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//e units going up in price!?!?


Keatah

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Dunno if that's good, or bad, but I was offered $1400 for one of my rather mundane - nothing special - Apple //e consoles with monitor. 15 years ago I was practically picking them out of the garbage from school cleanouts and upgrades.

 

Now they're getting listed on ebay for $1500 and up to $4000. Good for the sellers. Bad for the hobby. Great for me and my stash. Bad for newcomers that want to experience the "Apple Experience"..

 

And I can indeed tell you it is a premium experience. Ohh sure an old-school console won't razzle-dazzle you like the latest xbox shooter in 4k and surround sound, but instead you'll learn a ton of things and dive into the well prepared documentation that is like an instructor sitting beside you.

 

You'll also experience working on equipment that was meant to be repaired and upgraded and is built of premium long-lasting materials. Shit, man, the hardware I got from 1976 is functional and ready to get beat upon like nobody's business!! Woot!!

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Why are the IIe machines so much more than a IIGS for example? I just grabbed one for $50 yesterday.

 

They're not on the nostalgia radar yet. Scoop them up while you can. Another 10 years and you'll be raking in $1,000 per bare console.

 

The IIgs, is often not considered a genuine II. Not like a II, II+, //e, or //c and variants. True or not - who gives a fuck.. I can promise you they will go up.

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I'm wondering why all the sudden severe price spikes? I am ok with the IIe starting to get a bit of value, but it seems we are swinging from one extreme to another in a very sudden way. Of course, for every $1400 IIe sold, there are probably still truckloads getting hauled off to the trash!

 

That's right, they are still getting dumped. Maybe not by the truckloads, but my local recycle center still gets them in from time to time.

 

I have a few ideas why the spike, but before I spew shit from my trap I wanna be absolutely correct in my reasoning. It's an amalgamation of several factors, that's for sure!

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The problem is: Once the prices go rediculous, it ruins the hobby. Then years from now people will whine about how the younger people aren't getting into the hobby anymore! Basically, this is already starting to ruin the hobby for me.

 

Yeh, that's not surprising.

 

I'm already bitching that kids aren't getting same experience I did when I got my first II and II+ unit. And I even continued learning concepts well into the end-life of the //e! The lawn mowing and chore and errand money I spent as a child on the Apple equipment was some of the best education ever. A tip of the hat to the legendary documentation for sure!

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I think it's people losing touch with reality again and it is going to slam down hard soon myself. But, let's see what you theory is. I'm just speaking from experience having been into the antique engine and tractor hobbies. Once the prices spike, the hobby then slowly dies off completely.

 

Edit: I know! I will put one of my units up for sale! The market will totally crash and burn then! Happens every time I try to sell something....

Edited by simbalion
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I don't know what's exactly special about them other than that my Apple II stash is worth much more to me personally than a stack of cash.

 

It can't be practical usage utility because modern hardware and even hardware of 15 years ago is superior. Like I don't do journaling on my //e every day, but maybe once every few months.

 

Let me put it this way, why DO YOU (anyone) want an ol'classic computer? What are your plans for it?

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Let me put it this way, why DO YOU (anyone) want an ol'classic computer? What are your plans for it?

Put it this way, the games are allot of fun (my kids love them) and there is something crazy about owning a computer thats 20+ years old (excluding an old PC, as they were junk) thats used frequently and still works. The video Toaster part is nostalgic at the very least and I cant bring myself to get rid of it.

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Of course, I can remember the prices suddenly spiking on the Nintendo Game and Watches years back. It got to the point where it was cheaper (and maybe better value) to just go out and buy the full-sized, classic arcade game compared to the little handheld. I'm really hoping this is just a fad. I for one am really going to hold on to my IIe's now as I might not be able to afford to replace them!

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They may have made a mistake, but you should probably take it if they are serious. They are about $100-200+shipping on eBay, same as they have been for complete systems for a while...

 

Now the Amiga- it did go up. Of course, right after I sold all my box big Amigas (3000 and 4000's)

 

:(

Edited by R.Cade
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Dunno if that's good, or bad, but I was offered $1400 for one of my rather mundane - nothing special - Apple //e consoles with monitor. 15 years ago I was practically picking them out of the garbage from school cleanouts and upgrades.

