The "Equation"

OK: there's no real equation that I use to determine what projects to do and what not to do. In most cases, its easy since there's no good way to mess up buying a know quantity like a Dell laptop for $150 and selling it for $250. Or finding a machine at a certain price-point that already has a buyer who wants it at price-point + $25-50. But for a Frugal Propellerhead's own projects, you really have to constantly evaluate since its a sliding scale and often something done "on-the-fly". This is really a good "case study" for what many people run into when dealing with a hobby and having something turn into a "money pit" and a cause of frustration and friction. So, let me walk you guys through this case:

• Found an Alienware Area-51 M7700 (largely complete with the exception of battery, hard drive(s), a/c adapter) for $171 on Goodwill Auctions.


• Made a mistake (kind of), since this particular Goodwill seller put in "shipping to be calculated after auction". On the surface, this didn't look like much of an issue since Goodwill is typically pretty reasonable on this and when this appears it usually means that the seller is going to calculate based on actual charges to the buyer's location. Little did I know that these knuckleheads would calculate shipping from South Carolina to Texas to be about $50! This puts the project at $221, although not too bad for what it was, this takes away room for error making it not nearly as good of a deal than if the costs would have been something more typical such as $25 or so.


• Bought, a/c adapter, and a battery on eBay for around $40 total putting me at a totaling pushing $275 now and still needing a HDD caddy and adapter cable, which should cost me another $35-45, meaning that my total will end up in the $325 range.


• This is were analysis comes into play. If you'll do a little research by checking eBay "sold" prices, you'll find that the $325+ range is into the fully-working versions of that model, AND I'd be there w/o having it completely "up and running".


• The next concept to analyze is how to move forward from here. I can find the other parts and finish, find parts through the acquisition of a "parts" machine, get the project working and sell off the remaining parts to recoup the costs. In relation to this, I found another M7700 with similar issue here locally for $150. The outlay at this point would be around $475! This is not only in the fully working range, but into the fully working next NEWER MODEL range. Let's just say that this isn't a place you want to be with a "fun" project since I'll categorize this as being NOT FUN due to fiscal irresponsibility.


• AND this isn't even discussing the possibility that I wouldn't be able to resolve the issues (eg. inconsistent POSTing) without spending more money!

So.....WWYD? As for me, I'm leaning toward gettting out of this situation while I can and will most likely be able to get back what I've put into it already. I'd probably be able to get out for about a $50 penalty. Let's just say that it's "lesson learned"!