What do YOU consider when pricing old electronics?

[TrueElite]

Hey LTT community,

 

I'm a university student studying Computer Science at the University of Toronto. Much like the LTT team, I have been a long time advocate of the 2nd hand electronics market and frequent communities such as /r/hardwareswap and heatware - both to save money, but also to reduce the amount of electronic waste that is produced nowdays.

 

The biggest issue I have with the second hand market right now is that its pretty difficult for those with less tech knowledge to enter the market. They don't know where to focus their budget, what "the numbers" mean, etc. and as a result most people just end up buying cheaper electronics new; less value for them, but also more electronic waste. As a result, prices for most devices on sites such as Ebay or Facebook marketplace are often higher than they should be, leading to the used electronics market being quite... dead.

 

I'm starting up a side project which will help those with less technological know-how so that the general public can better price their used devices, as well as have a good idea how much they should be paying for other people's old devices on websites such as ebay or kijiji. That being said, its not a simple process - a lot of things have to be considered when pricing old electronics, such as the original manufacturer (@Microsoft and Apple tax), specs, new tech dropping the value of existing devices (think Ryzen launch) etc. For obvious reasons, I'd like this to be as accurate as possible.

 

With this in mind, what do you consider when buying and selling your old devices?

 

Thanks in advance!

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Condition, rarity, and market relevance are two metrics that come up for me. If a particular device for example is particularly hot your market but there aren't enough of them, you can charge whatever you want. People who want it bad enough will fork out asking price.

[nick name]

10 minutes ago, BlueChinchillaEatingDorito said:

Condition, rarity, and market relevance are two metrics that come up for me. -snip-

Ummm. That's three.

[dfsdfgfkjsefoiqzemnd]

I check Ebay for recently sold examples of said item.  That gives me a pretty good indication of what people are actually willing to pay for it. 

[Gegger]

I consider condition and rarity mainly, with a less on other things.

 

So if I'm trying to sell something that you SHOULD buy new, I would price it lower, but if it isn't, I just look at eBay and Amazon used prices.

[LunaP0n3]

• Condition [Broken, Working, Somewhat Working]
• Age
• Rarity/Unique item e.g. only 1080 ever produced, never released etc
• Missing Parts, Rarity of said missing parts

That lot would be my deciding factors.

[MadAnt250]

Location, condition, research, research, research, and more research. So many buyers get screwed over from not doing 10 minutes of research or getting another opinion from trusted sources. 

[Crunchy Dragon]

Supply, demand, performance, and condition.

[Crunchy Dragon]

20 minutes ago, Genwyn said:

the fix is doable by anyone with a heat gun 

I'd imagine if you could sell it as a working model, it would sell for higher.

[harryk]

I typically sell on eBay for most things. I'll crawl through current listings and recently sold listings for same/similar items get a feel for the lowest price and mid price that it has sold for. Then I price my item below the mid but above the low, typically with a "Buy It Now" at or slightly above the mid. Many items I have listed actually end up selling for more than the mid price thanks to eBay auction psychology. 

 

When shopping for used things I do a similar crawling through current and recent listings to get an idea of price. If I see what I deem to be a good deal or need something right away I'll make a purchase. Otherwise I'll make a "Saved Search" on eBay and set up email notifications. Then I wait for a good deal. This is a great way to get things for the lowest price possible and snag "Buy It Now" listings that are under valued.

 

In terms of actually evaluating a given item, generally I'm pretty picky and look for things in like-new condition. Retail box is usually a good sign that the owner cared. Many high quality photos are also a huge plus because images speak more than words. I'll check the description for lingo or terminology that indicates the seller actually knows about the item. I generally prefer private sellers over eBay businesses unless it is a reputable name (e.g. Newegg's eBay storefront) or otherwise is somehow compelling. Everyone wants to list their items as like-new condition so a lot of my evaluation comes down the the believability of the listing rather than the actual details of the item.

 

If its not in like-new condition, it needs to be a real bargain compared to the better listings for me to consider it. Especially if it's broken in some way or otherwise not fully functional.

 

Except for rare or unusual items, the market is very good at settling on a fair price. If that price is too much then don't buy. The decision is really no different than buying new, just with the added evaluation of believability of the item description.

