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Value for old PC
- Thread starter Kenhello
- Start date
Shadow Lord
Veteran Member
Pictures came through.
List on eBay w/ starting auction price of $0.99 and actual S&H. I suggest packing and weighing it beforehand so you don't get caught off guard. Shipping can be more expensive then you would think. Whatever it sells at is what its worth.
VERAULT
Veteran Member
I would bring it to a few shipping sites to get a quote prior to shipping it out. If its in the continental US your probably looking at $45 to $70 to ship on average.
SomeGuy
Veteran Member
At a glance, that looks like a nice IBM 5150 machine.
Prices on these can vary quite a bit depending on condition, how early it was produced, and what is installed.
In this case, starting low on eBay is an OK idea, as a genuine IBM should get enough attention that it would get bid up to what it is worth.
If you found a local buyer, just a guess perhaps $150-$200 or a bit more depending on details such as how early the unit is. But remember that with a local buyer you save money, hassle, and risk by not having to ship or pay eBay fees.
You absolutely do not want to skimp on shipping, especially because those monitors are fragile. Professional packing/shipping is a good idea.
If you list it on eBay, I would recommend including a clear high resolution photo of the CPU unit's entire back. That helps show what is installed and gives a better idea of condition than the plastic front bezel. Even better, I would also recommend sliding the CPU unit's cover off and taking a top-down photo showing the motherboard, power supply, cards, and drives.
The fact that you seem to show it running is good.
(BTW, uploading images to the vcfed.org forum shrinks photos so they are 99k or less. Also some photo applications seem to use meta-data to indicate image orientation yet most software such as this forum does not support that.)
Prices on these can vary quite a bit depending on condition, how early it was produced, and what is installed.
In this case, starting low on eBay is an OK idea, as a genuine IBM should get enough attention that it would get bid up to what it is worth.
If you found a local buyer, just a guess perhaps $150-$200 or a bit more depending on details such as how early the unit is. But remember that with a local buyer you save money, hassle, and risk by not having to ship or pay eBay fees.
You absolutely do not want to skimp on shipping, especially because those monitors are fragile. Professional packing/shipping is a good idea.
If you list it on eBay, I would recommend including a clear high resolution photo of the CPU unit's entire back. That helps show what is installed and gives a better idea of condition than the plastic front bezel. Even better, I would also recommend sliding the CPU unit's cover off and taking a top-down photo showing the motherboard, power supply, cards, and drives.
The fact that you seem to show it running is good.
(BTW, uploading images to the vcfed.org forum shrinks photos so they are 99k or less. Also some photo applications seem to use meta-data to indicate image orientation yet most software such as this forum does not support that.)
per
Veteran Member
For reference, this is indeed an IBM 5150 PC "model A" (or early version or 16k-64k board version as it is also called), unless the motherboard has been replaced at some point. Would be interesting to see if it has the earliest BIOS ROM version.
SpidersWeb
Veteran Member
I'm hoping you kept it. New owner would likely repair the original to keep it looking original.
All original model A with boxes/software etc would be worth a pretty penny.
Outside my price range for sure.
framer
Veteran Member
The original parts PS, original plastic clip to fill in that RS232 hole in the back are seriously important.
Are the drives one sided or two?
What is the bios number?
Photo of the MB showing RAM size and switches.
Photo of other boards in the system.
Photos of the drives.
You may have a rare early system; however, many were modified and hacked worth a lot less. I'm guessing as it sits $500 if it can be put back to original specs with original boxes substantially more.
If it got upgraded to double sided drives and a 256K MB then $200 unless someone wants the boxes. The more original the higher the value. I've seen a perfect one hit $3000+ a couple years ago but I'v seen many nice ones under $1000.
Your pictures are very poor quality.
framer
Has it been sold?
Are the drives one sided or two?
What is the bios number?
Photo of the MB showing RAM size and switches.
Photo of other boards in the system.
Photos of the drives.
You may have a rare early system; however, many were modified and hacked worth a lot less. I'm guessing as it sits $500 if it can be put back to original specs with original boxes substantially more.
If it got upgraded to double sided drives and a 256K MB then $200 unless someone wants the boxes. The more original the higher the value. I've seen a perfect one hit $3000+ a couple years ago but I'v seen many nice ones under $1000.
Your pictures are very poor quality.
framer
Has it been sold?
computerdude92
Veteran Member
OP, if you are selling it on Ebay, getting a local buyer is going to be difficult cause Ebay will bust you if you discuss anything with the buyer about purchasing locally, or giving your phone number or address. I got in trouble once and had a 3 day account probation, but it could've been worse. In this case, It doesn't make sense to me for Ebay to even have the option for a local buyer in the listing creator page. Are you supposed to have a separate listing from the one you set as "free local pickup"? I don't know.
Casey
Veteran Member
Can't you include something like "Local pickup welcome," or "Local pickup possible?" I seem to recall seeing those in ads.
framer
Veteran Member
Yes you can. You can say "local pickups welcome" and make sure to make it one of your shipping terms.
framer
2icebitn
Banned
They will restrict emails if it has a telephone number or email address, but I never got in trouble. Maybe because I did it as a buyer. There are ways of encoding things, but their software has learned a lot, probably from me
. It's only a matter of time before it becomes self aware. That happened to me in my teens when my pits started to smell.