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This is what ticks me off about where I live.

So here's my situation. I am selling my dual 2.0GHz G5 Power Mac. A potential buyer called me about it late last week. He's new to Macs...wants to get away from the problems he's having with his PC.

He asked the basic questions about it and said he's interested but has to wait until Monday when he gets paid. I get the impression he doesn't have a lot of money and he can't afford to buy the wrong system. I asked him what his needs were and he responded with the basics: E-mail, web browsing, music, etc. I informed him the system could do all of that. However it's very obvious he is completely clueless when it comes to Macs. Therefore I attempted to explain to him this is an old system (told him is was circa 2003), a different processor architecture (of which he appeared not to have a clue as to what I was saying), and I informed him it is completely unsupported by Apple with the latest OS it can run being released late 2007. He's bound and determined to get a Mac and my selling price is quite reasonable. The system can do everything he wants. But, I get the feeling he might be unhappy with it (or any Mac of this vintage) once he better understands them.

So my question to everyone here is: How much effort should I take to educate him about this system? I feel I've provided ample guidance already (I even flat out said it might not be the right system for him). However he said he still wants it. I feel his want is based on wanting a Mac, having limited funds (thus restricting him to older systems), and ignorance about the challenges faced by these older Macs. With this I'm all about helping a buyer understand what they're buying but I do not feel it's my obligation to lay everything out for him. I also believe a buyer has some responsibility to know what it is they're buying.

So...let's hear you!
 
reco2011 said:
So here's my situation. I am selling my dual 2.0GHz G5 Power Mac. A potential buyer called me about it late last week. He's new to Macs...wants to get away from the problems he's having with his PC.

He asked the basic questions about it and said he's interested but has to wait until Monday when he gets paid. I get the impression he doesn't have a lot of money and he can't afford to buy the wrong system. I asked him what his needs were and he responded with the basics: E-mail, web browsing, music, etc. I informed him the system could do all of that. However it's very obvious he is completely clueless when it comes to Macs. Therefore I attempted to explain to him this is an old system (told him is was circa 2003), a different processor architecture (of which he appeared not to have a clue as to what I was saying), and I informed him it is completely unsupported by Apple with the latest OS it can run being released late 2007. He's bound and determined to get a Mac and my selling price is quite reasonable. The system can do everything he wants. But, I get the feeling he might be unhappy with it (or any Mac of this vintage) once he better understands them.

So my question to everyone here is: How much effort should I take to educate him about this system? I feel I've provided ample guidance already (I even flat out said it might not be the right system for him). However he said he still wants it. I feel his want is based on wanting a Mac, having limited funds (thus restricting him to older systems), and ignorance about the challenges faced by these older Macs. With this I'm all about helping a buyer understand what they're buying but I do not feel it's my obligation to lay everything out for him. I also believe a buyer has some responsibility to know what it is they're buying.

So...let's hear you!
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I'd say you've done a lot already, and have certainly been more helpful and honest than most sellers would. If he wants it, he wants it.

You could also point him to this forum. He'll get a lot of advice about PPC Macs here that he won't find anywhere else.
 
When I get rid of a computer I always make a little text document of everything the person might need to know and I leave it on the desktop.

In your case I would do the same, give information about the computer, how to do stuff, where to find stuff, etc.

Also, explain in detail that it will not run any new software and that Apple will not service it. I think you already said that you stated that to the buyer, but explain it until he understands.
 
556fmjoe said:
I'm going to send them an email asking if they know how to unstick the caps lock key.
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Tru dat. I can't take anyone serious that types in all caps, especially a so-called computer "technician".

----------

I happen to live in RI which has an abundance of used PPC Macs on CL, however, the prices are high (like some of the sellers). If I peruse the Boston CL there are a ton of PPCs with reasonable prices. I guess I'm one of the geographically lucky ones.
 
128keaton said:
I saw that too. Memphis? I'd love to pick up a cheap PowerBook, but I don't see that happening anytime soon, :(. Now, I'd be more than happy to pick up a MacPro1,1 (More expandability/upgradability, still has software challenges). At this point, I could get an A1001 with free shipping for $35. Not bad! Emacs too! Also, don't even get me started on these people:
Image
"ANY PC I MEAN ANY MACKINTOSH" Wait till someone brings in a Pentium D or an AMD machine. Don't go breakin their heart.
Click to expand...
Would love to see them unlock a Sprint iPhone 4. They say any iPhone.

Be a neat trick since the Sprint iPhone 4 has no SIM slot!
 
eyoungren said:
Would love to see them unlock a Sprint iPhone 4. They say any iPhone.

Be a neat trick since the Sprint iPhone 4 has no SIM slot!
Click to expand...