[Kisai]

5 hours ago, TrueElite said:

 

With this in mind, what do you consider when buying and selling your old devices?

 

I've never sold my old electronics, either I use them till they break, give them away to relatives or people who specifically want them. But most of that is that shipping in Canada is an extreme rip-off. If it can't be picked up locally, forgetaboutit.

 

Now as for what to buy.

 

I've rarely bought computer hardware on eBay. I've bought old console game carts, one of them wound up being a repro (counterfeit.) I had to go through several game consoles to get one that works.

 

So with that said.

 

1. eBay is a good way to get a reference point for the value, but only if you're looking at BIN (Buy It Now) value, not auction value. Auction values are always initially set low to lower the sellers cost, and if they set a reserve, it's the same as having a BIN on it, so they may as well just BIN it if that's what they want to get for it.

(full disclosure, I used to work for eBay.)

 

2. Don't list your items next to counterfeit items. Make sure you always use a new photo when you list old items. Never use a stock photo, and never reuse a photo if the listing fails. The reason is that people will steal the photos to sell their own fake/poorer-condition items, and use it to take down your listing. Make sure to watermark your photos as well. If you're selling stuff that is new, then you can show the photo of the item, sealed, and the receipt along with the stock photo. If you're selling NOS (New, Old stock), then you can use eBay's provided stock photo if taking a picture of the item itself would break the seal on the item. Previously owned items with any wear on it or an unsealed box should never use a stock photo. If it's unsealed, take a photo of the unboxed item.

 

3. Don't spam with unrelated keywords when listing online. Some people have a penchant for trying to get attention by loading their listing or title up with words that are not relevant. Like if you were selling an EVGA nVidia GPU, then you'd say "EVGA nVidia GTX 1080 8GB, NEW" if the item is the GTX 1080 and New. If you put more than one brand in the title, you'll get the listing pulled eg "MSI EVGA ASUS GTX 1070 1080 AMD RADEON 5700 XT 8GB 12GB" . Never have brands that are not present in the title or body of the listing, EVEN if you are making a comparison. Making the comparison is actually worse, because then it gets pulled for "Keyword spam - Comparison".

 

 

That covers eBay in general.

 

Now, consider the collectability of an item.

 

Most computer hardware is not collectible, because it wears out. However "intact" hardware is. This is hardware that has not been used, or is in the original packaging. Anything that can be used to build a "DOS gaming machine" or a "Win98 gaming machine" has slightly more value to it. There's some rare hardware, particularly music and mpeg cards that are hard to acquire, and even harder to repair. I'd kill for Roland to make new MT-32's, or make a USB-midi/usb-c audio model, but alas Roland can't figure out that vintage 80's kit is hot right now. The first person who makes a FPGA MT-32 would probably fill a niche needed by vintage DOS gamers at least, let alone music.  Vintage Voodoo2 and Voodoo3 cards are collectible if you're into the old 3DFX games.

 

Aside from that most PC hardware after 1999 to 2008 has no premium value. It's primary of interest to people repairing old equipment, or trying to squeeze an upgrade out of a frankenbox. 

 

Non-PC hardware, eg Apple kit, has much higher value as there is a collectability to it, and they are stylish. However it may just end up being a prop in film or TV show rather than be used.

 

Home theater equipment doesn't hold value, but it also doesn't age as poorly. Like if you bought a home theater-in-a-box 20 years ago, it still does surround sound. But a newer one supports all the current digital audio codecs, HDMI, and 4K/UHD, etc. You can reuse speakers forever though, especially ones that have been built into the wall/ceiling. So people typically use the systems until they replace their entire setup in phases. So something like TV -> HT -> DVD/BD Player ->HDTV/Cable box/nVidia Shield, etc.

 

Previously owned LCD panels (monitors or televisions) have some value to them, but it REALLY REALLY depends on local purchase. You are not going to sell a 24"+ LCD panel to someone and mail it to them. Chances are you might not even have the original box, and the shipping will cost more than the item. So better to just hawk those on Craigslist/Kijiji, or set "local pickup only" as the shipping option on eBay.

