imac on ebay question

I can't find the awesome "what to watch out about Macs and ebay" guide that was written up and posted here so I'll ask this here. It's kind of a newbie question so here I go.

I saw a nice imac for a nice price on ebay. G5. So I asked is there any system discs to come with the mac when sold and the answer to me for that question was:

"Sorry No discs."

So knowing that should I just not bid on the imac even though it's a really good price? I know Macs sold with no discs are really bad news. But I could erase/degauss the HD and start again. I do have an official copy of 10.5. And can use the Disk utility on that to repair the HD if needed.

Or is just best to forget the good deal and say nah, as no discs is just a scam artist for a seller and try to find one with the discs?

G5: dead technology. Not that they're not nice machines -- they are -- but there's no future for them and you're talking about a five year old machine now. I would assume the "nice price" you're talking about is in the $200 range?

Your Leopard disc won't have all the software that Mac came with, so yes he is scamming you out of at least $79 worth what you are paying for (iLife).

But yes, any used Mac should have its drive zeroed out before use. I wouldn't call someone selling the machine with no discs a "scam artist," but it's just not worth the extra hassle IMHO.

The mac would not be for me, but for a family relative. The person has used a COlour Classic and now a Power Mac (OS 9) for their needs and that has done everything they need. I'm only thinking about this because their Power Mac is slowly dying. So for what they use it for a G5 would be just fine.

And by nice price, if I bid I'll get it for around $100 Australian. Currently it is on a bid less then that. I will not bid over $150 for it.

Thanks for the information. I'll really consider it. I only have ilife from my imac system discs. Yep the old version. So the new Mac will not have ilife. Not that the person will ever use it but still it's a good point you made.

Thank you.

The other thing to keep in mind when buying a used computer is that some sellers will try to sell you extra software without the discs. This usually means that the software is illegal and they are ripping you off by charging you more on the computer.

the8thark said:

The person has used a COlour Classic and now a Power Mac (OS 9) for their needs and that has done everything they need.

Click to expand...

It would be like a rocket for them. All this stuff comes down to what your going to do with it. My Mom still uses a Blue iMac...all she does is word processing and reports. It works so why be be on the techno edge. Sometimes I post here with an 8600(G3). That Color Classic is a Hot little number...theres a CC collectors club.

Apple iMac G5 1.8Ghz 17" LCD 160Gb 1GB WiFi BT DVD/CDRW - eBay, Apple Desktops, Computers. (end time 08-Apr-10 19:57:55 AEST)

That is the imac that was the discussion of this topic. I just listed it and want to say it ended up going for $223.50 . And at that price I'm not bidding on it and I didn't. A G5 is simply not worth that much coin. I'll keep hunting around for a Mac that I can get for a price that is not over priced.

I see alot of Macs being sold without the discs.
Where do these discs go?

In some cases users either loose them or toss them. My thoughts anyway.