[Mallrat]

Is it just me, or do you feel that very few people actually get a deal on buying an apple laptop.... from looking at auctions over the past year or so... It seems to me that people usually pay slightly less, the same (often) and too many times More that you could get a new computer for.

It's good for people like me that are selling their computers... but I go looking for a deal and I feel there a few to be found on e-bay...

i for one, don't see any good reason to buy a computer on e-bay unless it is 3 years old... if it's too new, you will rarely get a good price on it.

Have you noticed this trend?

[jsnyder]

Originally posted by daredevil:
Is it just me, or do you feel that very few people actually get a deal on buying an apple laptop.... from looking at auctions over the past year or so... It seems to me that people usually pay slightly less, the same (often) and too many times More that you could get a new computer for.

It's good for people like me that are selling their computers... but I go looking for a deal and I feel there a few to be found on e-bay...

i for one, don't see any good reason to buy a computer on e-bay unless it is 3 years old... if it's too new, you will rarely get a good price on it.

Have you noticed this trend?

Shhhh... it's a secret

Indeed. This is known as the free apple upgrade This is what allows those of us who buy new and sell every 6 or so months to keep from going broke.

[flatcatch]

Welcome to the magic of eBay. I'm on my third "free" iBook model upgrade due to these generous bidders on eBay. The last time I sold an iBook (700Mhz model back when that was the top end) the bidder paid me enough to buy the newly released (at the time) 800Mhz model PLUS overnight shipping! One of the keys... Buy It Now... makes that impulse buy even easier.

I also recently sold my 2.5 year old digital camera for $150 less than my new Olympus C-750. I consider that a nice upgrade price as well.

[DigitalEl]

I got $900 for a 500 MHz Pismo and felt guilty. Never knew about this free upgrade concept, but $900 sure went a long way towards getting my 12" PowerBook.

God bless the uninformed.

[NYCFarmboy]

Its amazing the prices used Apple computers command on eBay.

Absolutely take advantage of it.

I have seen so many times USED ibooks selling for more than NEW ibooks...its incredible.

Just be ultra careful to get paid via PayPal or a USPostal Money order.

[IronPen]

If I had known this sooner I would have been upgrading my iBook this way. In order to justify the cost of upgrading to the 12" Powerbook 867 I told my wife I could sell my iBook 500 on eBay for probably about $800 (airport, 640MB, MS Office X). I sold the RAM separately and the Airport card is being sold separately as well. I got $700 for the iBook, $76 for the RAM, and I plan to get about $70 for the Airport card. Minus my iPod rebate. The iPod sold on eBay plus the EDU discounts and I got to upgrade to a PB for about $400. Not bad for a machine over 2 years old. Heck, maybe I should sell my 12" now to get the new Rev.

[LfGrdMike]

Bah selling every six months is just a hasstle it doesnt make any sense. Sell every 2-3-4 years depending on your needs. Good lord eBay is ridiculious. I feel bad for people that might not know a lot about comptuers getting ripped off. Hell if your selling a pismo for $900 the chap that bought it could get a new iBook for freaken 100 dollars more. WOW!

[flatcatch]

Originally posted by LfGrdMike:
Bah selling every six months is just a hasstle it doesnt make any sense. Sell every 2-3-4 years depending on your needs.

It is a bit of a pain... but only a few hours worth. For the time though, a new faster computer is definitely worth it. I always need a faster computer. iMovie can always render faster, Photoshop can always work faster (not production stuff, but my 4MP camera images), iTunes can aways encode faster, and OS X can always operate faster, etc.

FWIW... I did get tired of doing this after my third "upgrade" via eBay.

[Chemmy]

Originally posted by flatcatch:
FWIW... I did get tired of doing this after my third "upgrade" via eBay.

I always get ripped off online, I don't think I could stand selling someone one of my computers. My computers are my babies.

ps. Looking at your sig I'm guessing you like WRC/SCCA Prorally, check out this page: http://rally.crazyninjas.org/

[flatcatch]

Originally posted by Chemmy:
I always get ripped off online, I don't think I could stand selling someone one of my computers. My computers are my babies.

Although I've had good experience selling my machines (and I take immaculate care of them), it would be difficult for me to purchase used computer equipment from anyone on eBay.

[PS - you guessed right. Thanks for the link. I have some photos/videos of my extra-curricular activities if you follow my sig image link.]

[nobitacu]

Well, we all know that Apple computer's resell value has always been high as well.

Ming

[Darksider]

Originally posted by daredevil:
Is it just me, or do you feel that very few people actually get a deal on buying an apple laptop.... from looking at auctions over the past year or so... It seems to me that people usually pay slightly less, the same (often) and too many times More that you could get a new computer for.

It's good for people like me that are selling their computers... but I go looking for a deal and I feel there a few to be found on e-bay...

i for one, don't see any good reason to buy a computer on e-bay unless it is 3 years old... if it's too new, you will rarely get a good price on it.

Have you noticed this trend?

Well apple products are overpriced anyway but people still buy them. I bought a 12" powerbook instead of lower priced fast wintel laptop because I do cross platform work.