Blue Book for Computer Prices

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brookline
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:53 am

Blue Book for Computer Prices

Post by brookline »

Hi everyone,
I've been searching for a used Mac laptop on CraigsList for a while & meeting with frustration. Locally, prices are all over the place & it is hard to figure out whether a posted price is reasonable, low, or excessively high. I remember using the Kelly Blue Book from my days as a car owner (now over :D ) to have a precise sense of what a used automobile with certain features in a certain condition should cost. Is there an equivalent resource for guidance on pricing used computers?

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Ego
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Re: Blue Book for Computer Prices

Post by Ego »

ebay > advanced search > sold listings

Scott 2
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Joined: Sun Feb 12, 2012 10:34 pm

Re: Blue Book for Computer Prices

Post by Scott 2 »

What ties you to a Mac? There are ways to run the OS without the Apple hardware.

There's so many security risks a used computer could bring, I'd be hesitant. At the very least I'd want to do a total wipe and rebuild. With computers being consumables, hard drive failure on a used one is a another big potential headache.

It's possible you could get non Mac hardware new, at used Mac prices.

Noided

Re: Blue Book for Computer Prices

Post by Noided »

Scott 2 wrote:What ties you to a Mac? There are ways to run the OS without the Apple hardware.

There's so many security risks a used computer could bring, I'd be hesitant. At the very least I'd want to do a total wipe and rebuild. With computers being consumables, hard drive failure on a used one is a another big potential headache.

It's possible you could get non Mac hardware new, at used Mac prices.
If he really wants to use Mac OS, I would recommend an Apple computer. If he runs Mac OS on a usual computer he will be dependent on hackers to be able to upgrade and have support for his hardware.

If he doesn't care about the OS or the hardware (apple computers do have some good building construction), then yes I would go for another brand and just install a distro of linux (some are similar to Mac)

brookline
Posts: 184
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2014 6:53 am

Re: Blue Book for Computer Prices

Post by brookline »

Hi everybody,
I appreciate the feedback. I wish to emphasize that while I'm a DIY person, I'm not a programmer. I'm hoping to use the computer for business applications & need easy reliability. I wish to reemphasize that I'm seeking to find out if there is a resource to find prices on used machines. I'm hoping there is a resource out there where the legwork has already been done. Does such a resource exist?

TimeTravel
Posts: 71
Joined: Sat Dec 10, 2016 1:04 pm

Re: Blue Book for Computer Prices

Post by TimeTravel »

Ego wrote:ebay > advanced search > sold listings
Agree with this. Check the ebay sold listings to get an approximate price.

I remember selling a used watched and first looking at the selling prices. Thinking I hit the jackpot as some auctions were asking for almost $1000 for a watch I bought for about $75. But looking at the sold prices gave a much more real price to expect.

Spartan_Warrior
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Joined: Fri Dec 02, 2011 1:24 am

Re: Blue Book for Computer Prices

Post by Spartan_Warrior »

I was hoping you were linking to such a resource rather than asking for one. Ebay sold listings would be my best recommendation for pricing computers and most other used consumer products. But note that this is the "ebay" price. IMO as a seller you can expect to get a little less on Craigslist, less than that at local flea markets, and less still at a pawn shop, etc, simply due to the different competition/demand factors at play. In other words, in your specific situation, I would expect to pay just a little less for the same laptop on Craigslist than I would on eBay, e.g. if it went for $300 on ebay I'd be looking for something between $275 and 300 locally. YMMV.

vexed87
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Location: Yorkshire, UK

Re: Blue Book for Computer Prices

Post by vexed87 »

I also recommend using gixen sniping tool with burner eBay accounts (if you don't trust them) to bid on a series of auctions. You can set it to bid on multiple items, with a dedicated max price in each and it will bid up to this price until you win one of the auctions. It doesn't bid automatically, only at the end of the auction. This way you can set your budget and ut automatically keeps trying until you get the winning bid within your price range. Be warned this requires patience, and works best when there are multiple auctions to choose from.

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