View Full Version : How much is a 6100 worth?
atomicbartbeans
2005-07-02, 07:39
If a person was looking to buy a Powermac 6100 in good condition (made in 1995) as a collector's item, how much would they expect to pay for it?
If a person was looking to buy a Powermac 6100 in good condition (made in 1995) as a collector's item, how much would they expect to pay for it?
20 bucks, if that.
atomicbartbeans
2005-07-02, 22:31
So if, hypothetically, somebody sold theirs to a blind septuagenerian for $350, the seller would be considered a lucky bastard?
Quagmire
2005-07-03, 00:25
So if, hypothetically, somebody sold theirs to a blind septuagenerian for $350, the seller would be considered a lucky bastard?
Sounds like you were or was about to be ripped off! :lol:
atomicbartbeans
2005-07-06, 11:26
Sounds like you were or was about to be ripped off! :lol:
It's the other way around, son.
If you're selling it to someone you know, who doesn't know any better, then you're pretty much an asshole.
If you're really selling it to someone over 70 who doesn't know any better, you're really an asshole.
If you advertised it and were able to sell it, you're lucky, but not an asshole because people should be able to research the value of something.
atomicbartbeans
2005-07-06, 12:29
Actually, he paid $350 for it because he collects Macs, and to quote him, "This is the cleanest, most pristine 6100 I've ever seen; I couldn't tell the difference if it was still sealed in the box. This is an incredible find". And he's only blind in one eye; I did exaggerate the first time. ;)
What an idiot.
(If you're not lying, that is).
atomicbartbeans
2005-07-06, 12:45
Hey, this guy's really good with collector's items & antiques. He can walk through a garage sale, and pick out a few things, and haggle to get them cheap. Then, he'll bring them home, sell some of the stuff on Ebay for 2-3 times what he paid, and keep some in his little warehouse. Occasionally, he'll pull something out of there and make a small fortune on it. His day job is furniture restoration, but he makes most of his living on antique dealing. It's incredible what an eye for value he has...
10-15 years from now (if he's still around then), he'll probably dig out my pristine 6100 and sell it for a grand and a half to a museum somewhere.
Quagmire
2005-07-06, 13:53
Hey, this guy's really good with collector's items & antiques. He can walk through a garage sale, and pick out a few things, and haggle to get them cheap. Then, he'll bring them home, sell some of the stuff on Ebay for 2-3 times what he paid, and keep some in his little warehouse. Occasionally, he'll pull something out of there and make a small fortune on it. His day job is furniture restoration, but he makes most of his living on antique dealing. It's incredible what an eye for value he has...
10-15 years from now (if he's still around then), he'll probably dig out my pristine 6100 and sell it for a grand and a half to a museum somewhere.
You still ripped him off. Collector or not. The 6100 is not a classical Mac. It won't go that high. It will never see $100 again. It doesn't matter how perfect it is. A computer that would go above a grand again will be the original Mac, the Powermac G4 Cube, and the 20th anniversary Mac IMHO. Those 3 computers revolutionized the computer world. Those are going to be hot sellers foor years to come.
atomicbartbeans
2005-07-06, 14:01
The cube revolutionized the computer world?
thegelding
2005-07-06, 14:03
as ebay and beenie babies have shown us, something is worth exactly what someone else is willing to pay for it...this works for just about everything...diamond earrings have no more "value" than metal studs...but people pay alot more for them...beenie babies sold for 5 bucks, then insane bucks, and now back to 5 bucks...
as for the 6100...if you told the guy that it was a great computer that ran all the latest programs and games and that it was a steal at 350, then you are a bad person
if you told the guy it was an old computer that had very limited "today's computer" uses and he wanted to give you 350, then you are fine with god and karma shan't come back and kick you in the arse later
g
Quagmire
2005-07-06, 14:06
The cube revolutionized the computer world?
