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Topic: Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately? (Read 9405 times) previous topic - next topic
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Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

While cleaning the basement, I found an old Pentium III PC that my dad wanted to keep and use after I move out, but since I will most likely leave my current Pentium 4 PC back and get a notebook, we no longer need it. Not wanting to simply throw it away, I thought it might be a good idea and sell it. However, I am not sure if I should sell it as a whole PC or each piece separately (what do you think will generate the most profit?). The components are:

Not sure what motherboard - will check later (on-board sound)
Intel Pentium III at 933 MHz
768 MB RAM at 133 MHz
1 x Seagate 17 GB HDD UDMA 66 IIRC, 1 x Seagate 4 GB HDD UDMA 33 IIRC
LG DVD-ROM 8160B IIRC
Realtek 100 Mbit LAN
Sapphire ATI (unknown model) video card with VGA and TV output
250 or 300 W power supply

Unfortunately, the PC is pretty loud although the video card has passive cooling only, so it must be the CPU fan which rotates at aroun 4000 RPM (power supply fan is pretty new and quiet, HDDs are quiet too). I was thinking about selling the mainboard + CPU + cooler + RAM and the rest of the hardware separately.

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #1 –
Which of the rest do you wanna sell seperately there? The only other thing that could be worth selling is case + PSU. Network card is worthless, everyone has one onboard now. 2, 3 Euro tops. DVD-ROM, 10 Euro if you're lucky. Those HDs, almost worthless. ATI card, depends on the model.

All in all, i'd try to sell it as a whole. If you put it on ebay, maybe make a good Buy Now price instead of an auction.

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #3 –
Quote from: Sebastian Mares on
You wouldn't want to buy the case.


Hm, that's no good. I assumed you had a complete PC there. Maybe you can get a case somewhere? Cause without one, you might as well sell the "mainboard + CPU + cooler + RAM" package as you intended, maybe sell the PSU too, and keep the rest (not worth selling unless in a PC).

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #5 –
That's the kind of machine that would make an OK "guest room web browser" machine.

Being the packrat that I am, I'd probably recycle the case (we have a good program here in Arlington), and store the parts for future hero possibilities.  Sometimes you can help low-income family/friends fix up their current computers with the parts enough to at least allow them the chance to restore their data.

There's at least one published book out there that benefitted (that is, made it to publication without having to be retyped from an older manuscript...) from the fact that I used to do that with old mac parts.

Granted, now that speedy desktops are easily available <$300, sometimes with a small LCD, that rationalization for my pack-ratting might be seen as more suspect. 

-brendan

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #6 –
I have a Dell Optiplex GX200 PIII 866MHZ Pc that I used for a while.  It runs Win2k pro fine and I can even play the Sims 2 on it (after getting a 5500FX PCI card for it- no AGP slot)  I think you can still sell yours as a whole if you clean it up a little.

PS: I wish mine had as much RAM as yours! Mine=256mb
It's due for a good DEGAUSSIN'

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #7 –
I have a basement full of old crap that I couldn't give away even for free. There are programs that collect old machines to give to charities and such, and they didn't even want them. ("Don't you have any better free stuff?") I ended up throwing out a lot of things (30-pin RAM, 100 MB hard drives, 5¼" floppy drives, etc.), but I still have machines running DOS 6.22/Win 3.11, W98 and a P3-733 with a Ubuntu Linux install. I have a few hundred floppy discs of old software that I dig out and play with now and then. I have an old 486 laptop with 20 MB of RAM running W95 and you can surf the net with it (very slowly).

Considering the hardware someone can get in a new box for $500, how much are you liable to get for your old machine? How much would you be willing to pay for it? Turn it into a server or throw a Linux install on it. Keep it for a toy to play with if you're only going to get $25 for it.

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #8 –
That machine is plenty fast for most anything but video work and games.  I am currently on a sub 500mhz machine myself.
If you want to sell it, I would recommend NOT selling the case, hard drives, or PSU, as they are unattractive eBay items due to the low value to shipping cost ratio.
Creature of habit.

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #9 –
Quote from: Sebastian Mares on
No, I have a case, but it's pretty old and ugly (and beige) - not comparable with the modern cases you get that have LEDs and spacy designs.


That doesn't matter for buyers looking for a cheap PC.

