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eBay bargains - what's your latest conquest?

Hughmac

Hughmac

macrumors 603
Original poster
Feb 4, 2012
6,016
32,690
Kent, UK
I sold a lens on eBay, and before I knew it I had found a Pismo for £30, hopefully it'll work or at least I can build a good one from the broken Pismo in our loft.
I missed my G4 Pismo from a few years back so with one of the 2 CPU boards I might try another G4 upgrade.

Then yesterday I scored a 15" a1138 1.67 DL PowerBook for £20. From the description all that seems wrong is the flashing question mark on boot.

They should both arrive some time next week, when I'll know more about them.

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
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Hughmac said:
I sold a lens on eBay, and before I knew it I had found a Pismo for £30, hopefully it'll work or at least I can build a good one from the broken Pismo in our loft.
I missed my G4 Pismo from a few years back so with one of the 2 CPU boards I might try another G4 upgrade.

Then yesterday I scored a 15" a1138 1.67 DL PowerBook for £20. From the description all that seems wrong is the flashing question mark on boot.

They should both arrive some time next week, when I'll know more about them.

Cheers :)

Hugh
Click to expand...

Hey I also just found an A1138 for CAD$25 last week! Airport/BT card is faulty and PC Card eject button cover are missing, but otherwise seems to be in solid, if dirty condition. :D
 
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At the Time I started with PPC Macs I put 10€ on two eMacs. The better one went up and I got it for 80€, the other one I forgot. Until the day the offer ended - no one else bid. 10€, 60€ shipping fee and two weeks later I was the proud owner of two eMacs - neither of them bootable at first :D and both overpriced...
 
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I've noticed quite a drop in prices for older Intel Macs recently, so it's likely PPC ones will follow suit.
It's amazing how many iBooks and PowerBooks are still around and still working.

Not sure what to do with the DL as I already have 2 good 15" PowerBooks with new batteries, but the Pismo is historical and likely a keeper.

I wonder what's going to happen to prices if Apple switch to ARM? I reckon they'll go up initially as people hang onto their more recent Macs.

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
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I picked up a g5 Quad for £20 on ebay yesterday, sadly the PSU seems to be faulty (turns off after less than a second). I've currently got the whole thing stripped down and a new PSU ordered. The LCS looks to be in good condition.
 
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Hughmac said:
I've noticed quite a drop in prices for older Intel Macs recently, so it's likely PPC ones will follow suit.
It's amazing how many iBooks and PowerBooks are still around and still working.

Not sure what to do with the DL as I already have 2 good 15" PowerBooks with new batteries, but the Pismo is historical and likely a keeper.

I wonder what's going to happen to prices if Apple switch to ARM? I reckon they'll go up initially as people hang onto their more recent Macs.

Cheers :)

Hugh
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I’ve had two people hand me their older, beat-up (white) MacBooks this week. I’m not entirely sure what this means, but suddenly I have a lot of laptops which I didn't just a fortnight ago. :O
 
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weckart said:
Really? Maybe the 2009/10 models. The A1181 not so much.
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If I remember rightly, it was the MacBook4,1 that someone on the "Mojave on unsupported Macs" thread finally got going. The later MacBooks such as the Unibody not so much trouble to get Mojave running - I had one myself until I scored a 2012 MBP for a decent price.

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
Hughmac said:
If I remember rightly, it was the MacBook4,1 that someone on the "Mojave on unsupported Macs" thread finally got going. The later MacBooks such as the Unibody not so much trouble to get Mojave running - I had one myself until I scored a 2012 MBP for a decent price.

Cheers :)

Hugh
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Add an external PCIe GPU to that 4,1 and it should run Mojave decently, given ample RAM and an SSD. :)

Back on topic: I bought a VillageTronic VTBook with all the accessories and box for €42 recently, has not arrived yet though.
 
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Unfortunately, I think PPC prices have nowhere to go but up. Many of them have unique designs that make them look good on display, then add in nostalgia and you have a recipe for ebay gold. Intels on the other hand have less exciting designs and are currently in the "It's just an old computer, not worth much" stage that PPCs were in until a few years ago when they started getting popular online.

As for my purchases, I picked up an iMac G4 on ebay, working, for $30. It's not in perfect condition, but at least it boots!
 
