Ask HN: Where to sell vintage computers?
Many of us have vintage often rare computers. The first few Apple's computers goes to premium auctions but what about things in a lower tier?
Many of us have vintage often rare computers. The first few Apple's computers goes to premium auctions but what about things in a lower tier?
I've had good luck selling small stockpiles of "vintage" laptops on eBay (recently, around ten circa 2009 models).
Prepping for sale can help. There seems to be a category of buyers who not only want something clean, but that's had the original software restored, or something like that. For "vintage" PCs, this means putting on a vintage version of Windows, maybe not the one that came with it, but XP or something that people really liked and will run old software they have. For non-PCs, like 8-bits, I'm just guessing there are also buyers who want a good out-of-box experience, to play with for nostalgia, without having it be a restoration project for them.
Also, specs do help for even "vintage" PCs, even ones that don't matter much, and aren't collectible. The larger the SSD you retrofit into it, it seems the more people are willing to pay, like someone is thinking of a Windows XP box as a daily driver for a video collection in 2024. Maybe people just like the idea of a Windows XP dream computer, and big specs help. People also seem to pay more for very minor CPU boost, even if the only difference is a 10% clock rate difference, same cache, and even if the CPU is socketed and they could upgrade it themselves. (It's easier to understand people wanting, say, the slightly faster variant of an 8-bit.)
Condition and cleanliness also helps. Keyboards tend to show wear and accumulate grime you'll never fully get clean, and a $20 replacement keyboard, combined with wiping down the chassis with isopropyl 70% prep pads, can elevate condition of a laptop from gross to great. Older desktop keyboards, you can disassemble them to clean, and this works surprisingly well for some of them, so you're pretty much only cleaning big plastic parts under the faucet.
But -- I implore you -- don't spray an eBay item with Febreeze or a scented duster. In the last couple years, most of the electronics I buy on eBay have had this done to them. Like, there must've been a TikTok, or something, that told people this was a best practice. The VOCs are nasty, and can persist on/in the item for weeks or longer.
I agree 100% with this advice about not spraying them with fragrances. It's an issue for me because that stuff really lingers and is unpleasant. I am experiencing this issue with Amazon deliveries in Canada. When covid happened, they started using fragranced air fresheners in their warehouse. What this means is that all items now arrive reeking. For items that are shrink wrapped or boxed well it's not that bad because you can just quickly remove the covering to the trash and the interior is ok, but items that intentionally have a hole in the plastic bag to prevent humidity, etc. from building up, the inside fills up with the fragrance and your cables, etc. will reek. Some materials will absorb it more than others.. steel is not porous and you can wipe it with alcohol or soapy water but something like plastic, it will cling tenaciously. You shouldn't have to wash a new item though..
I did try to raise this as a complaint with Amazon. The rep agreed this is an issue, and then nothing ever came of it.
It's too bad too because if you look at the cannisters, they have warning labels with the toxic symbol on them warning that exposure to them can sensitize people and cause reactions so their employees are experiencing the brunt of that.
I have 1000s of 60-80s computers and I did plan to open up a museum but it’s probably not going to happen. So I might make art with them. I like them a lot more than modern stuff; the way they look outside and inside, I can repair them and they all work and make lovely sounds. If I would sell them; eBay or specific sites for that specific computer. I traded tons on msx.org and the prices are not the highest but good. Also there is a store in Japan that pays a lot for some types of msx ; I showed my collection of turbo-rs and I could’ve bought a house where I live with the end result. Of course I kept them.
What about donating pieces to already existing computer museums if you have too many items? Depending on the country, you probably would get a tax credit receipt. There is a list of museums here at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_museums
Check out the Bloop Museum. They'd be happy to have donations or volunteer help. https://www.facebook.com/bloopmuseum/
EBAY, this is where you will get the most money.
RR Auctions is the only auction house I know that does computers
https://www.rrauction.com/
Then there are vintage computer festivals all over the country now and they have sales and markets. Find one close to you and sell it there.
https://vcfed.org/events/
If you want to make money, there's no place like eBay to move vintage hardware. If you're more concerned about it going to a good home, show up to any sort of vintage hardware meetup (KansasFest, VCF, etc) and someone will take it off your hands. Generally speaking, most vintage hardware is something that someone else wants, with the notable exception of generic Intel/AMD clone hardware, and even that stuff is gaining traction in the community.
Look up the prices on eBay sold listings [do a search for the computer and there is a checkbox on the left side to show the sold listings].
Related: "Ask HN: Where to buy old computers and consoles?", 2022-11-17, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=33638374
I have a Sun Ultra 30 with CRT monitor, mouse and keyboard in south London, UK that I have been trying to give away for free for a while.
This thread may push me to try again.
SPARC-era Sun workstations are my obsession.
The entire trajectory of my life was changed when I was plopped down in front of a SparcStation 5 with no CLI experience other than getting games to run in DOS and told to "figure it out".
Alas, I am in the US.
I don't sell vintage computers but I do buy a lot and occasionally sell some very obscure bordering on vintage electronics
If it's not very obscure just sell at the prices they go for on ebay; would strongly suggest selling as "for parts" and clarify they're not fully tested because it's wild how often ebay buyers seem to encounter issues with used items and require a partial refund (they rarely want to return the item). The cut on selling price by listing for parts will not be that significant most of the time with older tech in my experience.
If it is quite obscure you'll probably have to accept that it might be a long time before you even get an offer and the price can be incredibly hard to pin down. I've bought things for close to zero that I've also seen go for hundreds just because someone wanted rid of them, I've had offers around 25% of the listed price being accepted but I suspect those same listings were skipped over by people who would've paid more. Prices can vary dramatically depending on whether the few people who might want a thing are actively looking for it.
