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[UK] Used Mac Mini market grossly overpriced?

M

M3G4

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 4, 2007
100
0
Kent, UK
Hey all,

Just been surfing my old friend the bay of the e, and I've noticed just how expensive people are selling the old intel mac minis for!

Mac2Sell suggests the following:
Your Computer is a
Mac mini Intel Core Duo 1.83 GHz 1024 / 80 GB / combo
The Mac2Sell Quoted Value is :
£ 190
Click to expand...

Apple Refurb Store has the same spec for £329 (which probably hasn't been updated for a while!)

£449 with a bunch of useless tat stuck on.

£420 for the 1.6GHz version!

and finally:

£300 for the bargain basement 1.5GHz Core Solo!

What pisses me off the most is the fact the idiots on eBay will bid on these things stupidly over and above what they're worth. I don't understand why?

Is it just the UK where this stupidly high overpricing takes place? :confused:
 
It happens here too. And even more, there are plenty of people who think what they're selling is made of gold. There was a post here a while back of a guy listing a G4 mac mini on ebay for a ridiculous amount, not sure whatever happened with that. I'll go back and search. I see people trying to sell versions of Logic 7 for over $600 all the time, when you can get 9 for $499.
 
No it's not just the UK. It happens here in Aus too. I was watching one particular auction for a 1.83 core 2 machine that ended up selling for $50 less than a current model 2.0 on the refurb store.

Obviously it was a no brainer which one I'd chose and eventually did.

The sad part was the ebay one as you have discovered was not out of the ordinary. I just don't understand the inflated prices of these units.

Mind you I see similar sort of madness when it comes to the Mac Pro units here in Aus. But at least with that you can understand because Pro's don't come on the second hand market all that often over here.
 
I was looking for one for an HTPC project I've been wanting to start forever and all over ebay were 1.8's for damn near the same price as 2.0's and this was in late March mind you, after the change. Even without the superior chipset the old core duos just won't die down. Given the price difference I'll be going for a stock new mini.
 
If you look at it from the other side it is really good news. I sold my MacBook Air 1.6/120gb for over £1000 the week before the new ones came out, I also sold my old 1.83 mini for almost enough to buy my current one just before the refresh. It's business, and if you know when to buy and sell it can make owning the latest macs quite a cheap hobby :)
 
everybody prices high on craigslist but you can work them down in price if you come at them with real numbers. I bought a 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Mac mini (Mid 2007) in Jan 2009 off of Craigslist for $375. The seller had originally listed it at $850. At the time I remember that a 1.83 C2D Mac Mini was $599 on the Apple store ($579 w/ a student discount) and a refurbished 1.83ghz Mac Mini was $499 when available. I used that to bring it down.

It was also just a couple months old so had another 9 months warranty. Had a little upgraded RAM and a bigger HD.

But I did get a little screwed because some things were damaged from his install like the wifi and sound from the speaker wasn't working. The Apple store did take care of the sound but wouldn't take care of the wifi. But I don't really need it since it sits next to the cable modem. but I did purchase (Another $62.95) applecare and have it until October 4, 2011.

(I have better details on the mac mini I'm discussing here if anyone cares over here https://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=9313291#post9313291)
 
its not only in the uk, i also watch the german market at ebay , and its one reason i would never buy a intel based mac, no matter if mini or imac, they are just overpriced , and if you look close then most times its basic spec, because if you look on other auctions of the same seller, they sell the ram , osx cd , they sell the imacs with old pro keyboards and sell the bluetooth keyboard and mouse separate and all sorts of things ,so i am not willing to pay for a 2 year old imac £700 if i can get a new21.5 for just under £1000 , same for minis i cant see the point of buying a 2 year old mini for £300 if i could get the new one for £510 , its just rip of and they are most times really only basic spec scratched and faded

thats how i fell in love with the eMacs and imac g3's , because i could and did not want to spend money on a overpriced intel mac , they are no collector items just plain intel pc's called mac and not worth the money some sellers are asking
only example for a 700mhz iMac g3 in perfect condition in original box i would pay £400 because it is a collectors item , but for a used basic 1.6 ghz intel mini ...no way ,not even half that.
i would pay more for a 1.5 g4 mini then i would for a intel 1.5 mini ,because there is nothing special about a intel processor inside
i like old macs and collect them sort of , cant afford a apple 1 or a lisa :(..a dream would come true
 
I think it's the UK. When I was there it seemed to me the cost of living for everything there was relatively high compared to the U.S. Electronic and computer goods no exception. Apple is a U.S. company, and will price their products there based on how much they can get. Here in the U.S., the intense competition keeps their prices a bit lower and reasonable in my opinion.
 
