What is too much? If someone is willing to pay $100 for one then it's not too much. If someone is willing to pay $300+ for one then that's not too much either. The fact that you wouldn't pay those prices doesn't mean they're too much.
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What is happening with Mac mini G4 pricing?
- Thread starter WindowsXPuser
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TheShortTimer
macrumors 68040
Too much for the average person. I think that most of us within this community, despite our fondness for Macs - especially the PPC models would concur that the price is too much for us. Of course, a wealthy and determined collector who desires it as a retro ornament to be shown off at dinner parties etc would feel differently - because for them, the sky's the limit but they don't represent the average person who would be interested in purchasing an old computer.
Certificate of Excellence
macrumors 68020
I am 110% about a rational free market defining the selling price. In that sense, I agree with you undeniably. Seller defines asking price and buyer purchases or not. The concern is not that box of rocks seller puts up these ridiculous auctions, rather the damage box of rocks does to the larger retro computing market by doing so. A fast nickel does and always will beat a slow dime. As a business person, I want liquid capital ie: sales/cash in my pocket, not equity (my money) held up in over inflated inventory. This seller obviously does not understand this basic tenant (or does which is more sinister) and if it impacted just him, well, that would be fine with me. But these sorts of grossly over inflated auctions artificially inflate the buyers perceived values and in doing so, increases the actual value of sold items. ie: buyer sees ten $300+ target prices and one lower - wow I just bought this mini for $100 what a steal right? No, not really as last month they sold at $60. Artificially high asking prices distort actual real world sale values which ultimately is a destructive (read inflationary) force within a market reducing capital moving through it. Quick basic maths example: 1 $300 mini sale =$300 vs. 10, $60 mini sales =$600, that's 100% increase in capital value, 900% increase in transactional health etc.
To answer OP @WindowsXPuser ,this type of action is nothing more than a predatory seller (or a few) effectively attempting to manipulate value perception of Holiday shoppers with money to burn and not enough product market knowledge to know not to fall victim to this scummy tactic. This is why this sort of lazy seller behavior is schmuck-worthy. Fundamentally, at its core, it is predatory & damaging/cooling to capital moving through a rational free market.
As I've said countless times before, buyer beware. Crooks are sneaky and everywhere, even here I'm sure of given the opportunity.
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It looks like you have reached a stalemate. Quite a few sellers won't budge until you leave +ve feedback first. I've never cared whether they reciprocate or not. If I am happy enough with the deal, I'll leave a generic +ve feeback. It's rare that I slam someone. it's more likely that I withhold feedback if I'm slightly peeved.
Dronecatcher
macrumors 603
It is bizarre that most sellers think that the buyer leaving them good feedback is part of the customer relationship that they're reviewing.
My experience has been that around 70% buyers/sellers don't leave any feedback even if I have.
My experience has been that around 70% buyers/sellers don't leave any feedback even if I have.
The average person isn't interested in a PPC Macintosh even if they were selling at $25.
As a retro computer enthusiast myself I routinely see old computers with asking prices of $100 - $500 (or higher). In the past month I purchased an Apple II Plus for $300. I am not wealthy with a sky's the limit budget, just someone who understands supply and demand.
IMO this negatively affects the value of the feedback system. Ebay should consider disabling the ability of the buyer to provide feedback until the seller has left theirs. This would be a way to improve the value of the feedback system.
TheShortTimer
macrumors 68040
Amethyst1
macrumors G3
Trying to sell a Mac mini G4 for hundreds of bucks has nothing to do with the dynamics of supply and demand though, because the former is much greater than the latter for these machines: they're neither rare nor particularly sought after.
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Amethyst1
macrumors G3
...or they'll continue to be listed at the same outrageous prices because sellers don’t care. 😉
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TheShortTimer
macrumors 68040
I think that almost anyone would have understood the reference and the context if they've read through the reply properly - which is what you failed to do (it happens to all of us at some point) but now you won't acknowledge that because of pride...
Anyhow, I have no animosity towards you - nor do I have any desire to create any. Exchanges such these have led to the mods nuking entire pages from threads and I do not want to see that occur here.
Be well. 🙂
Certificate of Excellence
macrumors 68020
Yep, no animosity here either - no need to get backed into a prideful corner over something so trivial to our lives. I’ve seen some good people who have moved on (who I personally miss their presence and contributions) from this forum over similar unfortunate emotional escalation. You do you, I’ll do me & we move forward together - retro computing friends with differing views which is great. It’s what makes it fun. 🙂
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Certificate of Excellence
macrumors 68020
I recently bought a starter for my truck on eBay and the seller shipped me the wrong one. Yes, I was peeved as it forced me to buy another starter locally at +$50 more (tying up $130 in operating capital in the wrong starter) and yes, I left them a real scorcher of a negative feedback. They did ultimately fix the problem and I did ask eBay to remove the feedback to neutral where I stated the issue and ultimate resolution - did this for an powerbook12 buy that took literally a month to get here as well.