It's too bad there's no "cover it with Cosmoline and stash in the barn" option when it comes to electronics.
Place the item in an ESD bag along with a couple desiccant bags. Replace the air in the bag with dry nitrogen and then heat seal it. Place into another bag as backup and seal that too. Keep away from sunlight or place the item in a foam lined box. This is basically the method NASA uses to store things long term. The only thing you can't really control is tin whiskers growing in the solder. If you absolutely need it to last, conformal coating the boards can help prevent the tin whiskers from touching anything else.
That's unfortunately not going to work. Electrolytics degrade fairly quick, NVRAMs, backup batteries and even UVEPROMs die with time. On longer periods anything organic (starting with wire insulation) deteriorates.
Controlled atmosphere storage? Probably a bit extreme for your average ZX Spectrum though.
The Vintage Computer Festival, Ebay, craigslist.
If you're talking about things like Commodore 64s, I would talk to a local enthusiast group, should be easy enough to find on Facebook etc. You do get some money for them, but less than they cost in 1983, so it's not a collectors' object by any means. Most people still think it's better if they end up in the hands of someone who can restore/preserve them, if they don't have room for them anymore.
I’ve often wondered: what do vintage computer users actually do with their vintage computers?
The old ones won’t have internet capabilities and were mostly for business settings, so do you just fire up Lotus123 and click around in a spreadsheet?
Or do they just look cool on a shelf?
I use a Digital AlphaStation 200 4/233 from 1995 running Digital UNIX as my home's GPS-disciplined NTP server.
In the corner of my home office is a Power Macintosh 6100/66 from 1994 whose sole purpose is to be my Sim City 2000 machine.
Whenever I feel the urge to generate some 24-bit color Mandelbrot fractals extremely slowly I have an HP 9000 712/100 (1994) workstation running NeXTStep 3.3 I can use.
I have a Sun Enterprise/Ultra 450 (1997) that I use as an end table. It started out as a midrange Enterprise that I upgraded the hell out of into a high-end Ultra configuration before realizing that drawing 800W at idle was no way to go through life.
You can probably tell when I started getting into computers.
Running on the original hardware is a different experience than using an emulator. Also, you can test if your emulator is correct.
The old ones can have internet! They were mostly for playing games. There was far more software than Lotus123.
They look cool on a desk powered on. For instance, I have llamafile piping output to the Apple II.
I often miss the HDD noise/light grinding away mid game. But I suppose that that is the type of thing that causes hds to die
Most will carefully pack and store them, use them for exhibition/decoration, or as a speculative item. The lucky devices live in museums, regularly maintained and working.
The unlucky ones are seldomly used, as that would degrade them, hurting their speculative value. Even if you genuinely love them and use them to play or compute, they have little practical usefulness today unless you mod them with modern components, which again hurts their vintage value.
Search for local tech-oriented flea markets. If you're in the Boston area, this is a good one: https://w1mx.mit.edu/flea-at-mit/
There are some Facebook groups, but I sold a lot of what I had through craigslist. Ultimately, I had to give away half of my collection because no one was really interested in vintage Apple hardware and computers. It's a tight market.
Hamfest? Computer shows with a parking lot flea market or cheap booths?
I used to go to the Dayton Hamvention years ago, in the 1990's, and vacuum up all the 8-bit machines at the flea market for pennies. Even scored a C64 that is currently still one of the very earliest serials listed on the C64 serial number registry. Last time I went though, it seemed like the well had run dry.
Sell them to me! Just kidding, I ran out of space many Macs ago.
For vintage Apple gear to buy, sell or inquire about checkout 68kmla.org.
I had success selling a maxed out Power Mac 6100 there that went nowhere on EBay.
I've been on a buying spree of vintage tech - eBay and Facebook Marketplace have been my go to places.
Vogons!
amibay.com is reasonably active, at least for the UK & Europe.
There’s a pretty big gap between early Apple computers and the crap most people have in their attic.
Honestly, you’ll probably be disappointed by how much time it takes and how little money your junk is worth.
Just throw it away.
Or insist it has value and let your family deal with it after you die. That’s my dads plan.
> Just throw it away.
At the very least, offer it up for free before throwing it away. They're not making any more vintage computers.
Actually, they are: https://nixsys.com/legacy-computers/windows-98-computers, https://nixsys.com/legacy-computers/windows-xp-computers, etc.
Nobody is fabbing more of the custom silicon you're going to find in non-PC vintage computers. There are FPGA-based replacements for some custom chips of yore, but there won't be any more real SID, POKEY, etc, chips.
I think people would buy a new motherboard with ISA and AGP slots even today. I still have old pieces that can make a complete system, just not the motherboard because they all died.
Someone figured out how to get ISA slots on Broadwell-era motherboards by highjacking the TPM port.
Exactly, even if the computer itself isn't worth much or is broken, at least it can be stripped for spare parts that are not manufactured anymore.
> They're not making any more vintage computers
Ah because they’re in such high demand and so useful that they stopped making them.
Posting it for free / on curb on Craigslist is pretty easy and keeps it out of the waste stream.
No, it just makes you feel good that you’re not the one contributing to the “waste stream.” But spoiler alert, you still are!
Definitely eBay.
Local makerspace
Or offer it to local technical, educational or professional museums. I have seen old computers in mining museums, calculating museums, general industrial museums, graphic arts museums, etc. Alternatively, university computer societies.
What is your target market segment?
Does the condition of your goods match that market segment's expectations?
Does the combination of your sunk cost and margin expectations allow you to sell at an attractive price in your target market segment?
What is your sales timeline?
How much effort do you want to put in?
Good luck.
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