Personally I wanted to sell my Nvidia Mini on e bay in the uk, but was disappointed with the prices being achieved! £400 and under were the average, minus the 10% e bay fees, that gives me £360 for a mac that cost me £500! (A noticeable loss, so going to try gumtree)!
In my opinion second hand value of macs seem to be falling the more popular they get! But their are some bargains out their and people who don't know how to price them for resale. E bay is aways hit and MISS!
 
darrellishere said:
Personally I wanted to sell my Nvidia Mini on e bay in the uk, but was disappointed with the prices being achieved! £400 and under were the average, minus the 10% e bay fees, that gives me £360 for a mac that cost me £500! (A noticeable loss, so going to try gumtree)!
In my opinion second hand value of macs seem to be falling the more popular they get! But their are some bargains out their and people who don't know how to price them for resale. E bay is aways hit and MISS!
Click to expand...


£ 360 for a used intel mini is is way to much even fully upgraded , get real, only a complete fool would spend more then £250 for a used computer that did cost new £500 , mac or not its a simple pc inside ,
on the other hand the 1.5 g4 mini is rare compared to any intel mini and worth up to £350 depending on outside condition , as its the last g4 mini produced and it already got bluetooth2.0 and 64mb vram and the g4 minis are starting to become collectable
 
One of the good things about Macs are they retain their value far longer and quite well in comparison to PCs. This has always been the case, I'm not surprised with these prices. I remember 7 years ago, seeing old ass macs going for a pretty penny on ebay. Nothing new.
 
I've got s 2005 Mac mini still purring along, playing tunes off It's external 1tB drive. It let's me do all the CAD work I need, write it up in Libre office etc. Etc. I don't let it anywhere near the internet, but still, the power pc functionality would cost me hundreds $ to replace nowadays. Properly maintained, the things have a long useful halflife. Plus, I can still Spaceward-Ho on it!
 
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If a 2011 costs more than $150.00, it's not worth it. The problem is that people want their old minis to retain value better than they actually do. I bought a 2011 mini for $250 in 2013 when I saw people selling the same mini for $50.00 less than the most recent model (i.e., more expensive than a refurb from the Apple Store).
 
Are they really overpriced if people will pay that much for them? I am sure some people are just looking for a cheap entry point to Mac OS and are not that concerned with the price. Apple is a closed system for the most part and it is beneficial to resale value.
 
Omnius said:
people want their old minis to retain value better than they actually do.
Click to expand...
True, but some of us also have to consider replacement value.
If my 2005 mini bites the dust. I might consider $150 for a 2005 mini a good deal as a replacement with the same capabilities. Versus $600 for a 2014, it's peanuts. Things'd be different if the machines routinely broke after 3 years of use. Also, I can run System 9 on the 2005, and 10.5.11. Can't say that for any later Mac.
 
Rip off Britain!

Ebay is full of numpties paying over the odds with things, stick to decent forums. Might be selling my Mac Mini for £1k lol
 
I think many of the buyers are computer audiofiles that like the older Mac Mini better than the new ones, the Mini is used for a audio server with Roon, then usb 2 out to their High End dac.
 
adonis3k said:
Rip off Britain!

Ebay is full of numpties paying over the odds with things, stick to decent forums. Might be selling my Mac Mini for £1k lol
Click to expand...

Yes, electronic gadgets have always cost more in England. I remember paying a thousand quid for a 14” Sony, video recorder, and Aiwa hiding back in the mid-90s. Cost 250 quid for a frigging fridge around the same time!
 
Partron22 said:
True, but some of us also have to consider replacement value.
If my 2005 mini bites the dust. I might consider $150 for a 2005 mini a good deal as a replacement with the same capabilities. Versus $600 for a 2014, it's peanuts. Things'd be different if the machines routinely broke after 3 years of use. Also, I can run System 9 on the 2005, and 10.5.11. Can't say that for any later Mac.
Click to expand...

I'm not aware of many people with a need for a Mac mini g4. That said, you're paying for the comparative rarity of locating people selling pre-intel Macs in perfect working order at that point. I think the point was that computers that are 3-9 years old do not retain their value as well as people would like.

People act shocked that a 3 year old computer might be worth $300 less than it was when they purchased it 3 years ago because $300 seems like a lot compared to the price of the machine when they purchased it (e.g. $600). They then get even weirder about the notion that over the next 3-4 years, the computers value will continue to plummet.

The used computer loses value because modern technology improves, the optimum functional life of the aged computer is far less for software compatibility, and because the hardware is burning through its reliable lifespan.
 
Omnius said:
I think the point was that computers that are 3-9 years old do not retain their value as well as people would like.
Click to expand...

And then there's the 2012 Mini which still fetches a good price. OWC sells them with a 90 warranty - this is the exact same model I bought new in 2013 for the exact same price ($550) four years later. https://eshop.macsales.com/item/Apple/EE1D59XX2XXXC/

I wouldn't not buy one of those today, but a year ago I bought a 2012 quad core 2.6ghz i7 mini server with 16gb and 256gb SSD from OWC. They are still selling for the same price at OWC. Very happy with mine, it's about 50% faster than the current (2014) top of the line mini, which is why they are still in demand.
 
This is just market forces; the market charges what people are willing to pay.

That sucks when you want to break into it, but it helps when you're on the other side. Low depreciation is rare in tech sales.
 
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