How much can I get for this powermac?

[pokeman89]

I bought a powermac about 5 months ago for $130. I got lucky on ebay b/c nobody else wanted it, so it was nice and cheap. Here are the specs:

Powermac G4
867MHz Dual Processor (MDD)
80GB HDD, 25GB Free
Superdrive (2X)
ATI Radeon 9000 PRO Graphics w/ DVI and whatever the apple port is called
AirPort card
2GB DDR RAM (4X 512MB upgraded from 1X512MB when I got it, I had plenty of RAM lying around from my old PC)
Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.8
Mac OS 9.2
Apple pro keyboard and mouse (Black)
Final Cut Pro 5, iLife '05, LiveType, Compressor, Soundtrack Pro, DVD Studio Pro, iTunes 9.0.2, AIM Beta, Firefox 3.6 Beta 3, VLC Media Player 1.1, Sentui, Toast 7 Titanium, etc (Guy I bought it from said it was almost $2000 worth of apps when he bought them)

I was looking to resell it since I got such a cheap price on it. I've been using it for 5 months now and everything works fine, the only downside is that the fans get louder when you run os9.2, and render time using final cut is impossibly slow (a full 12 hours to render a 1.5 hour project) and I really need something with a mic, my headset mic doesn't work with my mac. What do you think I could get if I sold it on eBay, Craigslist, and locally?

 

[D3v1L80Y]

Look here:

Mac2Sell - Guide to used Mac & iPod - Evaluation - Argus Mac, iPod, iPhone Occasion

According to the site, it's only worth around $200

 

[pokeman89]

Look here:

Mac2Sell - Guide to used Mac & iPod - Evaluation - Argus Mac, iPod, iPhone Occasion

According to the site, it's only worth around $200

Yeah i looked there. You cant really trust that site because you can't specify graphics cards, OS, or apps on it, but I know I could get at least that for it. thanks for the help though.

that site also tells me my ipod nano is worth $130 even though it is an old generation and I couldn't even get $100 for it.

 

[D3v1L80Y]

Yeah i looked there. You cant really trust that site because you can't specify graphics cards, OS, or apps on it, but I know I could get at least that for it. thanks for the help though.

that site also tells me my ipod nano is worth $130 even though it is an old generation and I couldn't even get $100 for it.

You can most certainly trust that site.
It's the best gauge out there as far as I'm concerned.

The OS and apps don't add any great benefit to the cost of a used computer, which is why including them as a factor to the end cost is irrelevant.

Graphics cards only add a very slight amount as well.

Look at it this way... you're attempting to sell a computer that is 8 years old.
8 years in "computer time" is like 80 years in "real time".
The system' abilities are very limited and even with upgrades it would continue to be limited in its ability.

Anyone charging more than or willing to pay more than $200 for an 8 year old computer (regardless of brand/OS/extras/etc) is either painfully optimistic or seriously uninformed.

 

[pigoo3]

This computer is about 8 years old...how much do you think that the typical 8 year old computer is worth??? You paid $130 for it 5 months ago...which was probably a fair price. 5 months have gone by, do you think the computers value has increased...No...of course not...it's worth less than $130.

As far as Mac2sell.com...this website is simply a starting point to give you an idea or the "ballpark" value of it. Maybe you can get more, maybe you will get less.

And don't even talk about the added value of the software. Unless you're including the original disks...then the software titles are illegal copies!!!

And like you said in your original post..."I got lucky on ebay b/c nobody else wanted it, so it was nice and cheap." If you try to sell it now on eBay...5 months later...how many people do you think will want it now??? And if you try to raise the price...you will get even less interest.

Face the music...it was worth $130 when you bought it...and that's about what it's worth now...probably less.

It is a nice backup computer...you could keep it, and keep your eyes open for something newer/faster for your Final Cut projects.

Good luck,

- Nick

 

[pokeman89]

This computer is about 8 years old...how much do you think that the typical 8 year old computer is worth??? You paid $130 for it 5 months ago...which was probably a fair price. 5 months have gone by, do you think the computers value has increased...No...of course not...it's worth less than $130.

As far as Mac2sell.com...this website is simply a starting point to give you an idea or the "ballpark" value of it. Maybe you can get more, maybe you will get less.

And don't even talk about the added value of the software. Unless you're including the original disks...then the software titles are illegal copies!!!

And like you said in your original post..."I got lucky on ebay b/c nobody else wanted it, so it was nice and cheap." If you try to sell it now on eBay...5 months later...how many people do you think will want it now??? And if you try to raise the price...you will get even less interest.

