One of the most common questio I get from my users, clients, and friends is: I have an old Mac that I'd like to sell, how much is it worth? Here are the tools I use to calculate for how much to sell a used Mac.IDENTIFY IT
First, you're going to need to know exactly which kind of Macintosh you've got in front of you. A le regularly refreshes their product lines and releases identical-looking computers but with different eeds and components. For i tance, the current line of iBooks share an almost identical case design as the first "Dual U iBook" from more than four years ago. The best tool for identifying which Mac you have is MacTracker, an excellent and free database of ecificatio of every Mac model manufactured. It's MacTracker I refer to, for i tance, to find out a Mac model's bus eed, or what eed RAM it uses, or even when it was released. If I'm trying to identify a ecific Macintosh, MacTracker can help me there as well. A le System Profiler will show you the ecificatio of the computer in front of you and then you can match them up to the listing in MacTracker. Knowing which model Mac you have in front of you is vital. Nobody likes those auction or cla ifieds listings with vague details, including sellers. Unle you like getting hundreds of emails asking, "Yes, I see you have a PowerMac G4 for sale, but how fast is it?"
DESCRIBE IT
So you've used MacTracker to identify precisely which model Mac you have. You've even learned that it's officially called, for i tance, aPowerMac G4 (QuickSilver 2002ED) and has an 867Mhz proce or in it. Inyour advertisement you should include this information. Here's a listof other information you should include:
- the ecific model of Macintosh
- the amount of RAM i talled in it
- which optical drive the machine has (CD-ROM, CD-RW, Superdrive?)
- which graphics card is i talled and how much VRAM it has
- whether the machine is as A le shi ed it or whether it's been upgraded
- whether there's any obvious damage or scratches/markings
- whether there are any known physical malfunctio (CD drive doe 't open, for i tance)
- which version of the operating system is i talled (if any).
Take a good picture of it! You wouldn't believe how much a good picture of the product hel sell it. Try to use a picture of the actual machine rather than a product shot from when the machine was released. The difference is obvious to most buyers and having an authentic picture increases the legitimacy of your listing.
PRICE IT
So now you have to make a determination on how much this Mac might beworth. I've seen some wildly crazy listings with sellers asking for overvaluedprices and also listings where the seller has no ideawhat he has in front of him and is asking too little. A fairasking price is an important detail, if only so you don't get thosecrazy emails from people i ulting you for your asking price, but alsoso you don't get ri ed off. There are several tools I use to determinethe a roximate value of a used Mac. The first is to search eBay's completed auctio listings for similar or identical models. You will need an eBay ID todo this, but it's worth signing up for one if only for this feature.There's a very good chance there will be several if not many completedauctio for an item similar or identical to yours. Sca ing the final sale prices on the listings will give you a good idea how much your used Mac is going forand will let you estimate a market-value asking price. While not asaccurate, Craigslist listings will give you another indicator of price,demand, and even whether there's a glut of your model being sold. Forsome reason, a lot of people selling Macs on Craigslist overvalue whatthey're selling, but it's still a great place to help gauge the market for your used Mac. Other places to look are: UsedMac.ca, MacSwap.org, SecondhandMac.com, and Macofalltrades.com.
SELL IT
Sell it as soon as you can! The longer that Mac sits unused, the lower its price will be when you finally sell it. I've personally made that mistake several times, sitting on a used Mac for months (or even years) before finally getting around to listing it. It's not a pleasant realization that your procrastination lost you hundreds or thousands of dollars.
Any of the above sites I've listed is a great place to sell your used Mac, but the ones I've had the best luck with are eBay (because it's audience is enormous) and Craigslist, because I can target my local community. It's often much easier to sell a Mac locally than it is to ship it to a person you've never met. What you use will depend on where you live and whether you want to try to get the best dollar for your used Mac, or whether you're just looking to unload it quickly.
A few ti about timing. If you're using an auction site like eBay, co ider timing your auction to end on the weekend. eBay's audience is larger on the weekend than it is during mid-week. Also, selling near the Christmas buying season is a great idea becuase people are always looking for deals. Also, please list your Mac with the proper and accepted elling: it's "Macintosh" or "Mac". It is not "MacIntosh" or "MAC". You might think this is a minor point, but trust me that you do not want to look like a seller who doe 't seem to know the Macintosh market. This mistake is a surefire way to identify which sellers know the Mac marketplace and those who don't.
RELEASE IT
Congratulatio , you've located a buyer. If this Mac was your personal machine, you really should co ider wiping its internal hard disk and i talling the operating system fresh from the CD's or DVD's that came with it. This will e ure that you're not giving away a machine with personal and confidential information on the Mac. It will also e ure that you're not selling the computer with software i talled on it that belongs to you.
Clean the computer. We had a tip a few weeks ago about excellent ways to clean your Mac. I co ider it distasteful to buy a used Mac and find it filthy. Delivering a clean computer to your seller will e ure you get excellent feedback. If you are shi ing your used Mac, be sure to pack it properly. If you have the original shi ing boxes, use them. But you can also use a profe ional packing service like Mailboxes, Etc. Some post offices have packing materials for sale as well as FedEx and U stores.
Identify it. Describe it. Price it. Sell it. Release it. Good luck selling your used Mac.
Readers, please let u know if you have any additional ti for selling used Macs.
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