Buying and selling used graphics cards (and other gear) - the last guide you will need!

[Real_Smoky]

 As you may have noticed, LTT has released a new video on buying used GPUs:

The video offers some important insights, but I would like to add a few of my own experiences and how I handle buying and selling used GPUs, but also other electronics and second-hand products in general.

Why am I qualified to comment on this issue and give a "last guide you will ever need"?
As somewhat of a collector, I have bought and sold a fairly high number of GPUs, assembled PCs, a bunch of RAM sticks and other electronics. I also occasionally buy and sell music-related gear like guitars and amps. I think 80 percent of the stuff I own is bought second hand. This guide will mostly focus on GPUs, but is applicable to gaming PCs, RAM, CPUs, phones. You will just have to adjust the test suite. Finding the right test suite is not easy, but we can debate about it. I know what works for me.

A little asterisk here: I mostly buy and sell low-to-mid end stuff for casual gamers. My GPU focus lies in the 0-200 euros range, so I am not going to be completely qualified to tell you what to look out for when buying a used 700 euro GPU, but I am pretty sure most of these things apply there as well. 

Buying used gear:
If not buying via Ebay or other online platform that protects buyers and is very biased toward them, test the stuff before buying, no matter what

I know this is uncommon in the US (and probably Canada), but in Europe it is very common and if you all push, it can become common - test electronics either at the seller's place, ask the seller to come to your place for testing, or agree to meet up somewhere where it can be tested, like a local computer repair shop.

 

In the first two scenarios, ask the seller if they have a testbench or test PC, or make sure to have a portable testbench, or ready up your own PC so that you can chug it in and test the card. A GPU testbench in particular doesn't have to be expensive and will double as a testbench for RAM, SSDs and HDDs, USB devices and peripherals, as a cloning station or as a secondary system for LAN parties. A 3rd Gen i3 board is more than enough for testing most cards, if you really wanna test 3070 class GPUs and above, you might wanna step up your game. I recommend a DDR4 platform, like a 6th or 7th gen i3 or i5. Slaughter an old case if you want it to be an open air bench or look out for cases like the Core V21 (mATX) or the Lian Li Pitstop. You can also go the ghetto route and glue some rubber legs to a PSU, put a non-conductive surface between the PSU and the MoBo, tie it down with zipties and you are good to go. Make sure the PSU has enough watts and two to three 6+2 PCIE power connectors. 

https://builds.gg/builds/minimalist-gpu-test-bench-2-0-32276

 

If you wanna test the card at a PC repair shop, offer them a little cash for their time and effort. You don't need to mention that it is a sale necessarily, just tell them you can not pinpoint the issue and would like to test the GPU for 5 minutes. There may be some PC parts donation organizations or similar at your place so maybe they would help you with that. Anyhow, I am no longer buying anything that I don't test personally, or where I know that the selling platform sides with the buyer by default.

The test suite:
As for my software test suite, what works for me every time is: Furmark, GPUMemTest and Superposition (or Heaven for older cards). All these tests are free!

 

Superposition is good because you can set a custom resolution that is really high to max out the VRAM. I always do two runs: one with a preset, so I can memorize what the score should be and compare it to other cards in that range (keep in mind that the score can differ between the same model of card significantly, but still, if the lowest scoring card has a score of 1000, the highest scoring has a test of 1800, but the card you are testing scores 200, there is something wrong with it probably).

GPUMemTest is good for confirming the VRAM is good, but if it fails, don't worry just yet - it does not necessarily confirm that the card is bad! Sometimes it fails for no reason, especially on some very old graphics cards or specific models with weird VRAM configurations like the GTX 970 line.

Furmark is tried and true. You don't want the GPU to hover around 90c, except if it is a 3090 or something like that.

If the seller has no idea about benchmark software, ask them to at least start a somewhat intensive game like Assassin's Creed Odyssey or GTA V at really high settings. Suggest a game that is okay for the card you wanna buy. Don't suggest testing MSFS when buying a GTX 950 for 30 USD. Testing CSGO or Stardew Valley when buying an RTX 3060 makes little sense, either. You need something to max out the VRAM. 


Selling stuff online:

When selling used stuff, make sure to document the functionality with a lot of high quality photos, wide shots and closeups, with serial numbers, and even a video or two. Invite the buyer to your home to demonstrate the functionality one last time or send them the video via WeTransfer or upload it to YT as an unlisted video. All of this will save you so much hassle with dealing with both scammy sellers and ignorant buyers. 

Again, I know that US citizens have a bit of a fear of inviting strangers into their homes. If you live in a really unsafe neighborhood, I can understand that. But if nobody starts doing this, you will always have to gamble when buying and selling used gear. There are other ways around this, like carrying a testbench and a UPS. 

I no longer sell anything more expensive than 10 euros without demonstrating the functionality to the buyer and if I do online sales, I make it super-ultra-giga-mega-clear that I have uploaded both photographs and audio-video files that demonstrate the functionality of a device and that "don't worky at me place" will be considered user error and that it will not be accepted as a reason for returns and that by writing me, they confirm that they have read, understood, considered and accepted this. 

Ever since I started demonstrating stuff with my software suite, I have gotten a single complaint out of a couple dozen or even hundreds of sales. The GPU was apparently "too loud" and "crashed in multiple PCs". I made the mistake of telling the buyer to return it, even though I could have denied the request. I was afraid the buyer damaged the GPU. Luckily, the GPU came back successfully and was still working perfectly fine. The next buyer loved the card. Since then, I also record videos demonstrating how loud the card is under load, especially when selling online via shipping. In person, this is not a problem, obviously. 

