eBay bargains - what's your latest conquest?

[ahurst]

My latest acquisition….what can we do with this?

View attachment 1954906

I've always thought it would be awesome to swap out the guts in one of these for an Intel NUC or something similar, wire up all the ports on the back properly, and use it as a modern hackintosh media centre. I'm sure you could even get the IR remote working properly!

Now, if only there was a way of getting Front Row working with modern macOS for full effect...

 

[Macbookprodude]

Why is it so much Anti-PowerPC on eBay with sellers ?? Every G4 I see is destroyed or has major issues - probably the sellers break them so they don’t sell well. Meanwhile, I wrote a blog about PowerPC hate by eBay sellers, some even sell G5’s on there with broken legs or bent cases - yea, you don’t find that with Intel.

 

[Doq]

That's probably just how it is. Some users don't go out of their way to take special care of their machines because to them they're just tools to get the job done. If you bent a hammer, it's still a hammer.

Additionally, it's probably the hardcore collectors that scoop up the pristine examples, leaving the "more used" machines up. Though, I'm not personally in the camp of caring that my machines aren't in perfect condition; my Companion has a broken hinge and a dent in it! It gives them character in my eyes.

 

[lepidotós]

All my Macs are in awful shape -- and bound to get worse under my ownership. I just noticed a crack form on the back of Donatello's screen case, on the bottom near the left hinge. It's just the reality of using computers as computers and not display pieces, especially ones housed in 25 year old plastic produced by the name in planned obsolescence. I kinda like it, though. I don't go out of my way to damage them, but the blemishes and damage that happens under me does tell a story -- kinda like the traditional way to relic a guitar.
But yeah, @Doq is correct -- the collectors snap up all the pristine units and what's left are the more beat up, often recycled or e-wasted or estate machines, but good thing is you can usually score a good deal on them. $100 for an A1025, for instance.​

 

[ahurst]

some even sell G5’s on there with broken legs or bent cases - yea, you don’t find that with Intel.

Not sure if the Mac Pros are actually built any better, but despite their weight and appearance the PowerMac G5 cases are... not particularly robust.

I was lucky enough to have a free G5 thrown in with a somewhat rough 20" Aluminum Cinema Display I picked up locally a few years back (a Late 2005 2.3, no less)! Unfortunately, the previous owners had moved houses without putting it back in the original packaging which had heavily damaged the lower case, since there's not much attaching the bottom feet to the side of the case under the access panel (some small rivets and some sort of heavy glue IIRC). It had come fully detached and was sagging at an angle under its own weight.

Thankfully, my dad's a retired mechanical engineer, so I brought it down when I went to visit and we managed to bend and re-attach the case to be in passable shape with some pop-rivets and JB Weld:

Despite this, we weren't able to un-distort the metal to be completely level again so it's *slightly* lopsided, which I've addressed with some dollar-store furniture pads that make it look pretty normal at a distance:

But yeah, these sadly weren't built to withstand much physical abuse (at least, not to the bottom case). Luckily for mine, I have no intention of physically abusing it further.

 

[Macbookprodude]

No, just I see more abuse and destruction of PowerPC Macs on ebay than Intel or even M1.. as if the sellers don't care the condition of their systems they sell on ebay. The way I see the Titanium PowerBook and Aluminum ones and how they are really f**** up and messed up makes me think the sellers hated PowerPC and destroyed them and sell them as "FOR PARTS ONLY". Its a shame so much powerpc hatred is on ebay.

 

[Macbookprodude]

Not sure if the Mac Pros are actually built any better, but despite their weight and appearance the PowerMac G5 cases are... not particularly robust.

I was lucky enough to have a free G5 thrown in with a somewhat rough 20" Aluminum Cinema Display I picked up locally a few years back (a Late 2005 2.3, no less)! Unfortunately, the previous owners had moved houses without putting it back in the original packaging which had heavily damaged the lower case, since there's not much attaching the bottom feet to the side of the case under the access panel (some small rivets and some sort of heavy glue IIRC). It had come fully detached and was sagging at an angle under its own weight.

Thankfully, my dad's a retired mechanical engineer, so I brought it down when I went to visit and we managed to bend and re-attach the case to be in passable shape with some pop-rivets and JB Weld:
View attachment 1964456

Despite this, we weren't able to un-distort the metal to be completely level again so it's *slightly* lopsided, which I've addressed with some dollar-store furniture pads that make it look pretty normal at a distance:
View attachment 1964457

But yeah, these sadly weren't built to withstand much physical abuse (at least, not to the bottom case). Luckily for mine, I have no intention of physically abusing it further.

Nice fixing ! It looks great, possibly owners who owned it wanted to break it or treat it with abuse. PowerPC to them and those ebay sellers is HATE sadly.. But, no they wouldn't do it to an intel mac or M1(PowerPC on steroids).