With eBay being flexible about buyers requesting them help adjust feedback, I don’t really hold back if I feel it is warranted as it seems to help move things along for the better (in my experiences) on behalf of the buyer.
This however is my perception, so in the end I may just be creating more work for myself. 😀 Still, it seems to me a good idea to explain the impact seller mistake/error has on Folks lives. Humanity is so often filtered out of online transactions, it’s easy to forget that your actions impact others sometimes in significant ways, so negative feedback still has value in that regard as well. If nothing else it is a training tool to understand why it is important to do better. Anyhoo my $0.02 cents.
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TheShortTimer
macrumors 68040
Me too - I can think of a couple of people whose posts have been invaluable to not only myself but the community as a whole and they ceased contributing to the forums because of toxicity and misunderstandings respectively. In both cases, I reached out to them one-on-one and persuaded them to continue being active members of our community and I'm delighted at that positive outcome. 🙂
You're cherry picking your statement to make such are argument. If it wasn't your intent to state average users with a qualifier then you shouldn't have done so (it happens to all of us at some point) but now you won't a acknowledge that because of pride...
Anyhow, I have no animosity towards you - nor do I have any desire to create any. So, recognize you misspoke and all will be good.
Almost every time I've had an issue with a seller I've contacted them before leaving negative feedback. I believe it's only fair to give someone an opportunity to correct the situation. In fact when I have had an issue which the seller rectified I give them a positive review and mention as much in the comments. Mistakes do happen and I think letting others know a seller is willing to fix the problem is important.
Has Ebay ever adjusted feedback you've given? I see an i with a circle labelled "Revised Feedback" which appears that a buyer can revise their feedback. Not sure if that's something you need to work through Ebay for or if it can be done by the buyer themselves.
Spock
Contributor
I would argue that the 2003 MDD PowerMac G4 is the highest performing system prior to the G5. It has dual 1.25 G4s and can natively run Mac OS 9
Perhaps you, and some other members of the PPC forum clique, shouldn't respond to differences of opinion with snarky comments which serve no purpose but to create toxicity. Example: Post #38 of yours was full of passive aggressive wording.
TheShortTimer
macrumors 68040
You're really not doing yourself any favours with these replies but that's your call. It appears that you are accusing me of the very behaviour which you're exhibiting yourself. My well-wishing was expressed from a place of sincerity. In this thread, I acknowledged my own failure to pay sufficient attention to important details. None of us are infallible. 🙂
I'm not aware of a "PPC forum clique" - from my experience, it has been overwhelmingly a community of heart-warming camaraderie. I've encountered many great people who've helped me with technical issues, taken onboard my requests for potential software releases - or additions to existing releases: without any requests for financial remuneration, people who've sent me software and hardware completely for free and displayed many other acts of kindness and generosity which have reaffirmed my faith in humanity during situations when it wavered.
To reiterate, I have no wish to see this thread suffer the fate of others which were nuked by the mods because of antagonistic behaviour that might have been avoided if people had just paused for a few seconds and reflected. It's for that reason that I won't be responding to you any further within this thread.
Again, be well. 🙂
Uh, you do realize that, in the first quote, a lot of what you quoted from my post was what you wrote to me. If you feel those words were snarky then I have illustrated my point about your creating a toxic environment.
Of course you don't, participants never seem to. Instead they fault the outsider for creating the problems. Much like you are here.
If you don't want to see it suffer the same fate as other threads nuked by the mods then perhaps you can quit with the snarky responses to those that you disagree with. Here's what you wrote in post #38:
I think that almost anyone would have understood the reference and the context if they've read through the reply properly - which is what you failed to do (it happens to all of us at some point) but now you won't acknowledge that because of pride...
Anyhow, I have no animosity towards you - nor do I have any desire to create any. Exchanges such these have led to the mods nuking entire pages from threads and I do not want to see that occur here.
Everything highlighted in red was intended to be snarky. It added nothing, it was condescending, it was antagonistic, and it creates a toxic environment. You should have left it out.
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Certificate of Excellence
macrumors 68020
Hmm, I have always just messaged ebay folks and they have been kind enough to adjust the feedback to accurately reflect the ultimate result. As a buyer I can also respond to the feedback to update the end result which is a nice function. No, not to my knowledge has ebay changed my feedback unless I requested help with it. That doesn't mean that ebay will not do this - there are guidelines for sellers to both respond to and request changes be made to negtive buyer feedback that they feel is unfair or inaccurate to the final resolution.
Of course ebay would prefer that you do neither of these things and instead solve situations outside of negative feedback disputes.
I got one for free from a friend. Installed 10.6 on it, but didn′t go beyond that so far. Planning to set up a local server on G5 Quad and use it for ports archive for G4, then I can avoid compiling gcc and other huge ports. I don′t have patience to compile a single thing for 4 days just to see it fail on some test LOL
P. S. Anyone wants a new MacMini G4? Take a look: https://buyee.jp/mercari/item/m38080024931 (not my listing)
P. S. Anyone wants a new MacMini G4? Take a look: https://buyee.jp/mercari/item/m38080024931 (not my listing)