Digital Fossils

Stocking Your Mac Museum: Where to Find Classic Macs on the Cheap

- 2008.06.10 - Tip Jar

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So you want to start a Mac museum, eh? Where does one find all these old machines? There are plenty of sources, some more obvious than others. Let me share a few of the methods I've used over the years; maybe some will be of use to you.

eBay

The most obvious is eBay, of course. It really is the "world's biggest garage sale", and the patient collector will eventually find near anything he or she is looking for listed there. I've used it for acquisitions as common as my iMac DV SE and G4 Sawtooth to scarcer items like my TAM and Duo 270c (complete with rare Mini Dock) to antiques like a pristine dual-floppy SE.

daul floppy Macintosh SE

The biggest shortcoming to using eBay is that every other Mac collector on the planet is using it, and items will frequently get bid up to fair market value and beyond. There's always someone else out there who is even more interested in that maxed-out SE/30 than you are and will bid accordingly. If an item has a "buy it now" price that you're comfortable with, don't take a chance - jump on it.

Donations

Getting a reputation with friends as the "Local Macintosh Humane Society" is important, too. Folks are frequently ready to get rid of their old computers, and isn't it cheaper to give it to you than to go shopping for a Christmas or birthday present? I know I was every bit as tickled to get an old Performa 636CD or Color Classic as I would have been if I'd gotten gift certificates to some clothing store or book store.

NeXTstation If you have a blog or LiveJournal, make sure that your 'net friends know that you're a geek for old Macs. One blog friend made me a deal on a color NeXT Station; another offered me a 540c if I'd pay shipping, and added a Duo 280c to the box at the last minute. Mac owners are happy to know that beloved old machines are going someplace where they will be used and treasured, and not just winding up in a landfill as cannibalized husks.

Schools

As a side note to the above, educational institutions are frequently disposing of old Macs. One friend had acquired a bunch and sat on them for a while before asking me if I'd be interested in a "truckload" of vintage Mac hardware. It turns out he wasn't kidding. When he showed up at my house, the bed of his little Chevy was full of old university Macs, from a Mac II and an LC II through a couple of Quadra towers to a Power Mac 7300, his basement clutter became my prized museum contents.

Pawn Shops

Pawn shops can be another source. A pawn shop I managed got a IIsi in once, and I snatched it up after it sat unsold on the shelf for a week or two. Frequently Macs can be picked up cheaply in these settings, as pawn shop owners rarely know what to price Macs at, and they can languish on the shelves for a while until the owner is ready to let it go for a song just to get some of his money back.

Computer Stores

Lastly, keep an eye peeled on the day-to-day rounds of your life. At the same shop, there was one of the ubiquitous little Wintel computer stores in the strip mall across the street. The owner had an SE/30 sitting around, obviously unused, and I eventually traded him out of it. Meanwhile the owner of the shop at which I worked had a wife who was a school principal. Whenever I went over to their house for dinner, I noticed she had a complete LC II setup in her office. After several months, I noticed it looked a little unused and made an offer. Sold!

Friends

Similarly, I played tech support for a landlord of mine years later, getting his AirPort network up and keeping it running. Every time I dropped by, I couldn't help but notice an old, slightly dinged-up looking 520c Blackbird gathering dust on a bookshelf. When a year went by without the laptop moving from its spot, I asked him if it was for sale. Of course it was.

Dumpster Diving

One method I have never tried personally actually paid great dividends for me: Dumpster diving. While I never did it, back when I lived in Atlanta a friend was an inveterate dumpster diver around the big office buildings in the city. She knew I liked old computers and one day called me up to say she'd found one she thought I might like. I was expecting some old Dell or Compaq office machine, so you could have knocked me over with a feather when I got home to find a working Mac 512K, complete with a 40 MB external hard drive. I kept it for a couple years, but I don't have it anymore.

See, I had this friend who loves old Macs, who I knew would just love it....

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