It was ahead of its time. When desktops were huge, this small 8x8 cube came along. Now everyone is shrinking their desktops except Apple with their Powermac G5! It was a design marvel. It proved computers can be small. Now it didn't sell well is because it was around the same price as the Powermac G4. So the user could like spend $100-$200 more for a faster G4 and expandability. It is and will always be a collectors item. It is my #1 got to have computer in my collection.
atomicbartbeans
2005-07-06, 14:29
if you told the guy it was an old computer that had very limited "today's computer" uses and he wanted to give you 350, then you are fine with god and karma shan't come back and kick you in the arse later
Yes, that's what he brought it as. I told him on the phone that it is an older Mac and could have collector's value as it is in pristine condition. He has a newer Mac, so he's not buying it for his own use.
Neither of you must know much about Macs if you think the 6100 is (or ever will be) a collector's item. Though it was his fault to offer $350. Good on ya, I guess.
BTW I just got myself a dual Pentium 3 motherboard with two 500 MHz CPUs and 1 GB of RAM for $140 shipped. :D Now that is a reasonably good deal. I have a hookup for the video card, CD-ROM, and power supply, but I still need a hard drive and a case. Anyone in the Minneapolis area have extras lying around?
NeverFade
2005-07-06, 15:08
You still ripped him off. Collector or not. The 6100 is not a classical Mac. It won't go that high. It will never see $100 again. It doesn't matter how perfect it is. A computer that would go above a grand again will be the original Mac, the Powermac G4 Cube, and the 20th anniversary Mac IMHO. Those 3 computers revolutionized the computer world. Those are going to be hot sellers foor years to come.
Those 3 computers? For a grand each? You're somewhere else, man. You can get a cube off of eBay for anywhere between $69 and $200 easy. The 20th anniversary Mac was not a good deal when it was released and it's not a good deal now - same with the cube. Yes, the cube was a great technical feat , but it's not going to push $1000 any more. And neither one of the above 'revoutionized' the computer world. You only mentioned one that did that.
I don't know anyone who pays for old technology. The 6100? My lord. I have a G3 333 beige Mac at home myslef ( unplugged in my closet ) Come to think of it, it's the last BEIGE computer that Apple ever made!! It must be worth something... I'll put the first bid up at $400! Do I hear $400?! ;)
atomicbartbeans
2005-07-06, 15:53
We aren't talking now, we're talking many years from now.
Think Ford model T.
Actually, a 6100 is probably more out of date WRT modern computers than a Model T is WRT modern cars.
Well... okay, the 6100 isn't, but something about ten years older (like a Macintosh 128k) probably is.
Quagmire
2005-07-06, 16:36
Those 3 computers? For a grand each? You're somewhere else, man. You can get a cube off of eBay for anywhere between $69 and $200 easy. The 20th anniversary Mac was not a good deal when it was released and it's not a good deal now - same with the cube. Yes, the cube was a great technical feat , but it's not going to push $1000 any more. And neither one of the above 'revoutionized' the computer world. You only mentioned one that did that.
I don't know anyone who pays for old technology. The 6100? My lord. I have a G3 333 beige Mac at home myslef ( unplugged in my closet ) Come to think of it, it's the last BEIGE computer that Apple ever made! It must be worth something... I'll put the first bid up at $400! Do I hear $400?! ;)
I never said the 20th anniversary was a good deal spec wise. Specs don't make a computer a collectors item. The Powermac dual 2.5 Ghz G5 won't be a collectors item since it has all this technology in it and is the first Mac to have the LCS in it. Ok, lets take the car example here and stretch it a bit. Lets take a 1964 Chevy Corvette Stingray and a brand new 2005 Chevy Corvette C6. The Stingray is a collectors item not because of its specs. It is a collectors item for what it did to the Corvettes image. The public loved the Stingray. Right now the Sting Rays go for more then todays brand new Corvette. Let say the Stingray had crappy specs. But, still performed wonderfully. I am sure it would still be what it is worth today since it changed the Corvette's public image. The Corvette was never the sports car it is today. The String Ray changed that and that is why it is worth so much. Sure the C6 with its 400 HP LS2 engine will crush the Sting Ray, but that doesn't matter to the collector.
709's right. The 6100 was like the Ford Pinto. Just being old doesn't automatically make something worth a lot. The only old Apple computers that command any kind of price premium are the Apple I (if you can even find one), Lisa, 128k, TAM, and to a lesser extent, the Cube. But the 6100? Nothing. It will never go up in price. Being in good (even excellent, even mint) condition is worth something, but not THAT much.
Maybe it would be worth over $100 if it was maxed out (72 MB of RAM, large HD, Sonnet G4 upgrade) AND had all the original packaging and documentation.
kscherer
2005-07-06, 18:41
And a sack of lollypops! :D
kscherer
2005-07-06, 18:45
Actually, we just sold a 450Mhz Cube and 15" ACD fo $900 bucks. So I will argue with anyone who says a Cube cannot command a high price. It is a beautiful piece of hardware that is still capable of running a modern OS. Even without the display (worth 200 on the high side) that little baby fetched 700 clams. The Cube's resale value is actually on the rise. I see 'em go all the time for 500-750 +! That's risen in the last year or two.
And we still have another one! :D
kscherer
2005-07-06, 18:47
Oh, yeah: Hey, Atomic - you want a job? You're a hell of a salesman!
atomicbartbeans
2005-07-06, 19:52
Heh, it wasn't a hard sell. I offered to put in more RAM (has 72 MB), and I installed a 10 GB SCSI disk, very hard to do because of pizza box. Its condition sold it though, not its specs.
NeverFade
2005-07-06, 23:09
I never said the 20th anniversary was a good deal spec wise. Specs don't make a computer a collectors item. The Powermac dual 2.5 Ghz G5 won't be a collectors item since it has all this technology in it and is the first Mac to have the LCS in it. Ok, lets take the car example here and stretch it a bit. Lets take a 1964 Chevy Corvette Stingray and a brand new 2005 Chevy Corvette C6. The Stingray is a collectors item not because of its specs. It is a collectors item for what it did to the Corvettes image. The public loved the Stingray. Right now the Sting Rays go for more then todays brand new Corvette. Let say the Stingray had crappy specs. But, still performed wonderfully. I am sure it would still be what it is worth today since it changed the Corvette's public image. The Corvette was never the sports car it is today. The String Ray changed that and that is why it is worth so much. Sure the C6 with its 400 HP LS2 engine will crush the Sting Ray, but that doesn't matter to the collector.
You cannot compare a Stingray ( which was in a class all it's own when released ) to an Mac 6100 ! :rolleyes:
Exactly. There are a few revolutionary Macs that may be worth something someday - currently, only the Apple I, Lisa, Macintosh 128k and 20th Anniversary Mac command any kind of price premium. Actually, there are a few others... the 300-350 MHz Mach V versions of the Power Macintosh 9600 are worth quite a bit, as are certain clones (particularly the Daystar Genesis, which was the only Mac available with quad processors, as well as any of the extremely rare G3 clones). Someday, the Cube and Bondi iMac may join them. But the 6100? That's like saying a Dodge Colt Vista will someday be worth something if you keep it in good shape for a really long time. It just won't happen.
To be fair, the 6100 was one of the first generation PowerMacs, and one of the few in a Quadra/Centris pizzabox.
That's not to say it will ever be worth large amounts of money. But you might actually be able to sell it to someone if you tried.
The 6100 would be worth millions of dollars if you put it in a lock box and buried it for a couple 100,000 years. Although by that time, millions of dollars might only buy you a new Pinto.
The only old Apple computers that command any kind of price premium are the Apple I (if you can even find one), Lisa, 128k, TAM, and to a lesser extent, the Cube.
My second grade teacher had a whole classroom full of Apple Is. She would fix them up, and then the person would just donate it to her.
I've got a 6100 in my attic, see if he wants another one. I've also got an SE, 4 megs of ram baby! I sold an old image writer II for $400. 4 colors!
atomicbartbeans
2005-07-12, 09:36
He would only want it if it was in *mint* condition.
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