[SOLVED] The End of Mac OS X Era

[halcyon]

I discovered bliss in November 2010, on the 21st to be exact. See, that's the day something truly wonderful and life-changing happened. It was a sunny day as I recall...a beautiful day. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep the night before, tossing, turning, ...levitating in my bed. This would be the day that changed history as I knew it. This would be the day that... ...the leviathan arrived. A 2010 Xeon 3.3Ghz 6-core nasty-fast-nasty Mac Pro. She arrived. I cried happy tears [I think I did anyways]. She would be used to virtualize the world...running multiple networked virtual machines simultaneously...effortlessly, undeterred, as I simultaneously encoded video and miixed dance tracks. She would change the world as I knew it...and she did. Nothing slows her down.

2 years have passed and I've upgraded her, RAID0 Vertex2 128GB SSDs and RAID0 600GB Velociprators, 24GB of RAM, dual 27" Cinema Displays, LightScribe burner. She's raw. What'd she cost? Errr...let's not talk about that...but less than a new Corvette I assure you. ..but I realize I no longer really have a need for such planet-destroying, black-hole vaporizing power. My MacBook Pro now quite easily fulfilling my needs as I spend more time with it and even more mobile technologies {SGS3, Transformer Infinity+dock}.

...and so, the unthinkable will happen...

She will be sold.

So, in your honest opinion when she's put up on the auction table what's a fair price for such a machine in pristine condition? I know I cannot get anywhere near what she costs, but don't want to be totally ripped-off either. Again, her specs are:

2010 3.3Ghz Hexa-core Mac Pro
Mac OS X Mountain Lion
24GB OWC ECC RAM
AMD HD5870 {1GB RAM}
2 x 128GB Vertex2 SSDs in RAID 0
2 x 600GB WD VelociRaptors in RAID 0
2 x 2011 27" Apple Cinema Displays
1-year of Apple Care remaining
She's in very clean condition, I've blown her with compressed air EVERY week since she was purchased to ensure no overly bold dust got too comfortable.

No, I'm not soliciting offers here, I just want to get some honest opinions about what I should charge. ...don't want to over or under charge. Your thoughts, as always, are much appreciated.

 

[ish416]

As beastly of a system as that is, the people in the market for such a machine typically have the funds to purchase the system new. However, it is a Mac and most people are uber-stupid-must-have when it comes to anything with an Apple logo on it.

I would say the just system itself would sell for around $1500 - $1700 in my area.

The displays would probably bring about $400 - $550 each.

I would probably start pricing around $2700 and see what happens. Especially if you aren't hurting for the money.

Regardless, for that price range it is one of hell of a machine.

 

[bliq]

I am so glad I started the thread on this. Excellent points. So I need to offer some type of quality guarantee in writing. How long should such a guarantee be good for? I'm in the Washington DC area.

I would highly recommend against offering a warranty yourself. You are not an insurance company and warranties are insurance contracts. You could open yourself up to liability.

If you really want to offer a warranty, find a company that offers warranties on such things and pay for the premium.

 

[halcyon]

I would highly recommend against offering a warranty yourself. You are not an insurance company and warranties are insurance contracts. You could open yourself up to liability.

If you really want to offer a warranty, find a company that offers warranties on such things and pay for the premium.

Thanks. Yeah, I think the Apple Care should be enough to protect the buyer. I'll call and find out everything that I'd need to do to transfer it.

 

[bliq]

As beastly of a system as that is, the people in the market for such a machine typically have the funds to purchase the system new. However, it is a Mac and most people are uber-stupid-must-have when it comes to anything with an Apple logo on it.

I would say the just system itself would sell for around $1500 - $1700 in my area.

The displays would probably bring about $400 - $550 each.

I would probably start pricing around $2700 and see what happens. Especially if you aren't hurting for the money.

Regardless, for that price range it is one of hell of a machine.

It's getting tiring to hear about how "stupid" apple people are. Wanna know what's stupid? It's the idea that most people (kids?) here have that those who buy $3000 and up computers are enthusiasts. They are not. They generally care very little about gaming on their $3000+ computer. Even less about benchmarks or tinkering. People who buy computers that cost more than about $3000 in general, usually buy them because they are in a business where time is money and using the most efficient tools for the job equate to greater earnings. Being likely self-employed professionals, they are also keenly aware of the idea of value for the dollar for business expenditures.

