I put together a practical rundown of where I bought vintage computers and related gear, based on what had actually worked for me in the Bay Area. I also introduced our new golden retriever puppy, Penelope, who had been one reason uploads slowed down a bit. From there I went through the places I checked most often and showed examples of what I had paid so the prices had some context.
Thrift stores used to turn up a lot more than they do now. These days I mostly found smaller items there, but I still kept an eye out for independent stores, busy donation locations, and places in more transient areas. I showed a disk holder marked $2.99, an Imation SuperDisk drive that ended up being around three or four dollars, an Action Max for $7.99, and a few joysticks including one for three dollars. I also pulled out a Timex Sinclair 1000 with the memory expansion that I had found for four dollars. For me, thrift stores remained a low-hit-rate option unless I got lucky.
ShopGoodwill had more inventory, but the extra costs added up fast. I browsed current listings and pointed out a Nintendo 64 bundle already climbing in price, original PlayStations that were still fairly reasonable, and Nintendo cartridges that had gone much higher than they used to. I also searched for Commodore, Atari, and TRS-80 items and found the usual mix of systems, drives, cartridges, and odd peripherals. One example was a small lot of cartridges I bought for $18, but after shipping, handling, and the donation round-up, the total came to $31. That convenience is real, but so is the shipping bill.
I only touched briefly on eBay because most people already know how it works, but I do use it regularly. My usual approach is to look for local listings first, especially on heavier items, and ask sellers about local pickup if it isn’t already offered. I showed a Packard Bell laptop I had bought there for $50 with $9 shipping, which worked out well. The main thing is to check sold prices and avoid the listings where somebody simply priced an item far above the market.
Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, Mercari, and OfferUp all fit into the same general category for me. Marketplace often had inflated prices, but fast-moving local deals still showed up if I paid attention. I picked up an Atari 400 system with some software for $50 after getting a tip from a friend, and the seller said a long line of other buyers had asked about it after I did. Craigslist also still turned up worthwhile machines in my area, including a Compaq Portable I bought for $80.
Estate sales were much more hit or miss. Most of the ones I found focused on furniture, dishes, and household items, but every so often one had real computer gear. I talked about a recent sale from a collector that had keyboards, mice, old PCs from 486s through Pentiums, ISA and EISA boards, some PCI cards, and a stack of Macs. That was also where I found the IBM 5154 monitor I had featured before.
E-waste and recycling facilities remained my best source overall. Not every place wanted to sell to the public, but building relationships helped a lot, and sometimes those places also listed items online. I showed a pickup that included a TRS-80 Color Computer, a TRS-80 Model I, an iMac G3, a Toshiba Portégé, a Toshiba Satellite, old keyboards, magazines, an AT power supply, a PSP, IDE and floppy cables, old driver disks, mice, a Super Nintendo controller, and an IBM 5150 with its power leads cut. I also mentioned XS Solutions as one of the last good surplus electronics stores in the Bay Area for parts, and I wrapped up by recommending local clubs or small collector groups since sharing leads made it much easier to find things.
I finished with a couple of channel updates. I had just crossed 1,000 subscribers, added some new merchandise to the store, and said another special episode was already in progress.
— Aaron
Links
Timestamps
00:00 – Intro
03:15 – Thrift Stores
07:10 – Shopgoodwill
14:40 – Ebay
16:24 – Other Online Sites
17:54 – Estate Sales
19:04 – E-Waste/Recyclers
23:07 – Electronics Surplus
24:32 – Computer Clubs/Groups
25:54 – Wrap Up/Channel News