Selling a NEW Apple IIgs: turn it on or not?

[quote=mnemonic]

Hey everyone, I am facing the following dilemma: I have a new, unused Apple IIgs that to my knowledge was never powered on. It is a rev 0 model from 1986, so it is almost 33 years old. I would like to sell this machine and I wonder if I should turn it on for testing at all, which bears the risk of the power supply dying, leaving me with a dead unit. On the other hand, I could sell without testing it, in which case I cannot claim that it is working. Which would probably reduce its value. What are the odds that the power supply dies when I turn it on? And would you buy such a machine untested? Thanks for any advice.

[/quote]

I would turn it on and test it, because if it's dead, the buyer will want to return it anyway. 

I wouldn’t open it or test it, otherwise people will say it’s “used” when it’s not really. That said, any idea what you want for it?  

[quote=mnemonic]Maybe it wasn’t clear, but I would of course mention that I have not tested it.[/quote]

Here's my 2 cents worth.  

-  If it is truly new in the box sealed as it came from Apple, I wouldn't open it and test it.  I would sell it as new in the box and let the buyer beware.  They know what they are getting at that point.  A completly new sealed in the box unit.  It the caps in the PS degraded, then they will deal with it, it they even open it.  My biggest fear is the battery, if it blew up, then the buyer will have a mess on his hands, but again, if it is sealed in the box new, any experienced collector will know they are taking a gamble and they need to decide if it is worth it or not.   

- Now, if you already opened it to test it, then the whole new in the box thing is no longer an issue.  First thing I would do is pop the cover and look at the battery.  If it shows any signs of leaking and hasn;t already, then "cut it" out of there.  It's a ROM 0, so it will be soldered to the motherboard.  A small pair of wire cutters will remove it easily.   Second,  I woul then agree with the person here and turn it on and test it.  It is either going to work or the PS will blow.  Either way, you know what you have to sell then and if it is working and doesn't blow, you will be able to get more for it.  If it does blow, it would have done that when the buyer turned it on and they would most likely be negotiating for money back then.  

If you post some pics up here, there are alot of fritters who can help and, heck some of them may be willing to buy it and save you the Fleabay fees.  

But I can't stress enough, if you opened it, get the case lid off and check out the battery.  That could turn a few hundred dollar IIgs into a $50 IIgs in a red hot hurry.  

Jay 

I get the feeling that it is not in an unsealed box, as delivered from Apple. Is it or not??

I would leave it as is and sell it stating that it's brand new, it's value is in it's newness, working or not....

Chances are unfortunately high that the battery has leaked and it is ruined anyway.

"About the battery: when I bought it many years ago the first thing I did was to remove it to avoid future leakage. Back then I never turned the machine on.

Anyway, I could not resist and turned it on now, and lo and behold it started up just fine! I guess it is "used" now. Btw, this is a rev 01 model."

battery's out

worked fine

If the box is opened you really didn't affect value much by turning it on to test it.  In fact it probably should be an easier sell if it is known to work.  Anyway, it isn't like a IIgs is particularly rare or valuable to begin with.  Even if value is affected by something it isn't going to be a huge amount of dollars.  These are not machines you are going to sell and retire to your own private island on.  So I wouldn't worry too much.