Where can I sell old computers?

[albacore]

I see some sites online, but I dunno if they'd take mine.

One Mac Classic, with keyboard and mouse. Does not boot. Youtube tells me how to fix it, but I don't want to invest the time.

One Imac... the one with the screen mounted on half a globe. Does not boot.

Or should I just recycle them?

[Effete Snob]

1. Recycle

These have no value other than as historical curiosities.

[MerryHolidays]

2. Try eBay...some of these antique computers can fetch a pretty good price. nt

[ret5hd]

3. Well, if that's an "antique", I wonder what...

they’d give for a grouchy old man (me).

[bucolic_frolic]

4. +1 Research and research some more. Know what you're giving away.

Apples were more rare than IBMs or clones. Some will fetch.

[MerryHolidays]

14. Definitely. I bought a decades old computer off of eBay a couple of years ago

similar to one that I used as a kid. Let's just say I paid triple digits for it. For certain computers, even very old ones, there is a market for them.

And I am glad to say that 2 years after I bought the antique, I finally got it connected. Was/is great to relive old times. (I am a bit of a techie). It was a real blast for me to see that screen that I worked and played with decades ago.

You would be surprised what people are willing to pay for certain types of computers for nostalgia's sake. Totally agree that it's worth spending a few minutes to see what the prevailing price is. Worst case, the OP can always give it away, MAKING SURE they wipe the hard drive if possible.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. Some are offered for a pretty good price. Whether anybody is paying that price ...

I see the same stuff offered on Craigslist week after week after week ...

[CloudWatcher]

5. eBay?

For a while people were turning Mac Classics into aquariums. The lexo-lamp iMac might have some takers, it was a pretty cute machine.

Neither are worth much if anything as a running computer. Be sure and note that they don't boot and be careful of shipping costs being more than what you might get for them

Hmm, personally I'd recycle them assuming that the contents of their disks might have personal data on them.

And ... if you want to recover anything interesting off their disks, it's a little complicated but not that hard to pull out the
hard drives and put them in external carriers so you could plug them into your current Mac (if you have one) and copy off
anything interesting.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. I had a Mac Classic. It was not highly regarded at the time.

You can leave it out at the end of the sidewalk and let someone take it for free.

Neither are worth much if anything as a running computer.

Agreed.

All-in-One | Tech Specs

Mac Classic

LEM Staff - 1990.10.15

Introduced as the first sub-$1,000 Macintosh in October 1990, the basic Classic came with 1 MB of RAM, a SuperDrive, and space to mount an internal SCSI hard drive. The hard drive version came with 2 MB of memory and a 40 MB hard drive. RAM expansion was via a 1 MB daughter card with two open slots, which could accept a pair of 256 KB or 1 MB SIMMs. This made memory upgrades far easier than on the Plus or SE, since the motherboard didn’t have to be removed. At the same time, it means you should avoid any used Classic without 2 MB or more memory unless you have a source for the memory card.



What Apple was thinking releasing an 8 MHz computer so late in the game is beyond me. By 1990, 8 MHz was just too slow for practical use, although that didn’t keep Apple from selling it or people from buying it. At this point, a 16 MHz Classic would have been sweet (see our review of the 16 MHz Brainstorm upgrade in a Mac Plus for details on that).

{snip}

That iMac is the a G4 iMac, one of these. There were several models, depending on processor speed, etc. You might be able to install OS X 10.4 on that. Incredibly, the browser TenFourFox will run on that.

15″ iMac G4 (Early 2002)





People like them for their weird looks. You might get a few bucks for that. I still have one, but I'm not sure why. They are a nightmare to work on. Seriously, they aren't worth a whole bunch.

Craigslist is your friend.

[lpbk2713]

7. If you find you have no alternative ...

Best Buy will accept up to three desktop PCs per day, per household for recycling.

[Lettuce Be]

8. There is demand for the old stuff

Depends how much effort you want to put into it, but I'd advertise on Craigslist or your local Nextdoor or maybe even Facebook Market. I've seen people turn them into things, and lots of Mac users love to play with the old stuff. You won't get a lot of $ but there are certainly people who'd love to have what you have.

[LuvLoogie]

10. You'd get more value from the satisfaction of getting them to boot again

and running a few native applications. It could be fun.

Or go fishing.

Maybe tell some kid you'll treat them and a few friends to pizza if they can get it running.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. I went to a yard sale a few years back.

The guy had a G4 laptop on the table. "Make me an offer," he said.

I've been to a lot of yard sales. I went into my spiel. Due to my having many, many paperweights already, I am reluctant to take on any more old computers. I gave him my standard offer, which is $1. That was the highest offer he had received all day. He threw in two other Mac laptops to go with it.

Yeah, it runs, but there's not really much I can do with it. You get up to OS X 10.4.11 on it, and that's the end. Any OS past that is beyond its abilities.

So Mac G4 laptops are worth 33 cents apiece. That's just about what your computers are worth. The iMac might get more due to the odd appearance.

Look them up on Low End Mac (aka This Old Mac) or Everymac to see what you have.

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/mac_classic/specs/mac_classic.html

If you can get them running, they might work as a printer server or as a display for a yuletime burning log.

[luv2fly]

12. Went through this not too long ago myself

They really aren't worth anything, I'd clean them so that there's nothing personal on them and then recycle in the cheapest possible way you can. Apple stores will take them for free.

[sinkingfeeling]

13. Our Goodwll will take them.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. List of computer museums

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_museums