[anim8ing]

Hey everyone, I was browsing eBay looking for an iBook for my wife to take to school with her. She doesn't need anything special, maybe a 700 with 16mb vram, so the 999 ibook would be perfect (949 with edu price). Anyway there are people asking over 1100.00 for the exact same machine. Don't get me wrong I'm all for making as much as you can, but it's sad that the only place you can get a decent deal on a mac is here. Not that this isn't a great place..i've gotten 3 machines and 2 ipods from the forum, but you know what I mean. You comments appreciated.

Anim8r

[suprz's ghost]

I fully agree with you! I go to ebay and look around sometime for used laptops, and i am shocked an amazed how high the prices are. But the worst part are the idiots that are spending over 1100.00 on a used pismo or clamshell ibook. If they were to look on the web, they could pick up a new ibook or tibook for just as much! I really believe that some people get into a bidding frenzy and it becomes a personal thing like "you're not going to outbid me!!!" and they end up screwing themselves.....really stupid but like PT Barnum said, "there's a sucker born every minute"

[tomas316]

Ebay is what the Lazy market price. I have found most things on ebay somewhere else cheaper, but its EASY! just search and buy. one stop shopping. Plus there is some history with the person your doing your shopping with, and feedback is available. I sell and buy on another board(apex) and those things are available, but not one stop shopping. Ebay also offers some comfort since its a company, rather than going out on a limb with someone you dont know. ALTHO, paypal offers no recorse, and i have lost alot of money through them. they offer no comfort.

[Eriamjh]

It's not ebay, it's the users. Ebay has gone from "find that hard to find item for a bargain" to "Sell all your crap for outrageous amounts" because someone is willing to pay for it without really "looking" for it.

I guess it's good for the Mac market. Helps refinance the new machines!

[Josh Reid]

Truly, the prices there are surprising. And it's not the sellers that are creating the frenzy...

Case in point: In April 2002 I put my iBook SE 366 up for auction. No special extras really. It was loaded but didn't have any pirated software on it like lots of macs on eBay do. I had numerous pics of it and have an excellent eBay rating, so while it was a good auction, it wasn't anything spectacular. I expected to get MAYBE $600 for it....it sold for $680! I started the auction at 99cents, with no reserve. It ended up being a non-paying bidder though, so I didn't end up selling it at that time.

I re-listed the auction back in August, figuring I'd be lucky to pull in $600 since the inital $680 was a false bid and a few months had passed, lowering the iBook's value even more. It ended up selling for $780! It's definitely a sellers' market, so if you've been considering selling, go for it. Anyhow, just sharing my experience...

-Josh

[wataru]

I think a big part of the price inflation is the competitive mentality of eBayers. It's easy to get carried away when you're trying to outbid someone.

Also, you can end up spending a lot because of the small bid increments. Starting at $1000 and working your way up to $1500 little-by-little is easier than plunking down $1500 right away.

[suprz's ghost]

What's even dumber are the people that bid on an item with 5 - 6 days left on the auction. i just put the item on my watch list and wait. if it near the price I'm willing to spend,and i do not go over that amount. i know there will always be more of the same item at a later time. i look at the bid history and see who is the most ardent bidder, then try to figure out the bid increments. (most people think in $5.00 increments like a max proxy bid of 55.00, etc..) then i plave my bid within the last 2 minutes of the auction with an odd bid like 55.98. I also watch for items that the auction will end in the early morning where i am, most people will set a bid and go to sleep so it is easy to sneak the winning bid in at the last minutes. i once beat out a other bidder by .02 cents.... he must have been pissed....heheheh

[anim8ing]

While I completely agree with the rest of the posts, I am completely amazed at the buy it now prices. Some people (actually most of them) Think they can get 1000.00 for an iBook 500....Do these people not know that you can get the 700 model for 999 from Apple brand new, or that smalldog is selling these refurb'd units for like 899 ? I know the mac holds it's value better than the PC, but these people are asking more for a used ibook than apple does for a new faster one. Maybe i'm crazy, but i don't understand how people think they are worth that much.


-Me

[shatten22]

Originally posted by anim8ing:
While I completely agree with the rest of the posts, I am completely amazed at the buy it now prices. Some people (actually most of them) Think they can get 1000.00 for an iBook 500....Do these people not know that you can get the 700 model for 999 from Apple brand new, or that smalldog is selling these refurb'd units for like 899 ? I know the mac holds it's value better than the PC, but these people are asking more for a used ibook than apple does for a new faster one. Maybe i'm crazy, but i don't understand how people think they are worth that much.


-Me

yup. it makes me want to kill...
even better, i posted something on craigslist warning buyers that the computers most of the people (in NYC) were selling were WAY over-priced and how and where you could get them cheaper. The post was removed because enough of the crooked sellers "flagged" it, saying IT was inappropriate.

All I was doing was tryin' to spread the knowledge....

g

[Scotttheking]

You mean this is an insane price?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=11515

[suprz's ghost]

Originally posted by Scotttheking:
You mean this is an insane price?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=11515

the price might be, but the jackass that buys it certainly is insane

[ae86_16v]

Originally posted by Scotttheking:
You mean this is an insane price?
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=11515

who the hell is terri clark?!?!

shatten--- yeah I did the same thing and I got my post removed it too...maybe it was too much sarcasm

[sidecar71]

ae86, it's all about the powerseller. for some reason I've been carrying this impression of ebay that it's an online tag sale or yard sale, but really it's become professionalized.

ebay's seller must now consist of 80% powersellers that somehow get iBooks and brand-new iMacs (at a discount perhaps...maybe they get an education discount or wholesale) that they had no intention on ever using and try to sell them at--or a $100 over--the retail price. it's pathetic. ebay is a waste of time.

i would never buy something from ebay that i could at pretty much the same price from apple.

[dampeoples]

I just looked at some iBook 500MHz prices, I should sell mine with a $1000 reserve, and move on up to the 700

[spiky_dog]

hey, some of us sellers do sell our stuff at sane prices -- i just got rid of a geforce 4 mx for a buy it now price of $99. that's reasonable, no? i may have been able to gouge for more, but i have no desire to hang onto an item that i have no use for (upgrading to a radeon 9000).

[sledsbehave]

it just goes to show there is a huge market for used ibooks, more people buying them.

apple should offer a 600mhz model for $799 and undercut these guys