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So if PPC prices are set to rise, how do we explain the absolute bargains described above? Skill and knowledge from the members here?
To be honest, I've also seen some really unrealistic expectations of value, and for not always fully working PPC Macs too ;)

Cheers :)

Hugh
 
PPC Mac's don't really sell for that much on Ebay when the price starts at $1 and there is no reserve.

I suppose you can get uneducated/computer illiterate people to bid on the higher price ones, I saw a busted Quad G5 the other day with 3 bids at $150.

The system had been dropped and had heavy damage, and it was also listed as non-working.
 
Hughmac said:
I've noticed quite a drop in prices for older Intel Macs recently, so it's likely PPC ones will follow suit.
Click to expand...
Prices on early Intels are dropping because they do not run the latest versions of OS X or the latest software.

It's a pattern that was shown with PowerPC and just like PowerPC is the entry door to how I intend to move from PowerPC to Intel. There is a wide range of MP's that are starting to open up pricewise to me that will allow me to finally get off Adobe CS4. Hell the MBP I am typing this on can run Adobe CC and QuarkXPress 2018. I'm looking forward to that next period when they finally get in my range.

However, I do not believe PowerPC prices will drop. It's been my experience that the prices of these Macs are increasing. The deals you got and that are evident in this thread I would argue to be outliers. Private individuals who just want to get rid of the Macs or have no idea what they have.

But I've said before and continue to say that there is a class of seller out there that knows the worth of these Macs, knows that there is a community for them and is also a bit unscrupulous. I say unscrupulous because if you don't know Macs, you don't know the story and someone can come along and sell you a 2003 PowerBook G4 for $300 by claiming it can run Mojave. It's only us who would know that person is a liar.

Who hasn't seen a listing like that on eBay yet?

I've already seen prices go up and I believe in light of that they will continue to. Finally, while Apple did make a lot of Macs, there are indeed a finite amount. Finding good, decent, working Macs is getting harder because a lot of them have been spoken for in one way or the other. That's also driving prices up.

Enjoy the deals while you can.
 
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DearthnVader said:
PPC Mac's don't really sell for that much on Ebay when the price starts at $1 and there is no reserve.
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They can and do hit high prices even from that low starting price. Sometimes it’s sheer chance, sometimes it’s geography and sometimes it’s how much info the seller chooses to add. I know that ending auctions on a Sunday tends to drive prices upwards as does offering cheap delivery.

As for unrealistic, this is possibly a sign of things to come:

1EA82D81-9538-4EAC-B217-4510C9A5EE4B.jpeg

For £500, I would want polka dots. Lots and lots of polka dots. :confused:
 
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DearthnVader said:
PPC Mac's don't really sell for that much on Ebay when the price starts at $1 and there is no reserve.

I suppose you can get uneducated/computer illiterate people to bid on the higher price ones, I saw a busted Quad G5 the other day with 3 bids at $150.

The system had been dropped and had heavy damage, and it was also listed as non-working.
Click to expand...

Shill bidders maybe?

I scored a functioning 12” pb +retail box of tiger + charger for $22 a few weeks ago off the bay. In this instance The seller was a landlord who’s tenant left it behind so just offloading old computer junk vs a dedicated eBay reseller of Mac stuff. I scooped it for a new lobo with functioning Gpu, superior case & Mated it to the better screen, ssd & keyboard off my dead pb12 to make the functioning unit I have.

Not a bad unit overall. I’m happy with it. I did sacrifice an inferior cpu speed in the upgrade but it actually works now, looks better & I have a neat box of tiger to sit on my shelf.

85DCE1B3-2C29-4940-9952-FCA17E6CF7B6.jpeg


I also scored a boxed iSight for my pmg5 for $6.99 off of shop-goodwill. Always wanted one & now have another neat box to sit on my shelf bookend.
 
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I think some of the bargains mentioned have been private sellers who don't know what to do with old Macs, and indeed the biggest deals come from the spares/repairs sales where the buyer can see an easy fix.