Face the music...it was worth $130 when you bought it...and that's about what it's worth now...probably less.

It is a nice backup computer...you could keep it, and keep your eyes open for something newer/faster for your Final Cut projects.

Good luck,

- Nick

Maybe I worded this wrong, I don't want the ballpark prices, I would like to know what you as consumers would want to pay for it. If I were to sell on craigslist I could probably get at least $200 for it because I see worse machines on there sell every day for higher prices, but you also have to deal with people who insist on scamming you every chance they get, and it is really hard to find an honest buyer there. Ebay would not get me as good a deal plus I would have to pack and ship it, and trading it in would get me nothing, so what would you want to pay for it? Sorry for the misunderstanding, I meant no trouble, I just tend to work things out in my head without telling you how I got to the conclusion.

Also, would you think I could get more for parting it out and selling those? I have absolutely no idea how much the parts themselves are worth.

 

[sabot]

people on here can't tell you exactly what you'll get for it!
all anyone can give you is a ballpark figure!
somethings only worth what somebody else is willing to pay for it!
last time it was offered it sold for $130- therefore that was what it was worth on that day
it may sell for more? it may sell for less?
it all depends who's buying on the day you offer it for sale?

simple eomomics

all the advice you have been given is sound
you don't need to keep asking the same question just because you don't like the answers!

 

[pokeman89]

people on here can't tell you exactly what you'll get for it!
all anyone can give you is a ballpark figure!
somethings only worth what somebody else is willing to pay for it!
last time it was offered it sold for $130- therefore that was what it was worth on that day
it may sell for more? it may sell for less?
it all depends who's buying on the day you offer it for sale?

simple eomomics

all the advice you have been given is sound
you don't need to keep asking the same question just because you don't like the answers!

Sorry, most of my previous post was an explanation, I wasn't meaning to ask the same question again, I asked if parting it would get me a little more. You'll have to forgive me, I didn't realize the parts would be worthless. I'll just list it for $200 and see if I get any offers.

 

[dtravis7]

Are you giving up on Macs or just selling it to get a better one down the road? Just curious as I remember when you first got the machine.

 

[pokeman89]

Are you giving up on Macs or just selling it to get a better one down the road? Just curious as I remember when you first got the machine.

I just need an intel one eventually, but the two main reasons I want to upgrade now rather than wait until I can afford an intel one is that the usb 1.1 ports prevent me from getting any reasonable speed out of my external hard drive, my webcam, and my flash drives. plus I really don't have any firewire products so I cannot take advantage of those ports either. The second reason is that I really need something with more processing power to render my youtube videos faster, I can't wait 3-4 hours to get a video from my camera into final cut, then rendered, then uploaded. I want to at least cut that down a little, every little bit counts. Other than that I am very happy with it, it takes only a minute to start up, animations are (usually smooth) and I can actually play high quality youtube videos on this machine, something I didn't think I could do. On the downside, NeoOffice runs so slowly that it is prone to crashing, and there is no mic or way for me to get my mic working, also it won't connect to my windows printer for whatever reason. so overall it's kinda good, but I realize that a small performance increase would be better. Also if I were to get an imac, I could stop using this ridiculous 13" screen. And also I am not trying to beat anyone down, it's just that some of the craigslist ads are ridiculously high and I honestly can't tell which would sell and which are good deals, but most of the powermacs there for $200 are single processor quicksilvers, which made me think that those prices are too low, then I looked at ebay after my second post and realized that it was just craigslist offers are high, sorry If craigslist had an option of seeing what items actually sold for I guess it would be a different story, but you can never tell if something disappears whether it was reduced, removed, or sold, or traded and for what price.

While we are on the subject, if I were to get an imac, which one would have about the same performance as this power mac, I know the power macs are slightly faster due to the L3 cache and the fact that it has 2 processors, but isn't it like dual cores where the second doesn't provide double the speed?

 

[cwa107]

Yeah i looked there. You cant really trust that site because you can't specify graphics cards, OS, or apps on it, but I know I could get at least that for it. thanks for the help though.

The OS and video cards have very little bearing on the price of a machine that old. Think of it this way, once a car is about 15 years old and has a few hundred thousand miles on it, it doesn't matter if it's a Toyota or a BMW, it's only worth a couple of grand if it's in good, running condition.

Also, the apps are completely worthless unless the discs were included (and I'd be willing to bet they weren't - which means they're pirated or the original owner went right on using them on his/her new machine, leaving you with a legally dubious license).

