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Zen and the art of used iBook pricing

M

MrPembridge

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 23, 2003
11
0
Hey guys,

First time poster long time lurker, as the saying goes. Great place, btw.

Gotta get me one of the new 15" Pbooks, so I'm trying to put a price quote around an iBook I wanna sell.

The specs are:

700mhz
14.1"
Combo drive
640mb Ram
Airport inside.

Bought on 7/6/2002. Out of Warrenty.

Comes with:
-1 extra battery.
-s-video / rca connector.
-extra apple pro keyboard (tonka truck design, not rounded old design)
-some generic 2 button + scroll wheel mouse.
-Altec Lansing 2 speakers + subwoofer systen (ALT 3 i think).
-incase 14.1" neoprene bag
-Griffin iCurve

There are a few minor scrapes along the display casing, and a few dead pixels (2 that I can see right now). Also, the little nubbin' on one of the batterys is missing.

I'm thinking of having a minimum purchase price of $1100 dollars.

Any thoughts? Too high, too low?
Thanks again,

=:p
 
The system I usually use is to do a search on ebay for the same model and see what similar computers are selling for there. The conditions might not apply directly to you, but it usually gives you a pretty good idea of what things are selling for.
 
Just sold mine (Summer 2001 dual USB 500MHz iBook in perfect condition, combo drive, 256 MB RAM, Airport and the new power adapter...but a battery that's on its last legs) for $675--however, I realized I'd listed it for too little when I got something like 30 responses to the ad in 2 days. (Silly me....I priced it based on what I'd be willing to pay... :)

So I'd say, price it on the high end and see what happens--I'm definitely wishing I'd started $100 higher (but didn't feel it was really fair to back out after listing it--sold it locally, so there wasn't any eBay, etc., stuff to worry about).

Something else you might consider is pulling some of the "extras" out of the package, and then selling them separately. I'd originally listed mine with a printer, case, etc., but found people didn't really want them, and I ultimately ended up selling at the same price anyway. In theory I can now try to sell those to people looking specifically for them, instead.

Good luck! My 15" PB arrives tomorrow...yippee! :)
 
The list of extras is impressive, but the iBook's specs are a bit lacking (particularly the hard drive and video card). $1100 is definitely too much, considering the current iBook market.
 
Originally posted by pyrotoaster
The list of extras is impressive, but the iBook's specs are a bit lacking (particularly the hard drive and video card). $1100 is definitely too much, considering the current iBook market.
Click to expand...
Huh? How are the hd and vcard specs lacking? They're exactly what an ibook from summer 2002 has. How can they be lacking when they're what they should be? And anyway, $1100 is just about right considering that deflation for an ibook is extremely slow. You may realize that your value to price ratio is much better for a new ibook or pbook, but there are a lot of people who don't. It won't be hard to find someone at ebay willing to pay that. Clamshells are still going for 3 - 400.
 
Originally posted by Kyle?
Huh? How are the hd and vcard specs lacking? They're exactly what an ibook from summer 2002 has. How can they be lacking when they're what they should be? And anyway, $1100 is just about right considering that deflation for an ibook is extremely slow. You may realize that your value to price ratio is much better for a new ibook or pbook, but there are a lot of people who don't. It won't be hard to find someone at ebay willing to pay that. Clamshells are still going for 3 - 400.
Click to expand...
A 16 MB video card?! I'd say that's just a bit lacking. I'm not saying it's obsolete, but it's certainly not worth $1100. You can get a refurbished 12" Powerbook for $1200, and a new iBook for $1000. You can't expect somebody to pay more for a used iBook than the cost of a new iBook, even with extras.
 
And don't forget the value of being able to work out a non-eBay deal. eBay has to charge their 3%, then PayPal needs their 3%...

I just sold a PC laptop on eBay and it went for $635. I offered free shipping because that seems to generate more interest and also I don't have to worry about figuring out how much it will cost.

Anyway after eBay, PayPal and shipping fees, $635 became about $540.

So yep. It takes money to make money.
 
More, perhaps?

Hey guys, thanks for the awesome replys. It's been very helpful.

I'm listing it on ebay as selling at $1059 and I'm throwing a 17" Samtron CRT 76V in with it.
However I'm certainly not doing "Free shipping" as it'd kick me in the crotch to have to ship all the stuff.
Again, thanks for the great replays. I've had people say I couldn't sell it for more than $800, and a few that said I should sell it all for $1400. Frankly, I'm lost...but, oh well.

:eek:
 
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