Best way of selling a high end PC?

[Matt2012]

Firstly, this isn't a for sale post and I have nothing for sale 🙂

But lets assume somewhere down the line, I wanted to sell a high end PC.
What would be best way about going about it on whether to sell as a complete unit, or break down and sell as parts?

If selling as a complete unit, unlike a Mac/iphone etc where resetting/wiping the device is easy and ready for the next person to set up and they can see it working, with a PC, I'd need to do a reformat but in doing so, I'm pretty sure now I need to sign into to Windows to show any potential buyer the system working.
Once its sold though, how does it work as I'll be signed in still? Can you actually sign out of Windows so any new user can't use my account as its something I've never had any need to do before?

 

[MacCheetah3]

What would be best way about going about it on whether to sell as a complete unit, or break down and sell as parts?

You’re likely to recoup the most by parting it out. Foremost, with a “high-end” PC, you’re already cutting down your potential buyers, those with enough finances. Lest we not forget, the latest MSRP for some components is ridiculous, and a “fair” (to both parties) used asking price is probably reasonably going to seem ridiculous — that is, unless you purchased before the recent hikes and want to be very generous. Secondly, capable buyers will be very particular in what they want — again, trimming your potential market. For example, even if you have the flagship CPU (e.g., Ryzen 9850X3D) and GPU (e.g., RTX 5090), a buyer who’s splurging (i.e., your topic is “high-end” PC) will care just as much about aesthetics and other subjective specifics as a specs (i.e., universally high performance). It’s like selling a cookie cutter house versus a mansion.

If selling as a complete unit, unlike a Mac/iphone etc where resetting/wiping the device is easy and ready for the next person to set up and they can see it working, with a PC, I'd need to do a reformat but in doing so, I'm pretty sure now I need to sign into to Windows to show any potential buyer the system working.
Once its sold though, how does it work as I'll be signed in still? Can you actually sign out of Windows so any new user can't use my account as its something I've never had any need to do before?

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reset-your-pc-0ef73740-b927-549b-b7c9-e6f2b48d275e

It’s sufficiently/decently similar to “Erase All Content and Settings” on Apple devices. I haven’t done either recently, or timed them, although it probably requires about the same amount of time.
And yes, you will want to hold off until demonstrating your PC works.

 

[Matt2012]

You’re likely to recoup the most by parting it out. Foremost, with a “high-end” PC, you’re already cutting down your potential buyers, those with enough finances. Lest we not forget, the latest MSRP for some components is ridiculous, and a “fair” (to both parties) used asking price is probably reasonably going to seem ridiculous — that is, unless you purchased before the recent hikes and want to be very generous. Secondly, capable buyers will be very particular in what they want — again, trimming your potential market. For example, even if you have the flagship CPU (e.g., Ryzen 9850X3D) and GPU (e.g., RTX 5090), a buyer who’s splurging (i.e., your topic is “high-end” PC) will care just as much about aesthetics and other subjective specifics as a specs (i.e., universally high performance). It’s like selling a cookie cutter house versus a mansion.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/reset-your-pc-0ef73740-b927-549b-b7c9-e6f2b48d275e

It’s sufficiently/decently similar to “Erase All Content and Settings” on Apple devices. I haven’t done either recently, or timed them, although it probably requires about the same amount of time.
And yes, you will want to hold off until demonstrating your PC works.

Good points there, thanks.

 

[maflynn]

My opinion is that by and large (including myself here), PC builders think their machines they built are worth a lot more money as a whole and generally price them high and are surprised they don't sell.

Most people who do this often part out the pieces, especially since the GPU shortages of the 2020s. That is the components will retain their values better. I don't think people will make a profit on this, you'll still most likely lose money, but with the ram/ssd shortages, maybe folks will make money off selling the components.

 

[Matt2012]

My opinion is that by and large (including myself here), PC builders think their machines they built are worth a lot more money as a whole and generally price them high and are surprised they don't sell.

Most people who do this often part out the pieces, especially since the GPU shortages of the 2020s. That is the components will retain their values better. I don't think people will make a profit on this, you'll still most likely lose money, but with the ram/ssd shortages, maybe folks will make money off selling the components.

Yes I agree and will now break down the PC and sell as parts when needed. That means I can keep all M2 drives too.
As for what I'll get for the parts, that will be very interesting seeing how ram and 5090's have gone up since I bought them but its not me looking to profit. I just want to swap out one of my PCs for the M5 Ultra which I hope does actually get released, and soon 🙂

 

[maflynn]

Yes I agree and will now break down the PC and sell as parts when needed. That means I can keep all M2 drives too.

What I've been doing for the last 5 to 8 years, is not sell my PC and buy/build a brand new one from scratch, but rather upgrade it where it makes the most sense. I've largely stayed on the AM4 socket, along with DDR4 for that very reason.

The last time I was considering upgrading my PC, it was more likely then not that I was going to need to move to AM5/DDR5 and the pricing of that was just too high - that was in 2025, so I can only imagine what the pricing is today. I bought a M4 Max Studio in its place, I feel I got much better performance at a lower price.

 

[Matt2012]

What I've been doing for the last 5 to 8 years, is not sell my PC and buy/build a brand new one from scratch, but rather upgrade it where it makes the most sense. I've largely stayed on the AM4 socket, along with DDR4 for that very reason.

The last time I was considering upgrading my PC, it was more likely then not that I was going to need to move to AM5/DDR5 and the pricing of that was just too high - that was in 2025, so I can only imagine what the pricing is today. I bought a M4 Max Studio in its place, I feel I got much better performance at a lower price.

I have x2 identical machines so don't mind getting rid of one and going 50/50 Mac and PC.