As part of my research into the Macintosh Performa 550’s factory recovery partition, I paid a lot of attention to eBay listings for these computers. I came to an interesting discovery that I had already suspected: big CRT-based Macs in this form factor are regularly damaged in shipping after being sold on eBay.
Most vintage computer enthusiasts are well aware of this, but the plastic in old computers tends to become very brittle as it ages. With Macs in particular, machines made from 1993-ish onward seem to really be affected by this issue. I’ve seen this with my own eyes, too. The CD-ROM bezel on my Quadra 840av fell off because several very thin plastic clips snapped off. Good luck finding one that hasn’t already broken off. One of the clips that holds the top case in place on my Power Mac 6100 also broke off. And I, too, once received a Performa 550 that was destroyed in shipping.
For what it’s worth, I have experienced success with smaller “pizza box” Macs shipped to me. They are definitely from the same era of terrible plastic, but they have always been generously covered in all directions with bubble wrap and none of the ones I have received have ever been damaged in transit. I think the fact that they aren’t super heavy or large helps a lot.
I was curious about bigger, heavier machines though, especially since I had experienced destruction on one myself. I decided to do a quick little research project on eBay. I went through all past auctions I could find for the Macintosh Performa/LC 5xx form factor. Sadly, eBay’s history doesn’t go back very far, so it’s hard to get a decent sample size. Regardless of the lack of data, what I found doesn’t look promising for prospective buyers. Out of 12 total computers sold, I found:
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