Complete 128K

[Mac128]

Much is made of some of the high prices set for vintage Mac stuff, in particular 128Ks, on eBay. But I must single this one out as an example of an excellent auction. This auction was for an original early 128K in good working and cosmetic condition, complete with original box and everything that shipped with it all in excellent condition (this is worth a look for a view of an original 128K unpacking). First, the well rated, experienced seller did not set an arbitrary "Buy It Now" price. I believe the starting price was $20. Second, he charged a flat $25 rate for shipping. Finally he completely avoided hype words like "rare". The final selling price was $548. That's less than half what many of the set fixed prices for just a "rare" CPU with manuals and some software bundles are listed for. This was a complete Macintosh 128K in the original packaging, 99% the way you would have received it in mid-1984! And it sold for $548! That's the value the MARKET SET for the Mac and it sold. There's no doubt an auction for a Mac like this is in fact "RARE", yet it sold for well under $1,000. I think this auction illustrates the point many of us have been making for years on 68Kmla, let the market decided the prices and sell goods based on actual availability, free from artificial hype. For anyone looking to purchase a Mac, a 128K in particular, let this thread be your guide! I only hope this auction was won by someone who actually wanted to own a 128K and not by another seller who will double the price and leave it on eBay until it sells.

FYI, the inflated prices and "rare" hype has motivated me to keep a list of all 128K eBay auctions. Friends, there are dozens of these Macs being sold on eBay all year. Each with a unique serial number (not the same ones over and over) – hardly qualified as "rare". As soon as I have the list compiled I will post a link here to download. It is quite eye-opening in terms of what market prices set and for what condition, but hopefully it will be a useful guide as to what a new Mac-buyer should expect to pay for a 128K.

 

[slomacuser]

I'd really like to see that list, hope you saved the photos too?

 

[JDW]

I ditto the call for photos. It would be glorious to have a searchable database with photos. Perhaps you could print the Auction and then save as PDF?

As to the selling price, I agree with Mac 128k. That price is very reasonable for what was included. I would not say the same though had it sold for much over $600 though. I can only hope we can see more of this "down to earth" a "reasonable" pricing in the future.

 

[Mac128]

I ditto the call for photos. It would be glorious to have a searchable database with photos. Perhaps you could print the Auction and then save as PDF?

Yeah, that would be nice ... but a wee bit more work than I am up for. I note the description of what's included and condition. Honestly, there's not much point of including pictures as they generally all look the same, unless there are cracks or severe yellowing (which we all know now can be reversed quite effectively).

That price is very reasonable for what was included. I would not say the same though had it sold for much over $600 though.

I would agree with that, however, given that it included all original packing materials in such good condition it falls into "collectable" status for me and not just another 128K, so I could see it selling for as much as $1,000 and still be OK with it. The IMPORTANT POINT here is that the market set the price. By contrast danapplemacman just posted a 128K auction for $1,000 BIN, and although as Dan claims, it is fully serviced operational condition, it comes with considerably less: only two manuals, one disk and an audio cassette. Considering the earlier value, I would only buy Dan's at that price if I couldn't wait another minute to own my own functional 128K (and I would be kicking myself for not bidding higher on the other one!). Otherwise, those complete boxed units tend to turn up two or three per year on eBay for approximately the same price and are of course a better collectable value (matching serial numbers), even if the 128K isn't in top condition. It's really the difference between buying a shirt at Macy's you can return, or buying the exact same shirt, with a pair of pants, socks and underwear at an "all sales final" factory outlet and running the risk of some minor imperfection. And for some that justifies the retail markup. Bottom line is the buyer must investigate all options in order to make the best purchase.

 

[JDW]

Perhaps you could print the Auction and then save as PDF?

Yeah, that would be nice ... but a wee bit more work than I am up for.

Let me rephrase... I mean to say:

1) Open the auction in a web browser

2) CMD-P to Print

3) Choose "Save as PDF" in the little popup menu in the bottom left of the Print dialog

 

[Mac128]

Let me rephrase... I mean to say:

1) Open the auction in a web browser

2) CMD-P to Print

3) Choose "Save as PDF" in the little popup menu in the bottom left of the Print dialog

And let me rephrase ... I mean to say, while I could print PDFs of all the auctions, and that is not such a bad idea since I am looking at them anyway, they would only be practical as references incorporated into my spreadsheet. And it is all that indexing and organizing that is more trouble than I want to go to. I just wanted to make a simple list of 128K auctions and for how much they were sold to gauge market trends and help educate potential buyers as to what to expect. I suppose I could zip all those PDFs into a file the end user could download with the spreadsheet and sort using their own efforts.