Yeah, people can be *******s. I do tech support for my neighborhood, but since I am young, not many people trust me enough and then they take it to places like these. They will get charged WAY too much and not get the help they need.
 
128keaton said:
I do tech support for my neighborhood…
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Just a word on that, heh! :D

Be careful about whom you offer your tech support. Young or not, it's been my experience that once people realize they have "free" tech support they take it to the extreme.

People are naturally lazy (me too) and take advantage of you. Things they know how to do and can do for themselves they don't because it's easier just to call you.

For myself, I don't mind helping with the occasional problem that's above people's limit, but when I get calls to put in ram because you don't want to get down on the floor and install it yourself or because you can't figure out how it is that you zoomed your browser page in real close (again and AGAIN)…well…no.

Just my two cents here.
 
This is one reason I love LA.. I bought 3 G5 systems. (a dual 1.8, a dual 2.3, and a dual, water-cooled 2.7, though Im only using the 2.3... the water cooled system ended up having a bad logic board)... but still, I managed to get all 3 for less than $200.

I just picked up a free ibook G4, with a loose power connector, took it apart, desoldered it, perfect system. I also traded a dead eMac I got for free, for a 20" ACD.... And the guy knew damn well it was dead (bad hdd), but still wanted it more than his perfectly good ACD with power supply.

If you have the time, check out the LA craigslist.. try to find ppl willing to ship. Prices are better out here, BUT, most won't ship, as these things are heavy)..

Oh yea, and 2 of the G5s I got, came with their original boxes/packaging materials. and $$$$ in software, (just about any video/picture/music editing software you can get to run on G5 systems, as they were former movie studio machines)
 
eyoungren said:
Just a word on that, heh! :D

Be careful about whom you offer your tech support. Young or not, it's been my experience that once people realize they have "free" tech support they take it to the extreme.

People are naturally lazy (me too) and take advantage of you. Things they know how to do and can do for themselves they don't because it's easier just to call you.

For myself, I don't mind helping with the occasional problem that's above people's limit, but when I get calls to put in ram because you don't want to get down on the floor and install it yourself or because you can't figure out how it is that you zoomed your browser page in real close (again and AGAIN)…well…no.

Just my two cents here.
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Totally. I actually charge, just for that reason.
 
The computer dealers in my area have a habit of selling old women useless, stripped and gutted laptops filled with nothing but rocks. For large amounts.
 
In my area there's someone selling 25 eMacs (1.0GHz model) for $40 each and that includes the mouse and keyboard. I didn't think that was too bad.

For $70 someone was selling a Dual G5 PM

Dual 1.8 GHz G5 processors
2GB RAM
250GB SATA Hard Drive
GeForce FX5200
DVD Burner
Fresh install of 10.5.8
 
TacticalDesire said:
In my area there's someone selling 25 eMacs (1.0GHz model) for $40 each and that includes the mouse and keyboard. I didn't think that was too bad.

For $70 someone was selling a Dual G5 PM

Dual 1.8 GHz G5 processors
2GB RAM
250GB SATA Hard Drive
GeForce FX5200
DVD Burner
Fresh install of 10.5.8
Click to expand...

Man, I want an Emac so bad. My iBook is slow.
 
Being around a University, I've done fairly well just being at the right place at the right time when things were about to go in the dumpster.

Surplus just trashes any old computers they get these days(after pulling the hard drive and destroying it), and any PPC Mac is old enough to get that treatment. Fortunately, our department electronics tech goes ahead and pulls hard drives, memory, and other useful before he sends computers to surplus, and has basically given me free reign to grab all the IDE HDDs, optical drives, DDR and SDRAM, and anything else I want as he's under orders from the department chair to "get rid of" all of it.

There's been a beige G3 desktop(along with a 7100) sitting in the hallway for a few days now. I talked to my department's unit business manager(UBM) and she is supposed to, when she gets the chance, deaccession them from the department inventory so that I can legally take them without waiting for them to go to surplus. Neither one is exactly modern, but a free mac is still a free mac. Another professor has also promised me her B&W G3 when she gets around to cleaning out her office, so I have that one to look forward to.
 
bunnspecial said:
Being around a University, I've done fairly well just being at the right place at the right time when things were about to go in the dumpster.

Surplus just trashes any old computers they get these days(after pulling the hard drive and destroying it), and any PPC Mac is old enough to get that treatment. Fortunately, our department electronics tech goes ahead and pulls hard drives, memory, and other useful before he sends computers to surplus, and has basically given me free reign to grab all the IDE HDDs, optical drives, DDR and SDRAM, and anything else I want as he's under orders from the department chair to "get rid of" all of it.

