What, if anything, can I get for my laptop?
September 22, 2015 1:56 PM Subscribe
I have a 15" non-Retina mid 2012 MBP. What can I get for it, who would buy it, and how should I sell it? Or should I?
Specs:
Processor - 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory - 8 GB 1600 MHz DDr3
Graphics - Intel HD Graphics 4000 384 MB
Software - OS X 10.8.5 (12F45) (haven't upgraded bc haven't gotten around to backing things up)
Questions:
1. What could I expect to get for it in Canada (GTA, ideally)? There are some mid-2012 MBPs going for anywhere between 800 and 1500 on craigslist, slightly different specs, though.
2. How should I sell it (Craigslist, kijiji, amazon.ca)? What are the steps involved? I've never sold a thing in my life, never mind a computer. Shipping, packing, what's all that about (in Canada)? Can I just sell it back to Apple?
3. What do I need to do to the laptop and the things I have on it before selling? I haven't treated it especially poorly or well. It runs fine.
(Although I might have smoked around it, on occasion :/ The right thing to do is mention this, correct? How do I clean it for a potential non-smoking buyer, or are they going to be completely disgusted regardless of what I do? I am thinking there only ~six people on the planet who might actually want to buy this thing, between that and the fact that it's old and not a Retina. It *is* expandable and repairable, though, maybe that's a plus for some other degenerate within reasonable shipping distance.)
4. I have a few programs on there (Office for Mac 2011, Ableton, OmniOutliner (old version), Zotero, random things like flux, Skype, Evernote [never used]) - uninstall, correct?
5. How can I be sure my identity/logon info is completely removed from this machine?
My probably unrealizable dream is to make enough from it to get a refurbed 13" Air (which one?). Or something else that's *extremely lightweight* and would let me make music and do other work on it using Office apps, functioning as a main machine, with a decent enough battery life to make it through ~4-6 hours of steady work, and good enough processor/RAM/OS to cope with the 2015 interweb.
Or am I unlikely to make enough for that? Should I just stick with this thing? Answers to this recent question suggest maybe I should :/ )
Specs:
Processor - 2.3 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory - 8 GB 1600 MHz DDr3
Graphics - Intel HD Graphics 4000 384 MB
Software - OS X 10.8.5 (12F45) (haven't upgraded bc haven't gotten around to backing things up)
Questions:
1. What could I expect to get for it in Canada (GTA, ideally)? There are some mid-2012 MBPs going for anywhere between 800 and 1500 on craigslist, slightly different specs, though.
2. How should I sell it (Craigslist, kijiji, amazon.ca)? What are the steps involved? I've never sold a thing in my life, never mind a computer. Shipping, packing, what's all that about (in Canada)? Can I just sell it back to Apple?
3. What do I need to do to the laptop and the things I have on it before selling? I haven't treated it especially poorly or well. It runs fine.
(Although I might have smoked around it, on occasion :/ The right thing to do is mention this, correct? How do I clean it for a potential non-smoking buyer, or are they going to be completely disgusted regardless of what I do? I am thinking there only ~six people on the planet who might actually want to buy this thing, between that and the fact that it's old and not a Retina. It *is* expandable and repairable, though, maybe that's a plus for some other degenerate within reasonable shipping distance.)
4. I have a few programs on there (Office for Mac 2011, Ableton, OmniOutliner (old version), Zotero, random things like flux, Skype, Evernote [never used]) - uninstall, correct?
5. How can I be sure my identity/logon info is completely removed from this machine?
My probably unrealizable dream is to make enough from it to get a refurbed 13" Air (which one?). Or something else that's *extremely lightweight* and would let me make music and do other work on it using Office apps, functioning as a main machine, with a decent enough battery life to make it through ~4-6 hours of steady work, and good enough processor/RAM/OS to cope with the 2015 interweb.
Or am I unlikely to make enough for that? Should I just stick with this thing? Answers to this recent question suggest maybe I should :/ )
That model might also be able to take 16 GB RAM. With an SSD that would still be a decent machine, and an Air wouldn't be much faster.
I'm still running a mid-2008 MacBook at home. It's not cutting-edge, but it's still solid.
posted by scruss at 3:27 PM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I'm still running a mid-2008 MacBook at home. It's not cutting-edge, but it's still solid.
posted by scruss at 3:27 PM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I've twice sold a Macbook to Gazelle (Gazelle.com). You put in information about the model and how beat up it is, they quote you a price they'll pay (which will be slightly higher if you choose to take it as an Amazon gift certificate; I've just taken the non-Amazon amount and it's gone straight to my Paypal). This is one way to find out what it might be worth.
