So you’ve got an old computer that you don’t use anymore. It’s in decent working order and you’ve taken care of it, but rather than let it sit in the closet/garage/wherever you want to put it on eBay and make a few bucks.

What commands the best value?

Laptops are always worth more than desktops

Laptops always and without fail command a higher selling price than desktops do. It doesn’t matter if it’s a PC or a Mac; the laptop will always sell for more.

Macs are worth more than PCs

Something Mac fans always love to brag about is that their computers have a higher resale value. I can’t argue with this because it’s true. Why is it true? Because Mac people are willing to pay more, plain and simple. It doesn’t matter how well or not-well the box was built. What matters is what people are willing to pay for it. Mac people always pay more.

OEM PCs are worth more than custom build boxes

OEM boxes are worth more because they are more predictable. What that means is that if you have a stock box from HP, Dell or other major OEM, the buyer most likely knows up front exactly what’s in that box and also knows typical issues with that box (if any).

Special notes for those with custom build boxes they want to sell

If you “part out” the box you will probably have a much easier time making a buck.

For example, you may have a difficult time selling the box as a complete build. However you will have almost no problem selling the RAM in it. When composing your eBay listing you can state “tested, works” (because it did work when it was in the box), provide a photo of the sticks and that’s all anyone needs to decide whether or not to purchase your RAM.

You can follow suit with anything else that is worth something to someone else. If you’ve got a really nice case, sell just the case. If you’ve got a really nice video card, sell just the video card. You get the idea.

Note: Some custom PC builders get very annoyed (and/or outright angry) at the fact their boxes lose so much value in less than 2 years - but it’s a cold hard fact. A box with LED lights everywhere weird “cool” looking cases look like toys and are seen as such. The box you spent $2000 (or more) will not be worth half that amount in 2 years. It is the nature of the industry and you’ll just have to accept it.

Special notes for those with OEM PCs

Your box will be worth more if you can provide the original Windows XP license that came with it. This is not illegal as it came provided with the box originally. So if you have one of those “Recovery” discs that contains the OS and the license and you are not using the license elsewhere (which you shouldn’t be anyway), this is part of the original package and will make your box worth more.

Your box will not be worth more with a Linux distribution installed on it. You probably thought “Well, it’s better to sell this box with an OS on it, right?” Wrong. You’re wasting your time if you do that. If you don’t have a Windows license and disc to bundle with your box, sell it with an erased drive or leave the existing XP installation on it if it exists.

Tips on getting the most cash possible from your sale

Search eBay for an similar item like the one you’re selling before posting

Why do this? Simple reason: To find out how much you can make. Set your price similarly.

Try to stay local

Local sale requires no shipping for you or for the buyer. Your price looks a whole lot sweeter without the shipping attached. If you live in or near a large city it might be worth a shot.

Offer a cash-only option if sold locally and they pick it up

This is an attractive deal to many. Let’s say you have a laptop and posted the selling price as $400. If someone responds to you and states they’ll give you $300 in cash, respond back and say you’ll take $350 if they buy today and pick it up today. You’ll most likely get the sale. If they respond and start trying to go lower, don’t budge because you already took $50 off the selling price.

Stay in your country (or at least your continent)

Do not offer worldwide shipping. If you do, Nigeria will be knocking at your door trying to scam you. If in North America, sell only to USA or Canada.

Do not make deals (other than the cash-only listed above)

Some eBayers will try every single way to make a deal with you.

“Can I pay half now and half later?”

“I can’t accept UPS shipping.. can you do USPS?”

“I’ll have the money next week, can you hold it for me?”

Any time you see these wheel-and-deal questions, answer NO or just ignore them completely.

Did you have a good or bad experience with selling a computer on eBay, and have tips of your own you want to share?

Let us know in the comments.