Important Steps to Take When Selling an Old Computer

There comes a point in time where our old computer provides no further use to us; becomes outdated for our needs; so, we decide to sell it.

Many reasons for selling include, they’ve slowed down for what we need; we have purchased a new one; or, it simply doesn’t work for you as the manufacturer intended.

You need to remember key and important steps when selling any computer.

Formatting the Hard Drive

Any computer you sell will most likely tend to have acquired some Personal Documents; whether it’s passwords, Family Documents; Bank Statements; Pictures, or other items we really would not buyers to have.

Restoring your computer back to the original Factory Settings ensures safety and will remove all of those personal files; besides, most buyers wouldn’t have a clue on how to get data back from a factory reset.

Windows formatting is a safe and easy method to use; unfortunately in this case, it does however leave possibilities to view old files; therefore, to ensure your hard drive is completely clean you may wish to use a drive wiper program like DBAN. Take warn as these programs can be a little difficult to use.

Drive wiping programs will write 1s and 0s all over the hard drive at random intervals, making it almost impossible to recover old files; however, to be really safe, Drive wiping should be done several times. Just like Windows; drive wiping programs can also leave residues of files, or may not create a strong enough format.

To ensure 100% safety so that nobody can access your personal documents, would be not to sell the hard drive containing the system files; that way nobody will ever be able to see the personal documents that you have acquired over the years.

Unless you have very sensitive data on your hard drive, this would be a bit excessive; because you may find that you are unable to sell a computer without a hard drive.

Alternatively, you may wish to supply a completely formatted empty drive with the machine; this way, the buyer will need to purchase their own Operating System.

Where do you plan to sell it?

When most people sell their computer, they choose the convenience to do so online; using, eBay; Craigslist; Facebook, or another online website.

You will need to ensure that the computer isn’t sold to the wrong person; more importantly, you want to make sure that you are safe with the transaction.

Craigslist for example isn’t the best place for selling computers. Why you may ask? Craigslist’s criteria is that you must meet face to face, and travel to a mutual agreed location to finalize the sale. (Choosing a police station would be an ideal place to meet).

That said, Craigslist does allow for a local transaction to make made and the payment is typically cash. Use your instincts when using Craigslist and you can find the right buyer. Make sure to print/create a receipt that both you and the buyer signs; this will create a transaction that can be used in court or to the police if anything bad happens. Both parties of the transaction should receive identical signed receipts.

Another thing to take note, is that your buying audience diminishes using Craigslist as compared with selling on eBay. The perks of selling the device on Craigslist are; that the payment is most likely cash up front; you don’t need to pay for shipping, and once the other person takes the computer, the transaction is complete and it’s in their hands.

Next we have the option to sell the computer on eBay. eBay is the world’s largest auction website, and provides the biggest audience; you can select either, an ‘Auction Bidding’ type setup; “Buy it Now”; “Make an Offer”, or all three!

The preferred payment for buyers on eBay is to use PayPal which provides a very safe transaction.

There’s no need to travel anywhere or meet any people; the downside is that eBay and PayPal will both charge a small fee of the final selling price; but the safe transaction and large market may drive up your final value price.

Facebook may be a surprise to some; however, like eBay, it will provide a safe transaction environment; it is quite likely that you may know the buyer; the downside would be that they may look for a discount just because they know you.

How should you go about shipping a computer?

Shipping is of crucial importance when selling a computer, because inadequate packaging could cause damage during transit.

It’s no surprise that all shipping companies handle packages the same way; whether the package has a plastic toy, or a crystal chandelier. Meaning, your package will be thrown around from trunk to plane to truck once more.

To prevent any mishaps; the best way to ship the entire computer is, to disassemble the machine completely and bubble wrap each part individually. If this is not possible, then using a large computer box with large foam pads to prevent any movement should suffice. Just ensure the safeness of the video card and hard drives.

Is the computer in working order?

Do not sell a computer with a broken motherboard or some other faulty hardware component; this would create animosity and an unhappy buyer, thus, having the dissatisfied customer asking for a refund.

It is important to keep the entire computer’s hardware together; many people would not buy a computer without a graphics card for example.

How much should you ask for your old computer?

Technology in general decreases a computer’s value over time; it is common knowledge, that every six months when new technology arrives, so the value of an existing product devalues.

Since your computer will most likely be a few years past the current date don’t expect a huge profit from the selling price compared to the original purchase price.

A good measurement of how much to ask for is take your original purchasing price of the computer and cut it in half or more.

Conclusion

Just remember to use knowledge, common sense and to follow the recommendations outlined here.

Hopefully after reading this and remembering the steps detailed here, it will provide you with an easy, smooth, profitable, and safe transaction!

©2013 techsupportforum.com