There's been a beige G3 desktop(along with a 7100) sitting in the hallway for a few days now. I talked to my department's unit business manager(UBM) and she is supposed to, when she gets the chance, deaccession them from the department inventory so that I can legally take them without waiting for them to go to surplus. Neither one is exactly modern, but a free mac is still a free mac. Another professor has also promised me her B&W G3 when she gets around to cleaning out her office, so I have that one to look forward to.
Click to expand...
Dang! I wish the south was like that. Most of the comp systems down here are Dell or HP, which I certainly don't want. shop goodwill.com seems to be my savior.
 
bunnspecial said:
Being around a University, I've done fairly well just being at the right place at the right time when things were about to go in the dumpster.
Click to expand...

Tell me about it. My university was clearing out old computers from a media department. I scored a G5 (Dual 2,0, 6 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, 128 MB 9800 Pro) and a Late 2006 iMac at no cost. Both in perfect working order.

That leaves me with a bit larger budget for the 12-inch PowerBook when I happen to find one – those things seem to be quite rarely in circulation, but I want no other Mac in my collection so badly.
 
Pkupman57 said:
This is one reason I love LA..
Click to expand...

Yeah, I live in the metro area of LA and there are a plethora of machines littering CLs all over SoCal, SD, LA, etc, etc. What I hate though is the mentality of some people who think just because it has an Apple logo, it is worth something. For instance:

I saw a PowerBook 190 on CL that this guy tried to pump up as "RARE" and things like that. (For those who don't know, the 190 is basically Apple's first PPC PowerBook, the 5300, with a 68040 processor). I will give him the fact that it had the box and almost everything original minus the floppy disks and manuals. Thing was, he wanted $600 for the machine. Yes, six-hundered US dollars. It put that in perspective, I have two 5300's that I paid less then $50 for the both of them. The listing has since been removed, after the fact I emailed him an offer of $25 and he was ticked off to say the least.

But everything is worth something to someone. For example, I paid just over $200 for an iMac G4. Before you gawk at the price, let me explain. I only bid this much because 1) the seller was the original owner, and 2) he had EVERYTHING the machine shipped with. Down the phone cable no one ever used, to the original install discs and manuals, unyellowed keyboard and mouse, and the original cable ties. The CABLE TIES. I knew this guy was like me; saved everything that came with my new Mac, so I knew I was getting from someone who takes great pride in their machines. Luckily, he double boxed the machine and the original box remained in original condition.
 
iamMacPerson said:
But everything is worth something to someone. For example, I paid just over $200 for an iMac G4. Before you gawk at the price, let me explain. I only bid this much because 1) the seller was the original owner, and 2) he had EVERYTHING the machine shipped with. Down the phone cable no one ever used, to the original install discs and manuals, unyellowed keyboard and mouse, and the original cable ties. The CABLE TIES. I knew this guy was like me; saved everything that came with my new Mac, so I knew I was getting from someone who takes great pride in their machines. Luckily, he double boxed the machine and the original box remained in original condition.
Click to expand...

If it's worth ~ $200.00 to you who are we to say otherwise? ;) People have their reasons for paying what they do for certain things.
 
I got 3 imac g3's for free. (Blueberry, graphite, and indigo).

I got an emac for free.

I got an ibook g4 for free.

I got 7 powermac g4's for free. Yes, seven.


Top that people! And all of the computers above work exept for one powermac and the graphite imac g3.
 
benvw99 said:
I got 3 imac g3's for free. (Blueberry, graphite, and indigo).

I got an emac for free.

I got an ibook g4 for free.

I got 7 powermac g4's for free. Yes, seven.


Top that people! And all of the computers above work exept for one powermac and the graphite imac g3.
Click to expand...
Challenge Accepted: ;)

PowerMac G4 Cube
PowerBook G3 233
iBook G3 blueberry
PowerMac 8600/180 in the box
Performa 400 in the box
Macintosh Plus in the box
iBook G3 800
LC III+
LC II
LC 575 (this guy was dead)
 
Hrududu said:
Challenge Accepted: ;)

PowerMac G4 Cube
PowerBook G3 233
iBook G3 blueberry
PowerMac 8600/180 in the box
Performa 400 in the box
Macintosh Plus in the box
iBook G3 800
LC III+
LC II
LC 575 (this guy was dead)
Click to expand...

I still have the same amount of working computers as you do, just with less model variety.
 
Oh ya you've done a good job! I actually didn't realize how many free Macs I had obtained over the years until just then when I really started thinking about it. I don't feel as bad about how large the collection has gotten when I can at least say there are several that didn't cost anything.
 
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