 

[weckart]

Nice fixing ! It looks great, possibly owners who owned it wanted to break it or treat it with abuse. PowerPC to them and those ebay sellers is HATE sadly.. But, no they wouldn't do it to an intel mac or M1(PowerPC on steroids).

It's not personal and thinking that it is is bizarre to say the least.

I bought my G5 from a recycler. The premises was full of various PCs and Macs in various states of repair. There was a stack of G5s all piled on their sides on top of each other because their legs/handles were bent out of shape. I had come to return mine for the same reason and it joined that pile of returns.

The problem is when you design a heavy computer and decide to house it in a soft metal case. The points of weakness are pretty obvious. Couple that with the expectation of people that everything gets shipped these days and cheaply, no matter how bulky. Without the original packaging, trying to protect the fragile G5 housing is an uphill task, especially given how shippers are going to handle heavy packages like this in a limited turnaround timeframe.

The recycler above did its best packing out the areas around the handles with dead optical drivesG but even so, my initially intact G5 suffered a heavy drop in transit and arrived with a badly bent lower handle, a popped rivet on the side and the part attached to the main casing bent outwards leaving a sharp edge to cut yourself on. Now imagine company after company hauling these things out for e-waste to replace with Intel Macs. They would not have treated scrap with kid gloves. Recyclers kept the best for selling and broke up the rest for parts. That still left cheap shipping as an interim source of damage.

The majority of G5s went to commerce, not end users. Ditto a lot of the higher end PowerBooks. Staff are not going to baby work tools. If it breaks, they get another. You should know this and the same applies to a lot of optimistically designed PCs.

 

[TheShortTimer]

No, just I see more abuse and destruction of PowerPC Macs on ebay than Intel or even M1.. as if the sellers don't care the condition of their systems they sell on ebay. The way I see the Titanium PowerBook and Aluminum ones and how they are really f**** up and messed up makes me think the sellers hated PowerPC and destroyed them and sell them as "FOR PARTS ONLY". Its a shame so much powerpc hatred is on ebay.

Nice fixing ! It looks great, possibly owners who owned it wanted to break it or treat it with abuse. PowerPC to them and those ebay sellers is HATE sadly.. But, no they wouldn't do it to an intel mac or M1(PowerPC on steroids).

There's no end of items - across all categories for sale on eBay in appalling condition and at absurd prices. It's not exclusive to Apple PowerPC computers nor is it a demonstration of a hate campaign against the hardware, as has been elucidated by @weckart.

 

[Doq]

Ever seen a trashed ThinkPad? I have. It makes me sad to see them.

----

What doesn't make me sad is a certain Display for Studio use to go with my Six Dollar eMac.

More on this later. 👀

 

[ahurst]

Nice fixing ! It looks great, possibly owners who owned it wanted to break it or treat it with abuse. PowerPC to them and those ebay sellers is HATE sadly.. But, no they wouldn't do it to an intel mac or M1(PowerPC on steroids).

I don't think the people I bought it from knew much about computers. If they did, I'd imagine they'd have tried to get more for it than "free with a 50$ Cinema Display" given that it's one of the most desirable G5's ever made (the fastest air-cooled model)

I still remember my surprise at my luck: the ad was brief and mostly about the monitor, so I just figured I was getting an early 1.6 or 1.8 GHz with the deal...

 

[weckart]

I don't think the people I bought it from knew much about computers. If they did, I'd imagine they'd have tried to get more for it than "free with a 50$ Cinema Display" given that it's one of the most desirable G5's ever made (the fastest air-cooled model)

I sort of lucked out once that way. I bought a 22" ACD for not much on eBay but noticed in the picture what appeared to the hard to find DVI to ADC (A1006) adapter. The seller, which was a recycling depot, thought it was a power supply to the screen and put that in the description. I thought it was worth a punt. Nobody else seemed to spot it and I got the screen for the opening bid. Drove down to the depot, a fairly tatty shed piled high with tons of computers and laptops in various states of disrepair. Explained to the bloke working there what he actually sold and he was absolutely crestfallen.

He pointed to a pile of broken/untested/possibly working Apple notebooks and asked me if I wanted to make an offer for the lot or anything else in his shed. This was before prices for vintage Macs went sky high but I wasn't looking for spare parts or projects at the time so just left with my screen and adapter.

 

[TheShortTimer]

I don't think the people I bought it from knew much about computers. If they did, I'd imagine they'd have tried to get more for it than "free with a 50$ Cinema Display" given that it's one of the most desirable G5's ever made (the fastest air-cooled model)

Congrats on your steal. Once an item is classified as "old hat" very often people simply won't care about the price that it could fetch on the hobbyist scene. To them, it's just old, collecting dust, causing clutter and needs to be disposed of asap. If they can make a bit of money in the process, that's a bonus.

Over the past few years I've found numerous consumer electronics items which had been discarded and were destined for a landfill had I not grabbed them. The majority were fully working and some of them would've attracted significant bids on eBay but presumably the owners couldn't be bothered to pursue that route and felt it was easier to just throw them away.