If you chose to go ahead with the price they quote you as being willing to pay you, they send you a padded box and shipping label that you use to send them the laptop. I was quite happy with the service as the turn-around was fast and they paid me exactly what they quoted.
You'll want to wipe the computer before sending it to them; I think they have a help page on how to do this.
posted by StealthOatmeal at 4:05 PM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
If you chose to go ahead with the price they quote you as being willing to pay you, they send you a padded box and shipping label that you use to send them the laptop. I was quite happy with the service as the turn-around was fast and they paid me exactly what they quoted.
You'll want to wipe the computer before sending it to them; I think they have a help page on how to do this.
posted by StealthOatmeal at 4:05 PM on September 22, 2015 [3 favorites]
Response by poster: I could upgrade for improved performance - main reason for selling is that it's just too heavy for me to use outside of the home anymore (joint problems).
posted by cotton dress sock at 4:08 PM on September 22, 2015
posted by cotton dress sock at 4:08 PM on September 22, 2015
Response by poster: Whelp. Just saw what Gazelle would offer. Guess I'm keeping it. Thanks :)
Will be taking advantage of the wonderful upgrading suggestions above :)
posted by cotton dress sock at 4:40 PM on September 22, 2015
Will be taking advantage of the wonderful upgrading suggestions above :)
posted by cotton dress sock at 4:40 PM on September 22, 2015
If it has a matte screen and is in good working condition, there is a contingent of buyers (among whom I have been one) that may actually be willing to pay you above market prices for this because screen glare is an issue that can range from one of mild ergonomics to deep distraction unless you have total control over your ambient lighting. I can't tell you how to find these people, but I bought a matte-screened mid-2012 MBP in January on eBay for precisely this reason, at a price that would have enabled you to by a recent 13" Air.
It's not clear whether or not this demographic is simply small, though, or whether Apple abandoned it for the same kind of reason they decided maybe "Save As" was so over.
posted by weston at 5:03 PM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
It's not clear whether or not this demographic is simply small, though, or whether Apple abandoned it for the same kind of reason they decided maybe "Save As" was so over.
posted by weston at 5:03 PM on September 22, 2015 [2 favorites]
Best answer: Sorry to hear about the joint troubles; those unibody MBPs are hefty. Carbon's trade-ins may not be much better than Gazelle, but at least they are locally derisory.
If you've still got the original 5400 rpm drive in it, an SSD will be a revelation.
posted by scruss at 5:11 PM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
If you've still got the original 5400 rpm drive in it, an SSD will be a revelation.
posted by scruss at 5:11 PM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I sold my old 2008 macbook for $375 on kijiji a couple months ago, so selling on craigslist yourself shouldn't be too much problem if you were interested. Cash only.
You can (and should) completely wipe the hard drive and do a re-install, look up the procedure online. Yes it will erase all your installed programs (so you can't advertise as having X installed), as well as all your documents and passwords, etc. When it boots up it will want to set up a new user with apple store ID and everything... I would recommend just doing the wipe and reinstall the day before you plan on selling it (as it takes a few hours), getting it to the new user setup screen, and handing it over to the new owner like that. Then they can do their own setup and let you know if there were any problems.
posted by lizbunny at 6:19 PM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
You can (and should) completely wipe the hard drive and do a re-install, look up the procedure online. Yes it will erase all your installed programs (so you can't advertise as having X installed), as well as all your documents and passwords, etc. When it boots up it will want to set up a new user with apple store ID and everything... I would recommend just doing the wipe and reinstall the day before you plan on selling it (as it takes a few hours), getting it to the new user setup screen, and handing it over to the new owner like that. Then they can do their own setup and let you know if there were any problems.
posted by lizbunny at 6:19 PM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]
I have the exact same Macbook as you, and here is what I did:
I went to crucial.com and bumped the memory up to 16gb.
I installed this.
My computer is crazy stupid fast now and should last me a good while.
posted by 4ster at 6:42 AM on September 25, 2015
I went to crucial.com and bumped the memory up to 16gb.
I installed this.
My computer is crazy stupid fast now and should last me a good while.
posted by 4ster at 6:42 AM on September 25, 2015
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Then, go ahead and reinstall OSX so the next person has a working system right off the bat. Not sure what to expect pricewise.
posted by aydeejones at 2:18 PM on September 22, 2015 [1 favorite]