Do you save money by Buying/Reselling or just Keeping till Death?

[Jphillippe]

I wish i can keep till death but i'm "filthy poor" and i have an addiction problem with newest technology. So i sell mine to buy a new one, and not to be an ass but buyers in eBay aren't the smartest. i sometimes even get more money than what I originally payed for, even for a used computer...

 

[Ralzy]

I wish i can keep till death but i'm "filthy poor" and i have an addiction problem with newest technology. So i sell mine to buy a new one, and not to be an ass but buyers in eBay aren't the smartest. i sometimes even get more money than what I originally payed for, even for a used computer...

Actually buying on ebay turns out to be rather cheap if there is no tax and if you use bing cashback you can save a lot.

 

[instaxgirl]

Till death! Well that was the original plan with my 2005 iBook, but it's looking like that will quite possibly never happen.

The battery's pretty much done though so I'm thinking I'll buy a new laptop this Summer. If I was still in uni that wouldn't be an option but an unplanned break in my degree means I've got money for the first time in years.

But then I'll be struck by guilt about what to do with the still working iBook

My 2G iPhone's currently operating on the Till Death or Till Apple Actually Do Something Interesting With The iPhone plan. I hate phone contracts so it's got to be good enough for me to buy outright.

iPods are beyond death. Until the logic board dies I'll just keep repairing.

 

[opeter]

I always sell my old stuff. And hope, that I get some money.

 

[savar]

Your math doesn't make any sense at all. But the thesis is correct.

You spend more money if you upgrade frequently for two reasons:

1) You pay a premium for "new" versus "used"

2) There are transaction costs involved in selling the old computer and buying a new one. (Your time, auction fees, reseller margins, whatever.)

However, if you use your computer professionally, its possible that the competitive advantage you get from having a higher average of computing power can offset the costs you pay to upgrade frequently.

I think this argument applies a lot to folks who work in digital media. You hear about them buying new machines every time they come out, because that 5-10% increase that most of us wouldn't notice cuts hours or days off of their turnaround time.

 

[steve2112]

I tend to buy and keep stuff till it dies on most things. I do it with clothes, shoes, cars, etc. Sometimes I can still hear my mother telling me something like "you don't need new ___(shoes, bikes, etc), your old one still works fine" when considering buying new stuff. My main TV is still a non-HD tube model because it still works.

I tend to be this way with computers, as well. My late 2005 era Powerbook still works fine. I still have a P4 era XP machine that works fine, and is about to be converted to some flavor of Linux. I have splurged a bit, though. I bought a new gaming PC last year, and I just bought a refurb Mini. I did manage to pay for half the price of the Mini by selling my old Core Duo Mini to a friend.

 

[Ed91]

I never sell my tech. I don't like the idea of losing it all. I enjoy being able to plug it all back in to have a little play years later to reminisce and remind myself how much technology has progressed, but I rarely use tech until its death.

However, I see little reason to move on from my 2007 MacBook Pro at the moment. It is doing the exact same jobs now that it was bought to do, and doing so rather well, but I have upgraded my memory, hard disk, and replaced the damn battery twice. Oddly enough, though, my MacBook Pro often seems far more responsive than my 2008 Mac Pro.

Anyway, before I upgrade I think I'll wait for a truly compelling refresh.

Maybe next year..

 

[ravenvii]

I'm a minimalist, so I *always* sell off things I no longer use.

I tend to keep my machines for 2 years before selling it and upgrading. I'd *like* to lengthen that to 3 years, but the temptation is hard to overcome

 

[iMacThere4Iam]

Apple makes a lot of money off of people like me. I like to go new every two years, giving the "old" to nephews and nieces who are much smarter because they get a perfectly running Mac for free.

 

[MWPULSE]

I'd probably give my macbook pro to a family member who needed it, but at the mo i have maybe 300 pounds to my name, so i will save that up to get the latest upgrade

PTP

 

[Keebler]

for me personally, i've kept my macs. I run a business so I've made enough money to justify their purchases and I could sell my older machines, but they're still worthy of menial yet very important tasks so it's senseless to sell them.

I can definitely see if I didn't run a business, I would be upgrading to the latest probably every 1.5 years or so for the simple fact that Macs retain their value well. I don't have any numbers nor will I guess at them for Macs, but I know I upgrade my Iphone and b/c the 3G kept it's value, it only cost me $50 to get the latest.

I imagine the Macs would be enough, but worth the extra to get a newer system.

 

[pcb]

Keep until the darn thing falls apart. Im in college and I just can't come up with the money to buy a new computer easily even if I do sell my MBP(2.33).

I have had it for four years. Three of which it has been carried daily in a backpack, its little worse of the wear but still going strong. My goal is to make it two more years, but I just dont see that as being very likely.

 

[Sweetfeld28]

I either go the eBay route, or try and sell my not so old hardware to friends cheap. If they happen to go on eBay, i usually get more than i expect, and always a plus.

 

[js81]

As I'm sure you can tell by my iMac in my sig., I love having the latest tech.

In reality, I've only had it for about 18 months - at the time I bought it I had an original Core Solo Mac Mini that I had upgraded to a Core Duo. I was 99% happy with the Mini in terms of speed and usability - however, the GMA950 graphics just plain sucked, as I couldn't run even four year old PC games, thus forcing me to have to keep an old PC just to run a few simple games.

So I researched and found that I could buy the iMac (with X1600 graphics) for about the same price as I could sell my Mini and monitor for - so I did it; I listed the Mini and got almost $600 out of the package, and I replaced it with the iMac for $499.

All in all, a good trade, IMHO. But normally I keep like to keep them - and I plan to keep the iMac until it dies or the repair is more than its value.

 

[halledise]

i have never sold any piece of technology.

if I dont want it and there is no private info on it (ipod touch). i give it away to family member/friend for free.

hi son - it's your Uncle Harry in Australia here. long time no see.
Let me send you my new address for when you decide to pass on your MB Pro.
cheers big ears

 

[andrew0122]

I actually buy a new one every year.
Until this year this has been true for both my mac mini and macbook.

I sell the one year old computer on ebay, for at least 75% every time. SOmetimes I get more than 100% back (I am nit sure why but that just happens)
Example - Just sold my mac mini (2007 model - bought in 2008) for just under $600 and COULD buy the latest one for the same price, but think I may opt for the $799 model this time .

The only downside is I have to reinstall everything every year...

I was able to solve your issue of having to reinstall all of your applications by simply investing in a .5 to 1TB external hard drive (Depending on your needs...) and using it solely for Time Machine. . . Works great for me