Shipping any server here from overseas would prolly cost a small fortune, and TradeMe is garbage these days. Could be worth checking FB Marketplace and any local e-waste facilities or the rummage section at your local landfill.
Honestly though if you think that your needs would be met by a few Orange Pis then you probably don't really need dedicated server hardware - that stuff is expensive, uses a ton of electricity, and is extremely hot/noisy.
Thanks. Would the noise and heat from a dedicated server be noticeable in neighboring rooms? Also how much of a power consumption increase would be expected?
Honestly that depends on the specific hardware and what your walls are made of! And the power consumption would also depend on your power plan, could be anywhere from a dollar to $5-10+ a day.
Ok, I think ill just go with a couple orange pis and a old desktop.
I once got a gigantic dinosaur storage array from a local university for 50 EUR. Check local stuff, it's like used furniture if you are in any bigger city.
One DDG search gave me this site, this offer seems reasonable, just check if it works first: https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/marketplace/computers/servers/servers/listing/4170528497
Watch out for noise and power consumption though. If you want to dip your feet in, OrangePi stuff is definitely a good place to start, set up some networking stuff like PiHole, they are nice projects and you are not saddled with a 30kg piece of metal that screams like a jet engine until you're sure you want to.
Where would one find 'local' stuff? Should I just email places and hope they have old servers they need to get rid of? Thanks.
Government auctions and LabGopher
Can’t speak to what is available in NZ, but one of my enterprise servers (the r420) came from Amazon for about 300US
HomeProd also came from Amazon, 2x HP EliteDesk 800 g3, currently sitting about 130US/ea (plus whatever another 8gb ramstick cost, plus $100 that 1TB nvme used to cost)