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Laptop resale value

post #1 of 31
3/2/06 at 9:00pm
Thread Starter 
How much money did you lose (or make) after selling your last laptop, and how long did you have it?

I just sold my Inspiron 9300 after owning it for 10 months, and I was able to sell it for about $140 more than I paid for it. (And the guy I sold it to got a good deal.) That's why I love Dell.

I think the trick is:

1) Don't pay a lot. Wait for a big sale, or buy from the outlet during a pretty-good sale.

2) Get a useful configuration, but not the top-of-the-line max'd out config. The top dog doesn't stay on top very long, and there's usually a big difference in price between best and second-best.

3) Sell while the model is still desirable, but you don't need to sell on the day the new model is introduced. A lot of older Dell models seem to have pretty good resale value.
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post #2 of 31
3/2/06 at 9:28pm
Thanks genius, cause those rules apply to all
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post #3 of 31
3/2/06 at 9:56pm
I lost about $150 on my 9300. I paid a tad over $1200 for it in June of last year and sold it in January for $1050 after ebay and paypal fees. My advice to those who want to sell their notebooks on ebay:

1) Don't make a reserve, start the bidding at $1 and let it go for the duration. Reserves tend to scare some bidders away.

2) Don't make a buy it now price. It will cause more frauds and headaches than it is worth. I never got a legit buyer from the buy it now.

I made the mistake of having a reserve and a buy it now, and I am very confident that I lost some money by that. You may be scared about listing it without a reserve price, but I guarantee you will get more for it.

Also, if you plan on buying a system and selling it a year later, still make the investment into a longer warranty. I sold mine with less than 5 months remaining, andit was a major deterant. People like having the peace of mind, and a warranty helps that.
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post #4 of 31
3/2/06 at 10:04pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ferrari_Jay
Thanks genius, cause those rules apply to all
You're welcome, Sir. So, in your experience, which makers other than Dell offer you deals so good that you can sell your used rig after 10 months for more than you paid?
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post #5 of 31
3/2/06 at 10:56pm
Gettin' dicey in here...
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post #6 of 31
3/2/06 at 11:23pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dellbert
You're welcome, dickhead.
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post #7 of 31
3/2/06 at 11:29pm
Thread Starter 
OK, OK. Edited for tact.
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post #8 of 31
3/2/06 at 11:39pm
I think the 'dickhead' comment was appropriate.

I always intend to sell my systems when they just begin to age, but never do. They always seem to go to some family member.

Good advice DB. One could probably even make a fun little side business from watching the outlet, jumping on the good deals (can never make sense of outlet's pricing) and turning them over on ebay.

Computer pricing seems to follow an exponential decay curve. 12-18 months seems to be when the curve levels out. If you buy something well on it's way to leveling off, it won't lose much value in the comming year. Actually gaining money after 10 months is pretty impressive (and I imagine, rare).

What was worth replacing the 9300? I'll take a modded 9300 over almost anything these days.
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post #9 of 31
3/2/06 at 11:57pm
Thread Starter 
I got a 9400. I wasn't planning to, but Dell had a promo that brought the price down to within a couple hundred of what I could get for my used 9300. And the core duo CPU is spooky fast, so it seemed like a good move.

There are people who make a living by "rationalizing" Dell's outlet. You never see most of the crazy good deals because they pick them up via automated scripts.

When I find a good deal in the outlet, I usually will buy a couple. This lets me compare different machines (which is almost a necessity since Dell uses so many different component vendors). And it usually means that I can sell my extra to offet the price of the keeper, so the net cost is even lower.

Did I mention that I love Dell?
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post #10 of 31
3/3/06 at 12:34am
Quote:
And it usually means that I can sell my extra to offet the price of the keeper, so the net cost is even lower.
Do you usually manage to sell higher than you buy?
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post #11 of 31
3/3/06 at 12:50am
I agree with you DB. If it wasn't for coupons I would never have owned a Dell.
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post #12 of 31
3/3/06 at 12:50am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by IntgrSpin
Do you usually manage to sell higher than you buy?
Usually. I keep a record of my computer expenses, and I just checked. Worst case was a $30 loss on an XPS Gen 2 that I tried out for about two months, and then sold as used. A reasonable "rental" cost, I guess.