 

[pokeman89]

The OS and video cards have very little bearing on the price of a machine that old. Think of it this way, once a car is about 15 years old and has a few hundred thousand miles on it, it doesn't matter if it's a Toyota or a BMW, it's only worth a couple of grand if it's in good, running condition.

Also, the apps are completely worthless unless the discs were included (and I'd be willing to bet they weren't - which means they're pirated or the original owner went right on using them on his/her new machine, leaving you with a legally dubious license).

Well no, I don't have the disks, the guy said he lost them. Didn't realize that had legal implications there, but since I can't make any money off of the apps I guess it doens't really matter. I don't do anything professional, I just need something to edit videos for youtube, and imovie takes up way too much storage space when using it.

The way this is going, maybe I'll just wait until I can afford a new mac mini, I just need it for the intel processor anyway.

 

[Sur3Mac]

Ah, now you're talking....;D

I wouldn't go and edit youtube movies on the G4, as it will take forever, and then some.

If you're used to the G4, and get the mini, you won't know what hit you.

 

[pokeman89]

Ah, now you're talking....;D

I wouldn't go and edit youtube movies on the G4, as it will take forever, and then some.

If you're used to the G4, and get the mini, you won't know what hit you.

Why is it really that much fasteR?

 

[dtravis7]

Why is it really that much fasteR?

The Intel Mini Vs the G4? Wow.

I am converting a video right now that would take 2.5 hours on my 2.1Ghz G5, 3.5 hours on G4 1.8Ghz and 4-5 on my G4 1.5Ghz Mini. Taking under 20 minutes here on the 2.16Ghz C2D Mini.

Does that tell you how much faster? Same with all the video compression and conversion I do.

 

[pokeman89]

that sounds like the machine of my dreams. only problem is it still would leave me stuck with this **** monitor. an iMac might suit me better, but I would buy a used one, maybe a Core Duo. Still much faster I assume. For now I just added a second hard drive so I don't have to keep deleting my videos.

 

[dtravis7]

The iMac would be a bit faster yet depending on the model.

For the record also, I started with a 1.66 Core Duo Mini. It still blew down all my G4 and G5 Macs, just a few minutes more to convert. A friend broke his last generation White 24" iMac and sold me the 2.16 Core2Duo for $110 which as the time was a STEAL! They were 2-3x that most places. Dropped right in and now it's a 64-Bit C2D machine and flies! Maxed out the RAM and installed a 250GB WD blue 2.5" SATA hard drive and it's great for my work. I have a 1TB hooked up Firewire for the storage.

 

[pigoo3]

I have a decent amount of experience buying & selling on Craig's List and eBay.

You mentioned seeing Macs on Craig's List for $200 that were not as good as your Mac.

Firstly remember these are "asking prices"...many times the folks selling these computers have absolutely no idea what their Mac is worth. Many times they remember what they paid for their Mac when it was new (years & years ago)...and then they almost "pick a number out of the air"...and then list their computer on Craig's List.

As an example...recently I was watching my local Craig's List for an older 27" CRT Television. I purchased one a month ago for $20 bucks...but people list them anywhere from $25 bucks to as much as $250 bucks. The true market value is about $30-$40 bucks.

The same thing happens with computers on Craig's List....people just don't don't know what they are worth (in many cases they are worth much less than they think)...but they end up overvaluing them, and asking too much (and then they don't sell).

Honestly...eBay is one of the best sources for computer values. You have lots & lots of buyers...and if anyone is out there that is willing to pay a premium for a computer...eBay will find them MUCH easier than your local Craigs's List. It's a "small pond vs. a BIG pond" philosophy".

You said you paid $130 for this computer on eBay. If you sold it on eBay today, maybe you could get $150...maybe only $85...maybe no one would bid on it at all!

What you need to do is:

- go to eBay
- find 3-5 auctions for computers similar to yours
- and see what they sell for

Now you have an idea of what your computer is worth. But then don't take that value, and then think you can get that price on your local Craig's List. Buyers on Craig's list are looking for really really good deals...this means a deal that is probably less than what you would get on eBay.

Remember...if you post your 8 year-old computer on eBay you may only have 5 people interested in your computer in the entire United States! Now if you post the same computer on Craig's List...you may be lucky to have 1 person interested...and in many cases you may have ZERO people interested in it!

Also...Craig's List is NOT an auction site...where everyone knows what the high bid is, when the auction ends, etc. Craig's List is dealing with local people 1 on 1...and they are looking for "killer" deals.

Just a bunch of things to think about,

- Nick

 

[Mac SK]

When I bid on something I work the shipping price into my Max bid. Many a to high shipping price has killed a deal. Dont like it when folks try to make extra money on shipping. Something to think about.