Best places (beyond ebay & Craigslist) to sell old PowerBooks and other used tech gear?

December 15, 2006 11:24 PM

Right now, what are some good places -- in addition to ebay & Craigslist -- to sell used tech gear (such as old PowerBooks and any other excellent-condition but old stuff)?

As a current example, I was given a Wallstreet G3 and a 1400cs that I want to turn into cash. (I'll test them well, but so far they seem to be in excellent operating/cosmetic condition with various upgrades beyond factory specs -- in other words, for me to buy identical models on ebay or a used-Mac site would be c. $300 for the Wallstreet and $130 for the 1400.)

Ebay could work (I have a 100% positive rating with 30+ sales, but it's only from selling cheap stuff like my books and CDs), and right now I'm spending my time in active Craigslist cities (mostly Detroit & NYC). Where else should I be looking to sell? Broader suggestions would also be much appreciated, since I often get or salvage other such things I could sell.

posted by lorimer to computers & internet (4 comments total)

Cash for Laptops has been good to me.
posted by decathecting at 12:02 AM on December 16, 2006

Cash for Laptops' offering prices for Apple hardware are pure comedy (they just offered me $340 for a fully-loaded 12" G4 1.5 PowerBook; the market price is hovering around $1100, and it wouldn't be unlikely to get $1200 out of it).

There used to be a small PowerBook community clustered around O'Grady's PowerPage, but he seems to have turned it into a generic tech weblog since the last time I looked at it. You might try digging around to see where the associated community and market went.

You're probably only going to get a decent price from eBay or CL at this point since that's where the buyers are. I wouldn't suggest spending a lot of effort trying to dig up smaller and more obscure markets unless the value of your time is low.
posted by majick at 8:46 AM on December 16, 2006

Cash for Laptops' offering prices for Apple hardware are pure comedy (they just offered me $340 for a fully-loaded 12" G4 1.5 PowerBook; the market price is hovering around $1100, and it wouldn't be unlikely to get $1200 out of it).

I have the same instincts you do about pricing, but.. Objectively, it isn't as rediculus as it looks. They are in the business of making it easy for you to dispose of unwanted stuff. You need no expertise, it doesn't take up your time, etc. They need a lot of profit to be successful at that kind of thing. The real comedy is that people are willing to accept their prices :)



Where to go.. If maximum price is your concern, cultivate ebay (this can take skill, at listings, and at choosing items carefully). If you are just trying to bring stuff in and move stuff out, without spending a lot of time on any one item, go with online Buy-Sell-Trade forums, almost every technology and deal related forum has a trading section (arstechnica, hardOCP, redflagdeals, the list is endless).
posted by Chuckles at 2:40 PM on December 16, 2006

Thanks! I am basically just making sure there's nothing obvious I'm missing. I actually did use cashforlaptops a few years ago to sell a Vaio, and think I got a better price than I could have anywhere else for a machine in that condition -- but I definitely agree that they undervalue Macs (and they're not interested at all in old or vintage PowerBooks). I'm not looking to make an active used-hw business -- just need cash, and sometimes get gifts of old things from people who aren't using them anymore.
posted by lorimer at 5:06 PM on December 16, 2006