Quote
I would recommend NOT selling the case, hard drives, or PSU, as they are unattractive eBay items due to the low value to shipping cost ratio.


It's not so severe here. Shipping for the mainboard bundle alone would be 6.90 Euro, for the whole PC it's 9.90 Euro, not much more. I still say that selling the whole PC is wiser.

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #12 –
I sold mine a few days ago in one of those "cash converters" shops that seem to be getting popular (at least here in Portugal).
My model was a Pentium III 800 MHz, 384 MB RAM, Gigabyte Motherboard (VIA chipset), 100 GB HD, GeForce2 Ti AGP 4x, Zalman power supply, various Zalman coolers, and a couple of new fans. Initially they offered me €65 for it... I didn't accept, went back home, disassembled the computer and took out all the new parts and replaced them with old crappy ones: 5+ years noisy OEM power supply, old AGP video card, stock coolers and fans. I went back to the store, this time on a different location, and they gave me €75 for it. I obviously accepted. The thing is they don't really care if all the components are new or 10 years old, as long as the PC works. They won't even open the case. They'd clean it, format the HD,  and resell it immediately. Since these stores must have a profit, it's possible I could've sold it to a friend or someone in tech forums for a little more money, but the interest for hardware this old is very low.
Anyway, the point is I think you'll have a better chance of selling the computer as a whole rather than in separate pieces.

Edit: And by the way, make sure you have Microsoft Windows installed if you sell in one of these stores. If the guy doesn't see Windows in the PC when checking the hardware specs, he won't know how to check, and you'll probably get 0€ for it

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #14 –
I would offer the machine as-is to some internet cafes or repair shops and take the first reasonable offer.

BTW I had that video card 2 PC's ago, I remember playing Jedi Knight on it, good times
we was young an' full of beans

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #15 –
Doubt that will work. In Karlsruhe, there aren't many repair shops and the ones I know already have enough components because they are also hardware resellers at the same time.

Does anyone know where I could get a box if I wanted to ship the PC to someone? DHL doesn't have such big boxes I was told.

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #16 –
Isn't there a local "free adverts" paper where you can advertise without paying? The problem with eBay is the shipping/postage.

It's nearly Christmas. Someone near you with little money and a kid to please might buy it for them to play with. As long as it's complete, works, gets on the net etc. they will be happy.

Cheers,
David.

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #18 –
Awesome, put the PC on eBay for 24.99 € start price and 50 € buy now. 5 minutes passed, the PC was sold.

Vobis (PC and hardware store) guys were very friendly again - once more, they gave me some slot covers and a box filled with big air-pads.

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #19 –
 that was fast.
we was young an' full of beans

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #21 –
Quote from: Sebastian Mares on
Hope the buyer's OK since he registered today and has no rating (or whatever that's called in English).


(It's called feedback) He probably saw your offer and then registered to buy it. Just wait for your money before you do anything, needless to say, never ship in advance.

I must say the price was a bit low. For next time, i'd do some research on the prices that other people achieved so far. You can do that by clicking on "Erweiterte Suche" with a category and then selecting "Nur beendete Angebote". From some quick research, 70-80 Euro seemed possible for your PC. Hey, you live and learn, right? 

I even found your auction. The auction text was well made. I don't know where you get the 15 Euro for shipping from, though? The most you have to pay for almost anything is 9,90 Euro for a normal package from 10 to 20 kg (below 10 kg it's 6.90 Euro), or also 9,90 Euro for an ePaket (needs signup), for up to 31.5 kg. But now that it's already sold, you may as well keep quiet about it... 

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #22 –
ePaket is great and doesn't need a signup. I sent my jamo speakers with them (2x28 kg). Great service, great price. 9,90 EUR is good I think. But for international shipping, dhl is very expensive.

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #23 –
Didn't know about ePaket - the guy asked me if he could use that and have the box picked up for 9.90 and I agreed. I usually also add the price for fuel, the parking house (at least 1.50 €) and the stuff I use for shipping (in case I need to buy things).

Selling old PC - should I sell it as whole or each piece separately?

Reply #24 –
Quote from: Squeller on
ePaket is great and doesn't need a signup.


Yeah ok, it's not mandatory. But i wanted to use direct debit (Lastschriftverfahren) and you have to register for that.

P.S. Expensive parking garage you got there, Sebastian, don't they have parking lots on the street with 50 cent minimum?