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comda

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 15, 2011
619
85
Greetings PowerPC fans!

I recently had a rather odd experience. I was given a phone number to a fellow, who apparently has his entire basement filled with apple machines ranging from the list i saw from the apple 512k to the imac G5s.

Heres where it gets really fishy. I called the gentlemen up as i was interested in a Imac G4. A machine that sadly is slower then my 1.42Ghz Emac, but far better looking. He told me that for a 17 inch or even 19inch Imac G4 he would take around $150-200.

When i met him his garage was loaded with different Pc parts and among them two imac G4s really dirty, and separated from their screens. He said although they are in parts he guarantees one of them will work. He wanted $20 for them. He showed me a web site that had G4s and G5s for sale and he said this is what their worth. But his Systems where almost stock maybe a RAM upgrade and the ads where ranging from 2008-2012 was the most up to date ad for a 700Mhz imac and someone wanted $800 and it was maxed out.

Honestly i would have taken the imacs as one was a 1Ghz and the other 1.25 (but that model he gave me the bottom plate seperate so it maybe wasnt that model) but there was nothing included but the dirty macs themselves and the fellow was smoking everywhere.

SO can someone please tell me. Are powerPc macs really that expensive or did this old fellow get dropped on his head? Because i asked how much he wanted for a low model Quicksilver and he told me he wont take less then $100 for even the lowest model.
 

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eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,698
26,713
He's trying to make a buck on Apple's popularity.

I just bought a 17" PowerBook G4, the first model for $69. Everything works on this Mac, it was opened maybe once and everything about it is clean and sharp.

$69.

And that was slightly more than I was willing to pay. Now, the lampshade iMacs are collectable because the design was popular, but I'd only take him up on that price if the Mac was near perfect.

As to a Quicksilver, you can find good, well taken care of systems on eBay for $50-75.

There is zero way I'd pay the guy what he wants for anything less than perfect and probably not even then.
 

ptdebate

macrumors 6502
Jul 3, 2014
333
4
Dallas, Texas
An MDD really shouldn't cost more than $40. High-end, upgraded G5s are reasonable at $80-$150. With Powerbooks, YMMV. If it's in insanely great condition, maybe $150-$250 depending on the completeness of the packaging. A super clean TiBook might fetch even more because those were very susceptible to body damage.
 
Last edited:

A.Goldberg

macrumors 68030
Jan 31, 2015
2,543
9,710
Boston
I see iMac G4's go for $30-75 on craigslist.

MDD's around $60-$80

G5's $70-$100

$150 to $200 for a well over 10 year old computer that they produced zillions of? I think not. They're not particularly rare and they're not worth the monetary value. Performance of a G4 is useless in the modern era. You could buy a netbook for $150 that far exceeds the capabilities.

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He's trying to make a buck on Apple's popularity.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. These shysters are everywhere and attempt to make money by ripping people off. It's an Apple, Apple's are popular, Apple's are expensive new, therefore a 12 year old iMac is still worth hundreds. People try to pass Power Mac G5's off as Mac Pros. Yeah, a single 1.8Ghz G5 (tower only) for $400- great deal!

They probably have been known to make a buck or two to someone that has no idea what they're buying.

If $1500 computer depreciated at 30% per year (a generally average depreciation rate for items), in 10 years it worth about $60.53. That sounds fair to me.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,698
26,713
I agree with this wholeheartedly. These shysters are everywhere and attempt to make money by ripping people off. It's an Apple, Apple's are popular, Apple's are expensive new, therefore a 12 year old iMac is still worth hundreds. People try to pass Power Mac G5's off as Mac Pros. Yeah, a single 1.8Ghz G5 (tower only) for $400- great deal!

They probably have been known to make a buck or two to someone that has no idea what they're buying.

If $1500 computer depreciated at 30% per year (a generally average depreciation rate for items), in 10 years it worth about $60.53. That sounds fair to me.
There's a guy on eBay trying to sell his 17" PowerBook G4 for $500. Just because he believes it's gently used and therefore worth that price.

The only person who will buy it is the confused person who's going to find out very quickly that it doesn't have Yosemite installed.

On the opposite extreme is the seller who has no clue what he has. Saw an ad for a PowerBook G4 17" on craigslist the other day. Yet the picture the vendor provided was for a 15" aluminum MacBook Pro.
 

comda

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 15, 2011
619
85
I see iMac G4's go for $30-75 on craigslist.

MDD's around $60-$80

G5's $70-$100

$150 to $200 for a well over 10 year old computer that they produced zillions of? I think not. They're not particularly rare and they're not worth the monetary value. Performance of a G4 is useless in the modern era. You could buy a netbook for $150 that far exceeds the capabilities.

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I agree with this wholeheartedly. These shysters are everywhere and attempt to make money by ripping people off. It's an Apple, Apple's are popular, Apple's are expensive new, therefore a 12 year old iMac is still worth hundreds. People try to pass Power Mac G5's off as Mac Pros. Yeah, a single 1.8Ghz G5 (tower only) for $400- great deal!

They probably have been known to make a buck or two to someone that has no idea what they're buying.

If $1500 computer depreciated at 30% per year (a generally average depreciation rate for items), in 10 years it worth about $60.53. That sounds fair to me.

Thats exactly what i figured. Looking at the photo i posted (2 screens and one of the imacs-he had the other in his hand) He was telling me that according to a canadian website (yes im Canadian eh ;) ) ehmac.ca These are worth a lot. I told him that for a machine that cant run youtube, facebook or even a google search very well thats expensive and he proceeded to tell me that the imac G4s are rare machines with an amazing design. The fellow was old and stuck in his ways because of another fellow from a local apple repair shop said their worth a few hundred and now this man is giddy.

I ended up leaving the 2 Imacs are they where in poor shape and the guy had parts everywhere. Heck he had a soldering iron on his front porch!

I really wanted an Imac G4 but landed a 1.42Ghz emac that no affense i want to sell because i havnt got much use for it. But i hope that no one in the area falls for his false information.
 

eyoungren

macrumors Penryn
Aug 31, 2011
28,698
26,713
Thats exactly what i figured. Looking at the photo i posted (2 screens and one of the imacs-he had the other in his hand) He was telling me that according to a canadian website (yes im Canadian eh ;) ) ehmac.ca These are worth a lot. I told him that for a machine that cant run youtube, facebook or even a google search very well thats expensive and he proceeded to tell me that the imac G4s are rare machines with an amazing design. The fellow was old and stuck in his ways because of another fellow from a local apple repair shop said their worth a few hundred and now this man is giddy.

I ended up leaving the 2 Imacs are they where in poor shape and the guy had parts everywhere. Heck he had a soldering iron on his front porch!

I really wanted an Imac G4 but landed a 1.42Ghz emac that no affense i want to sell because i havnt got much use for it. But i hope that no one in the area falls for his false information.
This gentleman will probably stay set in his opinion. However, he will continue to lose sales on those machines.

At the end he will still have his pile of "rare" Macs and no money to show for it.
 
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