Curiously High eBay Prices for Used Intel MacBook Airs

[smirking]

I just ordered an M1 Max and I'm faced with either selling my 15" 2018 MBP or handing it down to my wife and selling her 2018 MacBook Air instead.

As expected, the pricing on any MacBook Pro model is highly depressed. The Apple trade-in quote for my 2018 32GB 2TB Vega20 is $950 and from a quick peek at recently completed 2018 MBP sales, I'm estimating I can expect maybe somewhere around $1200 for it if I sell it on eBay.

On the other hand, the recent sale prices for Intel MacBook Airs are surprisingly high. Recent sales of 256GB 2018 Airs are all trending north of $500. That's more than 50% of the value of an equivalent refurbished M1 Air or 2020 Intel Air!

I'm really surprised by this. Does anyone have any idea as to why people are willing to shell out so much for a used Intel MBA?

 

[Zapoleon]

Doesn't surprise me much much older machines still retain a high value. Its a very controlled and inflated market.

I have been watching to see if there is a real crash in the market value for the intel machines with the M1s ect coming out, has never happened thus far though.

 

[bunnspecial]

Out of curiosity, have checked the hypothetical trade-in value with Apple for such a machine?

This effectively sets a price "floor" since it's a whole lot easier to just send it to Apple and get a payment or credit than it is to deal with listing it on Ebay, fees(which are nearing 14%) possible buyer returns, etc etc.

 

[smirking]

Out of curiosity, have checked the hypothetical trade-in value with Apple for such a machine?

This effectively sets a price "floor" since it's a whole lot easier to just send it to Apple and get a payment or credit than it is to deal with listing it on Ebay, fees(which are nearing 14%) possible buyer returns, etc etc.

Apple's trade in value for a 2018 256GB Air is $420 which is appropriate because if you told me that was the floor, I would have thought you were smoking something. I only paid $850 for that with AppleCare+ about 2 years ago!

 

[smirking]

I have been watching to see if there is a real crash in the market value for the intel machines with the M1s ect coming out, has never happened thus far though.

I'd say the pricing for the Intel MBPs have taken a hit though, but it wasn't entirely because of the M1 Pro/Max announcement. It started when Apple updated the 15" to a 16" and recalibrated their pricing tiers for add-on storage. That's why I'm stunned the Intel Airs are holding onto their value so well.

I'm not really complaining about that. I'll take the tradeoff of losing resale value in exchange for more reasonable upgrade pricing any day.