I don't know how many of you are like me.
When I feel it's time to find myself another AppleMac 'toy', I now enjoy doing quite a bit of research first.
I'm fortunate enough to have the means to immediately purchase whatever I fancy - even new, but I now rarely do. I much prefer to put away a little each week in a side-fund until those savings accumulate into a larger sum, say $50 or $100 (or equivalent amount in euros). It reminds me of my days as a kid, saving hard for something that almost appeared beyond my reach, pocket-money wise. But with patience, and a little harder work doing errands etc, brought in a few more extra shillings to boost and accelerate my savings.
I bought my first tatty bicycle that way, as there was no way my parents could have afforded even a second-hand one.
I get that extra satisfaction from a product even now, if I've saved-up for it, rather than going straight out and purchasing it with a piece of plastic!
I'm also a 'quality' freak, meaning I go out of my way to find something which is exceptional condition-wise. Aesthetically it must be as pleasing as possible, which usually means well-cared for, resulting in a reasonable probability that the out-of sight components are also in good condition. This would normally mean paying a premium for that condition.
What can be difficult, is determining the value of the used Mac product I've set my sights on. This is often determined to an extent by the price posted by the seller. But we all know that many sellers overestimate the value of their Macs.
The opposite can also be true, as if I had the choice of many of the products I see for sale in the U.S. (at fabulously low prices imho), I'd be purchasing many more. Here, many sellers grossly overestimate their products.
I was looking at the ads posted this morning on a national site here. One that caught my eye was the photo of a white iBook which looked in good condition, with just the description (and I translate) - 'Mac iBook OS 9.2 in perfect condition.' This is in all probability a 2001 Powerbook4.1. The price (wait for it), 300€ = THREE HUNDRED & TWENTY SIX dollars.
I then checked the nominal value on Mac2Sell for the same model, which was only 20€. What did I say about some folks grossly overestimating their Macs?
It's not a model I was interested in, but if it was, I would probably propose (and be prepared to pay) less that a third of the asking price, say 100€ if it was in really excellent condition, and worthy of being put on display - as many of my collection are.
But on what do I base my 'guesstimate'? I'm not sure, but to coin a phrase, it must be that personal 'gut-feeling'.
I've yet to pay anywhere near that equivalent of $326 even for an iBook Clamshell, but they are at least exciting and deserve somewhat of a premium.
You may have seen I paid no more than $60 for a superb 'Key-Lime' Clamshell SE recently. That too was saved up over 6 weeks with my 'pocket-money' - so believe me that gives a whole lot of extra satisfaction!
Link #25
When I feel it's time to find myself another AppleMac 'toy', I now enjoy doing quite a bit of research first.
I'm fortunate enough to have the means to immediately purchase whatever I fancy - even new, but I now rarely do. I much prefer to put away a little each week in a side-fund until those savings accumulate into a larger sum, say $50 or $100 (or equivalent amount in euros). It reminds me of my days as a kid, saving hard for something that almost appeared beyond my reach, pocket-money wise. But with patience, and a little harder work doing errands etc, brought in a few more extra shillings to boost and accelerate my savings.
I bought my first tatty bicycle that way, as there was no way my parents could have afforded even a second-hand one.
I get that extra satisfaction from a product even now, if I've saved-up for it, rather than going straight out and purchasing it with a piece of plastic!
I'm also a 'quality' freak, meaning I go out of my way to find something which is exceptional condition-wise. Aesthetically it must be as pleasing as possible, which usually means well-cared for, resulting in a reasonable probability that the out-of sight components are also in good condition. This would normally mean paying a premium for that condition.
What can be difficult, is determining the value of the used Mac product I've set my sights on. This is often determined to an extent by the price posted by the seller. But we all know that many sellers overestimate the value of their Macs.
The opposite can also be true, as if I had the choice of many of the products I see for sale in the U.S. (at fabulously low prices imho), I'd be purchasing many more. Here, many sellers grossly overestimate their products.
I was looking at the ads posted this morning on a national site here. One that caught my eye was the photo of a white iBook which looked in good condition, with just the description (and I translate) - 'Mac iBook OS 9.2 in perfect condition.' This is in all probability a 2001 Powerbook4.1. The price (wait for it), 300€ = THREE HUNDRED & TWENTY SIX dollars.
I then checked the nominal value on Mac2Sell for the same model, which was only 20€. What did I say about some folks grossly overestimating their Macs?
It's not a model I was interested in, but if it was, I would probably propose (and be prepared to pay) less that a third of the asking price, say 100€ if it was in really excellent condition, and worthy of being put on display - as many of my collection are.
But on what do I base my 'guesstimate'? I'm not sure, but to coin a phrase, it must be that personal 'gut-feeling'.
I've yet to pay anywhere near that equivalent of $326 even for an iBook Clamshell, but they are at least exciting and deserve somewhat of a premium.
You may have seen I paid no more than $60 for a superb 'Key-Lime' Clamshell SE recently. That too was saved up over 6 weeks with my 'pocket-money' - so believe me that gives a whole lot of extra satisfaction!
Link #25
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