 

What do you care? Just fire up an emulator. :P :-D

 

If some fool is trying to give you $1400 for your IIe rig, take it. And then buy eight or nine other IIe rigs to replace it.

 

People can ask for a million dollars for this stuff if they feel like, for all the difference it makes. It doesn't mean a thing until somebody pays it. And even that would be an outlier.

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The offer was some visitors we had over. I didn't because I was lazy at the time or something like that.

 

I did some checking on the completed listings, the Apple II+ is now getting between around 350 - 500 for a basic configuration. And while some //e units have an asking price of $2000 and upwards. They are moving for around 300 - 500.

 

I ask the sellers what's so special, why would the rig command such a high price they say..

 

"Others are going for the same price. I checked other listings!"

"This is a special rare version."

"It's a world-wide market, and here is a chance for someone to get a rare computer."

"It's made by Steve Jobs"

 

Some even threatened to report me to ebay because I was harassing them about their selling practices! Other's have blocked me from bidding. Not that I'd pay $100 for commonly available disks anyways!

 

A real snobby crowd on fleabay when you question their pricing!

 

And another thing, when a Best-Offer is accepted on, say, a $299 item. It lists as being SOLD at $299 when in reality, the seller may have accepted $249. Now the next person to list will price their item at $299. Another subtle way that ebay itself drives up prices in attempt to get higher fees.

 

 

 

Now they're getting listed on ebay for $1500 and up to $4000. Good for the sellers. Bad for the hobby. Great for me and my stash. Bad for newcomers that want to experience the "Apple Experience"..
I have no need to get more Apple II consoles, though I will pick them up if they're cheap. I don't know how to combat such high asking prices other than by not buying the stuff. But if everyone lists their stuff at that price either no one will buy, or a whole new class of buyers comes in. Presumptuous. Snotty. Audaciousness.. all negative words flow in my head when I see 4-digit asking prices on a stock //e.
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What do you care? Just fire up an emulator. :P :-D

 

If some fool is trying to give you $1400 for your IIe rig, take it. And then buy eight or nine other IIe rigs to replace it.

 

Ha. I still have 90% of my original stuff from the 1970's and 1980's. It has sentimental value to me. And while it's ready to use I don't do much with it. Apple II is the one system I've been collecting and hoarding for for years and years. Long time ago I was going to collect for all classic systems, but that would have gotten out of hand quickly.

 

Ftp Asimov and emulation see way more usage for practical activities. If you can call anything on a classic computer practical.

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That's why you don't buy Apple stuff on eBay. :)

I've been pretty lucky as far as my Apple collection goes. I got my first IIe (non-working :() with a color Apple monitor and DuoDisk at Goodwill for $2.99, I got two other rigs for free (separate occasions) via a collector friend of mine, got a CIB sorta-working Laser 128 on Craigslist for free, my IIe Platinum came in another Craigslist lot with a bunch of Atari 800XL and Commodore 64 stuff for $50, and I bought my II+ rig from a guy a Vintage Computer Fest outside of Chicago for $75. (If you can make it to an event like that in or near your area, BTW, that's my recommended avenue of procuring vintage hardware. People usually know their stuff, what it's worth, and tend to be more lenient about price and are willing to make deals.) There was another one in there somewhere that I traded away for a boxed Atari 400--also at VCF--but I don't remember where it came from or what it cost me.

Now, if I hadn't been so fortunate, and the choice was between paying $500+ to join the Apple II Club and accepting the fact that the Apple is not a reasonable option for collecting...well...I've got Radio Shack, Atari, TI, Commodore, and Timex systems to tend to. :) I'm taking my ball and going home.

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To answer directly.

 

It would lower the value of the //e, naturally. It could come in handy because you have a GS mobo, and someone may want a IIgs board to fix their iigs or prep it for sale - when the iigs goes through a price spike. Not too many GS units were made compared to the II+ and //e.

 

Now if it was the official //e -> IIgs upgrade kit, that would be worth more.

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