Anyway, I'm not sure I'd recommend the outlet to everybody. There's a lot of competition for good deals. So, you can spend a fair amount of time hunting. And once the hunting pays off, that tends to reinforce the behavior, and it can become an obsession. Uh, sort of like these damn games....
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post #13 of 31
3/3/06 at 12:55am
I paid $832 for my 1100 and sold it 25 months later for $500. In essence it cost me $332 to use a laptop for 2 years which is acceptable.
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post #14 of 31
3/3/06 at 2:24am
Quote:
Anyway, I'm not sure I'd recommend the outlet to everybody. There's a lot of competition for good deals. So, you can spend a fair amount of time hunting.
Yeah, you have to pretty much know exactly what you want and for how much, before hand. You can also get pretty ripped off if you're not careful or knowledgeable. I see an Inspiron 8200 there on sale for $1700+. I paid less than that for mine new, 4 years ago.

Quote:
Originally Posted by moman
I paid $832 for my 1100 and sold it 25 months later for $500. In essence it cost me $332 to use a laptop for 2 years which is acceptable.
This is exactly what I keep telling myself I'm going to do. I now have a half-dozen laptop boxes in my basement that I saved for resale, but never got around to using. I just keep giving the damn things away to family whenever I get a new one. It's hard to let go. I love my tech.
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post #15 of 31
3/3/06 at 2:47am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by IntgrSpin
It's hard to let go. I love my tech.
Oh, man. I've been there. Before I started playing the Dell game and rolling my gear over every 6-12 months, I would look at the resale value of my old gear and say "screw it -- it's worth more than that to me."

I've accumulated lots of stuff that way. Way too much stuff. Some of it is so old that the value is starting to go up again -- to collectors!
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post #16 of 31
3/3/06 at 5:10am
The Outlet deals are most definately there, but I must admit there must be a lot of people searching thru them. If you get lucky you can snag one for a very good deal.

I got a 9300 for $768.44 after taxes and shipping last Friday.
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post #17 of 31
3/3/06 at 11:27am
I bought my 8600 for 1300 pounds, sold it for 400 pounds at around 23 months old - there are so many good deals on a 6000 that I really couldn't ask for more, plus it was a family member so at least it's not just a complete stranger getting the benefits.

John
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post #18 of 31
3/3/06 at 12:55pm
Yeah,

I wish I had the wherewithal to sell my laptops after I'm done with them - I tend to get the best DELL laptop available with a 4-year Complete Care warranty with the intent of selling it in 3 years, but it's never turned out this way.

Being the computer literate one in the family, it appears to have "fallen" on me to supply my family members with my leftovers and they come to expect it now... LOL.

Although if the XPS line comes out with Dual Core AND Direct X10 compatible video card (and be top of the line) this would be the first time where I wouldn't have kept a laptop under 3 years.

-Doc X
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post #19 of 31
3/3/06 at 1:17pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mZimm

I made the mistake of having a reserve and a buy it now, and I am very confident that I lost some money by that. You may be scared about listing it without a reserve price, but I guarantee you will get more for it.
If you don't do that you get Nigerian scammers buying your laptop.

I usually have mine as Buy it Now only with instant Paypal verified payment.
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post #20 of 31
3/3/06 at 1:18pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by dellbert
Oh, man. I've been there. Before I started playing the Dell game and rolling my gear over every 6-12 months, I would look at the resale value of my old gear and say "screw it -- it's worth more than that to me."

I've accumulated lots of stuff that way. Way too much stuff. Some of it is so old that the value is starting to go up again -- to collectors!
That's exactly what I just went through. The thought of selling my 1100 for $500 was that I should just keep it around in case I wanted to go camping or something. The reality though is I can buy a B130 for about the same price that is every bit as good and newer to boot. People on Ebay don't know that though and 1100s sell on there for $500-600 each day.

There's nothing to be gained from an emotional attachment with a piece of hardware but damn it's tough to break that bond.....
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