 

Same with entire built Chassis/Laptops. Unless you happen to have kept the box, you're not going to ship one wrapped just in bubblewrap. Computer systems without optical drives and without mechanical drives may survive a trip, but the screen (laptop) and cooling solution for the CPU/GPU might not, and may even break if the package is dropped a significant distance. Given how many times people on this forum say they've hit their computer by accident and the cooling has gone awry, I'm going to suggest maybe don't even buy whole computers without being able to pick them up yourself. 

 

Consider condition.

 

With very little exception (eg stuff for "parts") most poor-condition electronics have a negative scrap value. For example, all CRT's you can't even give away unless they are a PVM or can be used in an Arcade cabinet.

 

Items with replacable parts (eg easy to remove connectors) inside plastic or metal chassis that have been damaged or beat up, can sometimes be salvaged. But in general it always comes back to "would anyone pay money to buy this" , is it worth spending money trying to get rid of it?

 

The answer to that tends to be no, a lot. If an electronic item has a high defect rate, it's even harder to sell unless you can prove the item is not one of the defective models.

 

Where to sell

Which comes back to the entire idea behind electronics pricing. Craigslist and Kijiji are very low risk for the person who lists the item, but have a higher risk than eBay itself for the seller/buyer actually completing the transaction.

 

There are alternatives out there like Rakuten and Amazon.com that let you sell new and previously owned equipment. However selling anything that isn't "new-ish" is risky on these sites as they're mainly a gateway to selling new stuff from independent storefronts. 

[FlappyBoobs]

First thing I check is how much can you currently buy a new example for. I see so many items being sold where the seller is offering a $400 new thing that's barely used but a few years old for $200, but you can currently buy that item new old stock for $150 (as an example). 

 

From there i would then usually give up and keep the thing I want to sell cause its not worth the time and effort of selling it. 

[LogicalDrm]

Local pricing for similar products, condition, warranty left, age/performance.

 

As example. 2 year old midrange GPU. Usually sold at €250-400 new. If it is still operating without issues, and happens to have 1year warranty left (2 years is common), that could be €150-200, maybe bit more if there isn't many of those being sold. Warranty adds €20-40 to price easily. Otherwise its 20-30% if been in use for 1 year. 2 or more years in use, 50-60% off the price.

[wildenick]

19 hours ago, TrueElite said:

help those with less technological know-how so that the general public can better price their used devices, as well as have a good idea how much they should be paying for other people's old devices on websites such as ebay or kijiji.

i think you should also consider the fact that a lot of people, even those who know a bit about tech, will try to return as much as possible from initial amount they spent on that device. You can tell them a dozen of times that your CPU is obsolete, your HDD is older than my grandpa and your GPU is as rare as Elvis Double, they will still go with high prices. 

As for me, i usually don`t buy used hardware, almost never. I am not really a trustful person, when i cannot check condition of a device myself. I might consider buying used device only if it is not older than 6 months, it still has warranty and by no means it has been repaired/disassembled etc. But usually these types of offers are very close to price of a new product.

   

[NineEyeRon]

I start all my eBay listing at £1 and let the buyers decide.

[AlTech]

The things I usually consider are:

• Local pricing on different platforms
• Whether I want to offer "free shipping" - If I do then I need to increase the price of the item itself to enable this
• What the condition of the item is - Often using some kind of Grading system from A to C
• How much warranty is left on the item - More warranty should result in a higher price imho.
• How much money I am able to justify losing in order to sell the item - I rarely sell any used item for a profit
• Whether or not the item can easily be bought new or used on different platforms for a reasonable price (or at all)
• Whether people would be willing to pay a little bit more for my listing based on my reputation and trust

[Ravendarat]

Things I consider are 

-what I paid for it

-age/ condition obviously

-what its currently selling for new if still available

-current market value

-how motivated I am to sell something

 

If something is big and in my way, or if I know a new model is coming I will price mine more aggressively than the rest of the market to move mine quick. I also hate negotiating so I usually price mine for a very fair price (usually more buyer friendly than seller friendly to be honest) and make it clear that the price is set in stone. Ive worked in Consumer Electronics retail for 20 years so I generally know the market place pretty well, except in regards to computer parts as thats not something my stores deal with.