How to sell a damaged Mac?

[ricebag]

Hi all,
So I've read posts on how to sell a mac, and ebay I guess seems the way to go since people may pay more there than here. However, the computer I'm trying to sell is damaged. It's a G3 iBook, 500 mhz dual usb, and would be useless except I got it BTO with a 20 gig hard drive, CD-RW/DVD-R and double the normal ram (still only 128, I think). So all in all it's pretty nice, and I could include a legal Jaguar install disk since I've also got Tiger.

Problem is - some cable running from the base through the hinge to the lcd is pinched and so the backlight doesn't come on. It's a problem that can be fixed with a cheap part, but I'm told is very complicated and takes a while. I don't want to downplay this to people, I want to be honest, but I can't imagine anyone, let alone an average person on ebay, wanting to buy it even though it should be pretty cheap to get running.

Any thoughts? Should I tear it apart and sell the parts?
(I'd tear it apart and fix it, but the last time I tried to do that, I wimped out - and found it was worse than when I had started.)

Thanks.

 

[Stampyhead]

You could either post it on Ebay with the description you just gave here (I thought you explained its condition rather well) or look into having it fixed. You could try this place in CA, a Mac tech told me they do a good job:
http://www.dttservice.com/ibookg3.html
In my opinion it seems like a waste to part it out since there is only one tiny thing wrong with it. How much would you sell it for?

 

[ITASOR]

It's not THAT complicated to replace that. I've done it on a friends iBook. I mean it takes like a few hours if you so it nice and slow. Use a guide from http://pbfixit.com. They have VERY good guides!

It would be worth, I would think, to fix it before selling as to maximize your profits.

 

[minimac]

I'm in the same boat. My iBook has seen some wear and tear over the years but I think there are people out there that might be interested in these types of machines. I wondered about selling parts but I don't want to get involved with stripping pieces out, except things like the Airport card because that's worth something on it's own.

I'd be interested to hear what you end up doing.

 

[ricebag]

It's not THAT complicated to replace that. I've done it on a friends iBook. I mean it takes like a few hours if you so it nice and slow. Use a guide from http://pbfixit.com. They have VERY good guides!

Thanks! Actually, they sell the part, but for 70 bucks! I was told at the local mac specialist store it was like 15. The cheapest I've found (since I'm looking around now) has been 50, and pbfixit claims that their guides do not support this item anyway.

Also, they rate the repair as "Very difficult."
I'm told you have to not only tear apart the base (which I've done before, for the most part) but the lcd as well? And that's where it's difficult? (prying off the case of the lid)


Stampyhead - part of the problem is I don't even know what it's worth! It seems the standard models are going for 300-450 on ebay. Balancing out this problem and the BTO options, maybe around that much?

And the repair service looks excellent, but really, $125+shipping seems like way too much to drop on an old, extra computer.

 

[macEfan]

i say part it out.. people on ebay are usually looking for some type of part, not always a whole machine. Hey, list the CD/DVD drive and even I may bid on it

 

[SpaceMagic]

When I sold the parts separately I got more money than i could have dreamed for selling it whole and fully working! Hehe... fantastic! (600mhz video chip broken iBook (so couldn't sell motherboard), CDRW/DVD combo (sold), ram (sold), power dc board (sold), power cable (sold), screen (sold).

 

[QCassidy352]

I've got a damaged powermac that I listed here and on ebay. If I don't get a decent price in either place, I'm just going to keep it. But if you can't get a good price and don't want to keep it, I'd sell it for parts.

 

[ricebag]

Spacemagic -
how much did you end up making? Ideally, by component...