So, I'm sure there are professional level graphic artists or photographers just starting out, or newly expanding their small business that would be interested in a capable Mac Pro such as this. You're not likely to sell it to an enthusiast, you are more likely to sell it to a professional graphic artist or photographer using a 2008 Mac Pro and is ready for an upgrade and knows they can write off at least a portion of the purchase as a business expense. At $2500, you could get the latest base model Mac Pro, or this one. The buyer will need to decide if the (hopefully) better specs make up for lack of factory warranty, though the AppleCare is certainly going to be a huge plus in this respect. Can it be renewed? Because if it's cost effective, maybe offer it at $3000, and get another year of applecare or something. you may still just net $2500, but it gives buyer peace of mind and that's a strong selling point too. Craigslist is probably a great way to meet someone in this position but also forums and professional organizations for the graphic artist/creative arts fields might be good too. Also photography organizations, and especially commercial photography and wedding photography trade organizations. They might have a marketplace where they buy and sell used camera equipment and you could advertise on there also.

 

[deadlockedworld]

It's getting tiring to hear about how "stupid" apple people are.

+1 Its clearly an inferiority complex of some kind, but even I'm surprised at how visceral the common reaction is. How people choose to spend their money is their business, and it's the mark of an immature mind not to respect that. Apple doesn't sell price/performance, they sell a reliable "package of service." It's not the right fit for my usage, but for many users (including my wife) it is actually the better choice.

 

[musical marv]

I discovered bliss in November 2010, on the 21st to be exact. See, that's the day something truly wonderful and life-changing happened. It was a sunny day as I recall...a beautiful day. I was so excited that I couldn't sleep the night before, tossing, turning, ...levitating in my bed. This would be the day that changed history as I knew it. This would be the day that... ...the leviathan arrived. A 2010 Xeon 3.3Ghz 6-core nasty-fast-nasty Mac Pro. She arrived. I cried happy tears [I think I did anyways]. She would be used to virtualize the world...running multiple networked virtual machines simultaneously...effortlessly, undeterred, as I simultaneously encoded video and miixed dance tracks. She would change the world as I knew it...and she did. Nothing slows her down.

2 years have passed and I've upgraded her, RAID0 Vertex2 128GB SSDs and RAID0 600GB Velociprators, 24GB of RAM, dual 27" Cinema Displays, LightScribe burner. She's raw. What'd she cost? Errr...let's not talk about that...but less than a new Corvette I assure you. ..but I realize I no longer really have a need for such planet-destroying, black-hole vaporizing power. My MacBook Pro now quite easily fulfilling my needs as I spend more time with it and even more mobile technologies {SGS3, Transformer Infinity+dock}.

...and so, the unthinkable will happen...

She will be sold.

So, in your honest opinion when she's put up on the auction table what's a fair price for such a machine in pristine condition? I know I cannot get anywhere near what she costs, but don't want to be totally ripped-off either. Again, her specs are:

2010 3.3Ghz Hexa-core Mac Pro
Mac OS X Mountain Lion
24GB OWC ECC RAM
AMD HD5870 {1GB RAM}
2 x 128GB Vertex2 SSDs in RAID 0
2 x 600GB WD VelociRaptors in RAID 0
2 x 2011 27" Apple Cinema Displays
1-year of Apple Care remaining
She's in very clean condition, I've blown her with compressed air EVERY week since she was purchased to ensure no overly bold dust got too comfortable.

No, I'm not soliciting offers here, I just want to get some honest opinions about what I should charge. ...don't want to over or under charge. Your thoughts, as always, are much appreciated.

About $2500-3000 at least what you have invested in it.

 

[alyoshka]

Or.... as we usually do is sell each part individually....
That usually finds better prices and you can manage to reach a bigger market.
It may be a little bit more time consuming but just check sites which have these personals..... "looking for ...." kind of ads.... there you'll really get more than what you might expect.

 

[halcyon]

You guys have been totally awesome, thanks again for all the excellent advice.

 

[halcyon]

Best answer selected by halcyon.