So, there you go. If you got suggestions as to what I could add to this guide, let me know.
 

[leclod]

I'm not saying this is wrong but I don't agree.

 

I've sold and bought quite a lot of used stuff. Lately gpus.

If you want to test the hardware you're buying (or selling) you'll have to restrain a lot the offer.

Of course it would be nice but I wouldn't travel 100km for a 200.- gpu.

I believe, in an add and in the following conversation, you can find hints that the seller is decent.

There are payment method that involve some security.

I believe a reasonable amount of trust is a good human fundation.

I believe a little risk taken is a decent price to pay for the bargain.

Also I don't believe in the painstakingly improving of your add.

A bad add can be painstakingly improved.

 

 

[Real_Smoky]

21 minutes ago, leclod said:

I'm not saying this is wrong but I don't agree.

 

I've sold and bought quite a lot of used stuff. Lately gpus.

If you want to test the hardware you're buying (or selling) you'll have to restrain a lot the offer.

Of course it would be nice but I wouldn't travel 100km for a 200.- gpu.

I believe, in an add and in the following conversation, you can find hints that the seller is decent.

There are payment method that involve some security.

I believe a reasonable amount of trust is a good human fundation.

I believe a little risk taken is a decent price to pay for the bargain.

Also I don't believe in the painstakingly improving of your add.

A bad add can be painstakingly improved.

 

 

In case of solid offers from far away, I make sure to only use something with confirmed-to-be-buyer-biased type of policy. The website marketplace we use in the country where I am currently at has a built-in payment and buyer protection function not much different from ebay. They pretty much always side with the buyer from what I can tell. Any time I had an issue, I documented the issue well and got my refund. 

Currently, my free time is worth less than buying and selling functioning gear, but it is absolutely more worth than wasting time on a defective product. Not everyone is in the same boat, but I would rather lose out on a solid deal than get burned on a defective product. Trust is alright and all, but sometimes it is not just about being a scammer - sometimes the sellers simply don't know what they are selling. They buy untested cards to re-sell without testing them either, or they use their old card for some very light games that use 5 percent of the card's resources and honestly believe the card is fine, while it crashes under load. I absolutely have to avoid that. 

Back in the day, I did what everyone around here did - I paid upfront for shipping and the sold item via bank transfer. Before Covid, that was a normal, trust-based type of deal that worked fine. It's just how the people around here are.

Now, I no longer do that. So many scammers grew bigger balls during Covid because of the travel restrictions and stuff. So now, there has to be a buyer-first policy if I am to pay online for shipping.

In cases of live transactions where testing is impossible, my last offer is for them to sell me the item with a written 24h test period warranty where I can return it no questions asked. For some strange reason, they rarely accept this. It's almost like I am supposed to trust them that their hardware works, but they don't trust me that I will test it properly without breaking it. Would you go for this type of deal where trust is not mutual? 

[johnno23]

We live in a modern age.........my last purchase over the net second hand was oh so easy. I contacted the seller and he was very freindly and via the phone we sorted it out and my purchase was perfect.

I simply asked if i could phone him. he sent me his info. phones today are so cool....he placed the GPU in his PC and let me see it fire up and run even offred a choice of quick tests he could run. all this was done via the phones on wifi connection so i simply sat watching. he then pulled thecard held it so I could see everthing. And told him thankyuou I will take it.

 

it is so dammed easy these days and if a seller refuses to help you out then simply move on to the next.

[Real_Smoky]

6 minutes ago, johnno23 said:

We live in a modern age.........my last purchase over the net second hand was oh so easy. I contacted the seller and he was very freindly and via the phone we sorted it out and my purchase was perfect.

I simply asked if i could phone him. he sent me his info. phones today are so cool....he placed the GPU in his PC and let me see it fire up and run even offred a choice of quick tests he could run. all this was done via the phones on wifi connection so i simply sat watching. he then pulled thecard held it so I could see everthing. And told him thankyuou I will take it.

 

it is so dammed easy these days and if a seller refuses to help you out then simply move on to the next.

This is a pretty good middle ground. Seeing the seller and having their number helps.

Then again, before I had a testbench, I had a seller come to my place in person, give me two cards in "working condition", turns out they were brokey, then he said he will exchange them, then ghosted me. Some scammers ballsier than others. 

But I agree completely on the last part. While being cooperative is not a 100% guarantee all is fine, refusing to cooperate is an absolute no-go for me. Refuse to send additional pics? No test PC available? Don't wanna come test it at my place? No 24h test warranty? Bye! 

[leclod]

23 minutes ago, Real_Smoky said:

In case of solid offers from far away, I make sure to only use something with confirmed-to-be-buyer-biased type of policy. The website marketplace we use in the country where I am currently at has a built-in payment and buyer protection function not much different from ebay. They pretty much always side with the buyer from what I can tell. Any time I had an issue, I documented the issue well and got my refund. ...

 

Thank you for your concern.

I understand.

I've had some complications in the past (one of my hdds ending up broken at the buyer (actually two)).

I've had a no show on new hardware I just bought online from a shop who went banckrupt, this can happen too.

I tend to propose one or two weeks waranty for the stuff I sell.

I'd agree to the deal proposed by Johnno, although it's a bit much for my taste.

I believe most of us are decent. We sell decent because we'd like to buy decent.

Also when a deal goes well I feel good, I doubt a scammer feels good afterwards.

Most of us like to feel good.