Quadra 950.... mmmmmmm.... Why the prices?

[Mike Richardson]

The eBay market is wonderful.

Whenever I list an LC 550 it's purchased almost immediately, or bid on almost immediately. People will pay up to $100 plus shipping up to $170 (international) for one of my LC 550s. I got these during the past few months from schools selling pallets for $5 each.

I put LC 580s in the eBay store for $29 each and they're already starting to sell out. I'm going to have to go pull some more out of storage. They are yellowed but I put 132 MB of RAM in so maybe that helps them move.

I sold out of 5260/120s at $19-$29 each. These are 5 Road Apple Macs. And I sold out. However, I did install some software on each one that probably improved the value somewhat (old copies of Office and AppleWorks), and bumped the RAM to at least 32 MB.

I sold my first Beige G3 for $39. 384 MB RAM and Jaguar installed but otherwise stock.

Sold an iMac yesterday on Craigslist for $30. 333 MHz Purple, 32 MB RAM, OS 8.5.1. But I included a keyboard, mouse, and power cable. It was an entire system that he can take away and set up and get right to work.

One trick to get more money is, sell entire systems. Keyboard, mouse, power cable are required. With a tower you don't have to include a monitor since they're heavy, but it's nice.

Bump up the RAM. Purchase big bulk lots of RAM off eBay. Same thing with PRAM batteries - I have a wholesaler I get batteries from.

Provide a professional package. An LC 550 that's been cleaned, new PRAM battery, 32 MB SIMM installed, keyboard, mouse, power cable is gonna go for $40. An LC 550 by it's self, dirty, no OS, etc. is going to go for 1 cent. Same thing applies when you're buying - look for those dirty poorly marketed auctions and buy those to save money.

Everyone said I was crazy to take in all these stock commodity Macs but it's making money, and it's fun shipping all around the world.

 

[Mike Richardson]

I just had someone pay over $280 to have an LC 550 shipped to Iceland.

 

[Unknown_K]

The eBay market is wonderful.Everyone said I was crazy to take in all these stock commodity Macs but it's making money, and it's fun shipping all around the world.

People on this forum tend to get Macs for much cheaper then what ebay prices them at. You seem to be selling overseas where Apple never sold that many units so they are rare there.

You generally paid little to nothing for those 580's, and we tend to get that the same price.

The replies were geared toward adding items to a collection, you seem to buy just to resell.

 

[beachycove]

Now, now: Richardson to my mind is a stalwart 68Ker who appreciates the good things from the past, and who is handing on pallets of these good things from the past to new homes. If he can make beer money doing so, so much the better.

 

[Mike Richardson]

I also have a collection. I don't just buy to resell. Granted, if I buy a pallet of 15 LCs - some are gonna have to go either way. I can't keep all of those. I have a big duplication in desktop Beige G3s as well, so some of those have to go. More room for more interesting things. Buying the pallets also lets me pick out the best condition Macs for the collection.

beachycove put it in a good way - it's not enough money to live on but it's nice extra change.

 

[Charlieman]

Mike_Richardson's weird LC 550s and 580s never sold in Europe. I doubt whether 5xxs were ever on the price list. Thus they are going to appeal to appeal to a minority of collectors outside North America. Congratulations to Mike for spotting the export market for road Macs that were never offered overseas