Thankfully this didn't happen with your G5.

 

[Amethyst1]

Over the past few years I've found numerous consumer electronics items which had been discarded and were destined for a landfill had I not grabbed them.

But the opposite is also common: some old, totally beaten up, dirty, dusty and virtually worthless item that is in no way rare, special or desirable, yet it's listed for a fortune because it's oh-so-retro. OK then, tell me... what's so irresistibly retro about a random five-year-old smartphone with a smashed screen?

 

[TheShortTimer]

But the opposite is also common: some old, totally beaten up, dirty, dusty and virtually worthless item that is in no way rare, special or desirable, yet it's listed for a fortune because it's oh-so-retro.

Oh yes, eBay has become a haven for the delusional who genuinely think that they can become a millionaire from selling something which anyone who possesses rational faculties would instantly recognise as only fit for the recycling dumpster. For example, just a few days ago I saw a coat for sale and its sleeves had disintegrated and the seller described it as requiring "restoration work." No - what it requires is a trip to the textiles recycling bank!

OK then, tell me... what's so irresistibly retro about a random five-year-old smartphone with a smashed screen?

I constantly encounter those ridiculous listings whenever I browse through the spares/repairs items.

In great condition apart from a smashed screen.

Loops to the Apple logo when switched on but apart from that works fine.

Doesn't recognise SIM cards but beyond that the phone is ok.

Give me strength.

 

[Dronecatcher]

I constantly encounter those ridiculous listings whenever I browse through the spares/repairs items.

I've seen so many of those: "Mint condition, no visible wear or scratches. Screen doesn't work."

 

[TheShortTimer]

I've seen so many of those: "Mint condition, no visible wear or scratches. Screen doesn't work."

"If you ignore that, it's a great buy!"

 

[Amethyst1]

I've seen so many of those: "Mint condition, no visible wear or scratches. Screen doesn't work."

Perfect for the blind

 

[alectrona6400]

At some point in my life I saw an iMac G4 listing that was for parts around 6 years ago. It had "I HATE MOM" inscribed onto the LCD.

I really wish I saved a picture of that...

But yes, eBay listings are wild, especially when you find stuff that was pulled from a recycling center as-is. It's a fun ride through what goes on with people's laptops when they've been thrown around and used for such a long time. Missing keycaps, broken LCDs, uneven or bad CFL bulbs, the list goes on and on and on!

 

[Amethyst1]

At some point in my life I saw an iMac G4 listing that was for parts around 6 years ago. It had "I HATE MOM" inscribed onto the LCD.

So I'm not the only one who calls their computer "MOM"

 

[InAWhiteRoom]

Does anyone know the logic of listings like this, where a powerbook’s starting price is maybe 10x what you can reasonably expect to pay on many other auctions? Regardless of disposable income, surely no-one would throw money away on a £700 12 inch powerbook? I feel short changed if I’m paying over £100…

I’m interested to know the seller‘s motivation - has anyone had any dealings with ebayers like this?

 

[lepidotós]

If it works out it works out, and if not, you just lower it until someone bites. It'll look more and more reasonable even if none of it is.
I see an A1177 on eBay for ~$250. Just asked if the seller knows whether it's a 2.0, 2.3, or Quad. Can't afford it at the moment but I'll be keeping my eyes on it.​

 

[Dronecatcher]

Does anyone know the logic of listings like this, where a powerbook’s starting price is maybe 10x what you can reasonably expect to pay on many other auctions? Regardless of disposable income, surely no-one would throw money away on a £700 12 inch powerbook? I feel short changed if I’m paying over £100…

I’m interested to know the seller‘s motivation - has anyone had any dealings with ebayers like this?

View attachment 1973742

That looks like the seller who bought my Clamshell at a ridiculously low price and accused me of failing to leave him feedback - which of course was untrue. He never left me any feedback of course and no doubt sold the Clamshell for ten times what he paid....

 

[alectrona6400]

I bought an A1145 off of eBay for roughly $80 a few days ago. Have been looking for that specific model for a while.

 

[rampancy]

Does anyone know the logic of listings like this, where a powerbook’s starting price is maybe 10x what you can reasonably expect to pay on many other auctions? Regardless of disposable income, surely no-one would throw money away on a £700 12 inch powerbook? I feel short changed if I’m paying over £100…

I’m interested to know the seller‘s motivation - has anyone had any dealings with ebayers like this?

View attachment 1973742

I feel like this person is trying to bank on this Mac reaching collectible status, or rising in demand with retro Mac modders and enthusiasts -- similar to what's apparently happened with iPods over the past few years.

The thing is, I don't think 12" PBs are that rare (compared to say, the fabled DLSD 15" Aluminum PBs), and while yes, a full machine with its original box and materials is unusual, I personally wouldn't judge it unusual or rare enough to command such a high price.