I've not bought into PPC for a while, but my two PowerBooks came in at £75 (top end in my opinion, and cost me some RAM and an SSD as the hard drive started dying the day after arrival), and only £45 fully working with 2GB RAM and 128GB SSD already installed (this one is probably a bargain, although I'm getting an occasional irritating freeze after sleep).
Getting a third PowerBook for £20 is probably a complete fluke and not easily repeatable, hence I jumped in quick when I saw it. If it's a runner it'll need RAM, SSD and probably battery to get it up to scratch.

I've looked at some vastly overpriced machines, but never actually seen any false claims for what an old Mac can run Mac OS wise.

By the way I was actually running CS4 as my photo editor as far as High Sierra, until I bought Elements 15 for something more modern, and in fact CS4 runs pretty well on my PowerBooks.

Cheers :)

Hugh
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weckart said:
They can and do hit high prices even from that low starting price. Sometimes it’s sheer chance, sometimes it’s geography and sometimes it’s how much info the seller chooses to add. I know that ending auctions on a Sunday tends to drive prices upwards as does offering cheap delivery.

As for unrealistic, this is possibly a sign of things to come:

View attachment 840109

For £500, I would want polka dots. Lots and lots of polka dots. :confused:
Click to expand...
You see, I wouldn't ever pay that price for a clamshell; I'd rather bide my time for a cheaper 'broken' one. The fun is actually in the restoration to fully working than the original purchase ;)
 
This isn’t goodwill or eBay but I scored a $10 quicksilver a while back on CL & just (last night) transplanted the guts from my old QS (free to me) to this new one as it was in better condition.

EB2BBBDE-1792-41EA-A6D3-E5CC32D82803.jpeg

2DDD7626-DAAE-44DB-8740-DD917B7098A5.jpeg


In the bottom pic I was playing with a functioning pcb off of a trashed external hdd & have it connected to the internal USB port on a 2.0usb pci card Giving me a cheap way to connect sata drives to my quicksilver.
 
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eyoungren said:
However, I do not believe PowerPC prices will drop. It's been my experience that the prices of these Macs are increasing. The deals you got and that are evident in this thread I would argue to be outliers. Private individuals who just want to get rid of the Macs or have no idea what they have.

But I've said before and continue to say that there is a class of seller out there that knows the worth of these Macs, knows that there is a community for them and is also a bit unscrupulous. I say unscrupulous because if you don't know Macs, you don't know the story and someone can come along and sell you a 2003 PowerBook G4 for $300 by claiming it can run Mojave. It's only us who would know that person is a liar.

Who hasn't seen a listing like that on eBay yet?
Click to expand...

I think what unsettles me is the schism between, at one end, bringing old computers back into serviceability and usefulness to give to others (like kids and folks who want to learn to tinker with Linux or components) — to recycle abandoned tech back into use and to divert from disposal — and, at the other end, people who behave completely in their own self-interest and insist that getting old tech to work is a path toward makin’ money (going so far as to embellish truth or even outright lie in their flipping of stuff on an auction page or local used listings).

I want old stuff to work again, to be useful once more for someone who will actually use it, to divert from disposal, and this is why I’m learning to work on this old tech. Nevertheless, I’m astonished, especially with this past week, at how eagerly people are ready to toss out otherwise working (or near-working) tech.
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Hughmac said:
Here's an example of slight overpricing - a Pismo for only $866 - https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Apple-Po...917103?hash=item1a7890fb2f:g:WUoAAOSwlxxbzJY8 but it's OK because there is free shipping in the US :D

Cheers :)

Hugh

Oh dear, I've just seen his other Macs for sale ;)
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He uses a mess of fraudulent descriptions and barks like Cal Worthington with his dog Spot (which in his case, is just literally spots).

Given how there’s a sucker born every minute, one sale from his bullmore 10x inflation fee is enough to sustain having nine more which don’t sell promptly. He’s not so much a capitalist parasite as he is an MRSA you’ve simply got to steer clear of.
 
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B S Magnet said:
Given how there’s a sucker born every minute, one sale from his bullmore 10x inflation fee is enough to sustain having nine more which don’t sell promptly. He’s not so much a capitalist parasite as he is an MRSA you’ve simply got to steer clear of.
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But he has organic cowhide for sale. Like there is any other sort.
 
Lol these conversations always remind me of the age old words of wisdom -

Buyer beware. :D
 
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