Kwaaku Posted May 3, 2008 Share Posted May 3, 2008 looking at new & second hand macs available in UK. The £ is weak ok, but the $ is even weaker and has dropped about 30% relative to the £. So why haven't new prices adjusted to match? Today I saw: 1)refurbished G4 towers on sale for over £700 (around 760MHz) 2)a stock 1.8Ghz Mac Mini just sell for £365 + 10 postage on ebay. That is the (lowest) new retail price here. It had a free Bluetooth keyboard & mighty mouse, big whoop. These examples are quite normal and represent the "going rate" here. In my humble opinion 2 things are clear. 1) The second hand market here is so {censored} its barely worth bothering with 2) There are a lot of stupid/desperate people around that have given up on any chance of a cheap "deal". It's common practice for luxury car makers to buy up available second hand cars to "soak up" availability. Anyone think that's what happens with mac's? any tips or opinions here? Is there no middle ground between being a good consumer and paying RRP or swashbuckling my way to a Hackintosh? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102959-why-is-mac-market-sewn-up-so-tight-in-europe/ Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viscaria Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 I've heard tell that if you are in the market for a Mac Book Pro you can actually save money by paying for air fare to NYC and flying back with the computer in a laptop bag (and toss the reciept and documentation or FedEx it to yourself) to avoid import duties. YMMV of course, and I don't expect that that would work with a desktop. Apple isn't buying up old hardware to kill the secondhand market, Mac users are just unusually attached to their computers and overvalue them. Oh, and the Mac mini is overpriced in any currency. Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102959-why-is-mac-market-sewn-up-so-tight-in-europe/#findComment-741077 Share on other sites More sharing options...
syllopsium Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 Is there no middle ground between being a good consumer and paying RRP or swashbuckling my way to a Hackintosh? I can't understand it, other than thinking that people have a distorted view of reality. Even if you assume the macs hold their value a little better, are more reliable and do what they do incredibly well they are still not worth the money. When an unofficially upgraded 1.5GHz mac mini solo sells on ebay for 255 quid, and a new 1.8Ghz dual core version with more up to date legal software sells for only 400 quid there is no excuse except stupidity. It's not economic. It's not under Applecare. It doesn't make sense to spend so much on a product that could fail tomorrow. Worst of all, it happens over and over again. What are people smoking? Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102959-why-is-mac-market-sewn-up-so-tight-in-europe/#findComment-751758 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synaesthesia Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 1)refurbished G4 towers on sale for over £700 (around 760MHz) Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102959-why-is-mac-market-sewn-up-so-tight-in-europe/#findComment-751823 Share on other sites More sharing options...
lord_muad_dib Posted May 19, 2008 Share Posted May 19, 2008 well... here in italy, apple stuff has a very little market, with just 1 officiall apple store in Rome('course there are other dealers with apple stuff but...) i've never seen a mac commercial here in italy, so sad apple verb hasn't arrived here but just sporadic costumers and professionals buy macs Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102959-why-is-mac-market-sewn-up-so-tight-in-europe/#findComment-751838 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kwaaku Posted May 23, 2008 Author Share Posted May 23, 2008 Glad Im not the only one who can see this "mirage" of mac value, particularly second hand. I am now skint, and am not looking to buy anything above the food&drink level. Must have walked past the Mega Apple Shop 50 times now, not the sightest urge to enter. Still, it's all relative. I grew out of the thrill of new gadgets many years ago, but if I was rich enough I'd buy a fat new mac. Still think Ipods are for the birds tho Link to comment https://www.insanelymac.com/forum/topic/102959-why-is-mac-market-sewn-up-so-tight-in-europe/#findComment-755952 Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts