Some posts here concern whether to buy new or used mac minis. To keep things real I thought to post actual data for recent sales at eBay.
I track all the sales of four different models over a few days. Many sales included extras (accessories, upgrades) whose new cost I subtract off to obtain a price for the mini alone. I probably should subtract off the used cost of the accessories, but that gets too complicated.
1) 2010 non-server core2 / 2GB / 320GB HDD / optical drive (macmini4,1 or MC270LL/A). I tracked fifteen units that were for sale over two days. Five units that were priced $240 or more ended with no sale. Of the ten units that did sell, prices ranged from $211 to $244 with averages of $235 (mean) and $240 (median).
2) 2011 low-range dual i5 / 2GB / 0.5TB HDD (macmini5,1 or MC815LL/A). I tracked eight sales over five days. Prices ranged from $175 to $380 with averages of $289 (mean) and $306 (median).
3) 2011 high-range server quad i7 / 4GB / 2 x 0.5TB (macmini5,3 or MC936LL/A). Someone sold six units in a couple of days ending 8/9/15. Prices ranged from $476 to $586 with averages $551 (mean) and $567 (median).
3) 2012 low-range dual-i5 / 4GB / 0.5TB HDD (macmini6,1 or MD387LL/A). Someone recently sold seven of these in quick succession. The selling prices ranged from $404 to $455 with an average (mean and median) of $421. The original cost from Apple was $600.
4) 2012 mid-range quad-i7 / 16GB (upgrade from 4GB) / 1TB HDD (macmini6,2 or MD388LL/A). Someone recently sold two of these in quick succession. The selling price was $730 each. The 16GB upgrade is now $100 from Crucial, so taking that off, the price of the mid-range 2012 model is $630. The original cost from Apple with 4GB was $800.
Bottom line:
$235 for 2010 macmini4,1 or MC270LL/A,
$289 for 2011 macmini5,1 or MC815LL/A,
$551 for 2011 macmini5,3 or MC936LL/A,
$421 for 2012 macmini6,1 or MD387LL/A,
$630 for 2012 macmini6,2 or MD388LL/A.
To these prices you must add the values of any accessories and upgrades. These prices do seem to hold up for sales besides the ones I tracked.
Keep in mind eBay has lots of small shops asking more for these machines (buy-it-now listings), and the dynamics of auctions can lead inexperienced buyers to overpay (place-a-bid listings). I think the values above are realistic because they were multiple sales.
I do not include the 2011 mid-range (macmini5,2 or MD388LL/A) because, being the last with a separate non-intel graphics chip, it tends to burn out rather than shut down when it overheats (called "Radeongate"). The 2010 model have the old core2 processors with dual cores that are not multithreaded. They are next to be dropped from some future revision of the OS, but for now they will work with 10.11 El Capitan.
I track all the sales of four different models over a few days. Many sales included extras (accessories, upgrades) whose new cost I subtract off to obtain a price for the mini alone. I probably should subtract off the used cost of the accessories, but that gets too complicated.
1) 2010 non-server core2 / 2GB / 320GB HDD / optical drive (macmini4,1 or MC270LL/A). I tracked fifteen units that were for sale over two days. Five units that were priced $240 or more ended with no sale. Of the ten units that did sell, prices ranged from $211 to $244 with averages of $235 (mean) and $240 (median).
2) 2011 low-range dual i5 / 2GB / 0.5TB HDD (macmini5,1 or MC815LL/A). I tracked eight sales over five days. Prices ranged from $175 to $380 with averages of $289 (mean) and $306 (median).
3) 2011 high-range server quad i7 / 4GB / 2 x 0.5TB (macmini5,3 or MC936LL/A). Someone sold six units in a couple of days ending 8/9/15. Prices ranged from $476 to $586 with averages $551 (mean) and $567 (median).
3) 2012 low-range dual-i5 / 4GB / 0.5TB HDD (macmini6,1 or MD387LL/A). Someone recently sold seven of these in quick succession. The selling prices ranged from $404 to $455 with an average (mean and median) of $421. The original cost from Apple was $600.
4) 2012 mid-range quad-i7 / 16GB (upgrade from 4GB) / 1TB HDD (macmini6,2 or MD388LL/A). Someone recently sold two of these in quick succession. The selling price was $730 each. The 16GB upgrade is now $100 from Crucial, so taking that off, the price of the mid-range 2012 model is $630. The original cost from Apple with 4GB was $800.
Bottom line:
$235 for 2010 macmini4,1 or MC270LL/A,
$289 for 2011 macmini5,1 or MC815LL/A,
$551 for 2011 macmini5,3 or MC936LL/A,
$421 for 2012 macmini6,1 or MD387LL/A,
$630 for 2012 macmini6,2 or MD388LL/A.
To these prices you must add the values of any accessories and upgrades. These prices do seem to hold up for sales besides the ones I tracked.
Keep in mind eBay has lots of small shops asking more for these machines (buy-it-now listings), and the dynamics of auctions can lead inexperienced buyers to overpay (place-a-bid listings). I think the values above are realistic because they were multiple sales.
I do not include the 2011 mid-range (macmini5,2 or MD388LL/A) because, being the last with a separate non-intel graphics chip, it tends to burn out rather than shut down when it overheats (called "Radeongate"). The 2010 model have the old core2 processors with dual cores that are not multithreaded. They are next to be dropped from some future revision of the OS, but for now they will work with 10.11 El Capitan.
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