (500Mhz Graphite, to complement our 400Mhz Graphite)

Total- $270

Pretty good deals!

[ihuman:D]

Originally Posted by skateny

I haven't checked, but I'll bet you can get a MacBook for little more than one some of the high end PowerBooks are going for.

The thing is, if you want to get some money for your PowerBook, the clock is ticking. Unless you're lucky to find a collector, someone who just really wants a PowerBook or an otherwise naive buyer, the current eBay prices for high end PowerBooks are quickly becoming too unattractive for most buyers.

The macbooks go for €400/€500 upwards while powerbooks usually stop at €250 - so a big difference!
And anyway if I get an intel I'd be tempted to run my games, which would leave to dissapointment if they didn't run to well while PowerPC macs can't run most of my games because of the architecture so I know I wouln't be able to run them anyway.

[zackkmac]

Wow, $20 for an iMac G5 and a G3?! Nice.

It's not a PPC but I did get a fully-working great condition MacBook Core 2 Duo from Craigslist for $150.

[Jethryn Freyman]

Originally Posted by AdrianK

God damn, that's a deal just for the G5 on its own. I should scout eBay more often...

Hell yeah... I already picked up a 1.8GHz 17" G5 for $60 and my G5 dual 1.8 tower for $160, which now has an awesome GPU, SSD, and 4GB memory... plus a 1.8 iMac with 128MB Radeon 9600 for $60.

Originally Posted by jbarley

sure, stay sober...

LOL. True, sir

Originally Posted by zackkmac

Wow, $20 for an iMac G5 and a G3?! Nice.

It's not a PPC but I did get a fully-working great condition MacBook Core 2 Duo from Craigslist for $150.

Lucky man... I got my 4,1 Macbook for $400, with faulty reed switch for the screen and an intermittently faulty Airport card (which I destroyed when I tried to fix, now I have a USB dongle.) Bright side is that the SSD and 6GB of RAM make it run like fire..

[iDutchman]

Originally Posted by Jethryn Freyman

Hell yeah... I already picked up a 1.8GHz 17" G5 for $60 and my G5 dual 1.8 tower for $160, which now has an awesome GPU, SSD, and 4GB memory... plus a 1.8 iMac with 128MB Radeon 9600 for $60.


LOL. True, sir


Lucky man... I got my 4,1 Macbook for $400, with faulty reed switch for the screen and an intermittently faulty Airport card (which I destroyed when I tried to fix, now I have a USB dongle.) Bright side is that the SSD and 6GB of RAM make it run like fire..

Airport Cards for MacBooks white/black with 802.11N support can be bought as "buy now" deals for around 30 dollars on eBay!

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by jbarley

sure, stay sober...

Sobriety is over-rated.

[tom vilsack]

Great deal on G5...and always nice to have a imac G3 as a conversation piece around the home....heck put on Mac OS 9.2.2,install some retro games from macintoshgarden,you got a fun party :-)

[powerpcguy]

Here's to drinking and online auctions! Cheers!

[Jethryn Freyman]

Originally Posted by iDutchman

Airport Cards for MacBooks white/black with 802.11N support can be bought as "buy now" deals for around 30 dollars on eBay!

Correct sir

My Macbook has one that is less than an inch in length, cost about $5. Free postage. Then I went and ordered about half a dozen, simply because I could. Oh, eBay. What would I without thee...

Originally Posted by GermanyChris

Sobriety is over-rated.

<3

[rabidz7]

LOL im gettin a G5 of ebay

[MisterKeeks]

Just got a broken Dual 2.7 G5 for $10 from UI Surplus. Guess what? It's not broken. Pretty good deal if you ask me.

[Cox Orange]

Got a Quicksilver, with Sonnet 1,8GHz Single Upgrade in it. Wouldn't start. It turned out the HDD wasn't jumpered correctly.
Got AGP G4 with Dual 1,8GHz Sonnet, DVD+DL Drive, Sonnet-Sata-Card, 4x 512MB. Only working for 10min. It turned out, the thermal paste on the CPU had to be renewed.
defective MDD Dual 867MHz -> HDD cable was not connected to Mainboard.
Dual 500GHz G4, defective. -> HDD was dead.
and so on

Eyogreen:

It's been my experience that most sellers don't understand Macs and sell for "parts or repair" at low prices. Generally it's Macs that only need a little bit of work.

[MisterKeeks]

Originally Posted by Cox Orange

Got a Quicksilver, with Sonnet 1,8GHz Single Upgrade in it. Wouldn't start. It turned out the HDD wasn't jumpered correctly.
Got AGP G4 with Dual 1,8GHz Sonnet, DVD+DL Drive, Sonnet-Sata-Card, 4x 512MB. Only working for 10min. It turned out, the thermal paste on the CPU had to be renewed.
defective MDD Dual 867MHz -> HDD cable was not connected to Mainboard.
Dual 500GHz G4, defective. -> HDD was dead.
and so on

Eyogreen:

What were the prices?

[Jethryn Freyman]

Got a 1.6GHz G5 iMac for $10, several capacitors hadf blown, HD, memory, case, screen, fans all good. Who knows...

$20 350Mhz 2000-summer iMac, perfect working condition, 10.4.11. Keeping this baby

[Falstaff]

Those are good deals. I've noted that while the g3,g4 and g5 era Macs are still affordable, for the most part, a lot of people who have 68k, 601 & 603 processor based systems are starting to charge collectors prices. Still kicking myself for letting my maxed out Quadra 605 mini server get away from me.

[Cox Orange]

Originally Posted by MisterKeeks

What were the prices?

The two Dual 1,8GHz was 36,-EUR. He had not taken a good description, nor a good title... (I always search the Apple section on Ebay without keyword or just PowerMac and set the price search limit to 100EUR, that keeps out most Intels and I always do only look for auctions ending the next three days, because otherways it would be to much to dig through). This was the best bargain I had.
Dual 500MHz was 15,-EUR including shipping, had a flashed ATI 9200 AGP. Also there was a Village Tronic Picasso PCI Video Card in it, not much worth, but a nice addition on top.
Quicksilver was 3-4 years ago, when they were expensive, payed about 70 or so, instead of 120,-EUR.
The Quicksilver 1,8GHz Sonnet was 58,-EUR (a while ago, but I still remember the price, oh and it had an ATI 9000, which was actually shipped with the MDDs later, if I remember correctly. Sold the Quicksilver without CPU and defective Hard drive for 25,-EUR then.
Oh, and there was an AGP G4 with Sonnet 1,2GHz (which also had overheated and was declared defective), which also had a flashed ATI 9200 AGP in it and maxed out RAM + DVD+DL drive, was 26,-EUR and I picked it up nearby, saving shipping costs.

Seems to be a bit to much luck for one person, but That is in 3-4 years and much late going to bed in times I did it periodically from time to time. Most often it only says PowerMac and I could tell from the picture.