How are people claiming such high MBP resale value?

[HBOC]

The "good" resale value comes into play the longer you hold onto it. There's always a steep dropoff in value at first. But for example, I paid $900 for a macbook in 2006. I sold it last week for $450, and could have gotten more, but priced under market so I could sell it faster. That's pretty good for a 4+ year old system that has been heavily used.

Cheaper systems do hold more of their value more than the higher end systems, tho.

This is absolutely correct. I don't "waste" my money on keeping up with updates. I paid $1600 for my 2.5GHZ Penryn 15" MBP w/Matte screen from apple.com the day the unibodies were released. Apple gave me a new one due to many problems with mine.

So lets say mine was worth $800 with AppleCare (my old one). That means I would have had it for 28 months and got $800 use out of it. Whats that equal, $28 a month? Not too bad if I say so my self!

 

[grawk]

It's substantially harder to get your money back this close to when the new model's been released. You either bite the bullet and take your loss now, or wait 6 months, and take the same loss, but at least then you'll have gotten more use out of it.

 

[Gymnut]

Something else to take into account is there are a number of sellers on CL who advertise software that's "included" with the MB/MBP; More than likely, it's installed on a "fresh" OSX installation, but the owner will be keeping the installation discs for themselves. Unscrupulous, yes, but when I sold my 2007 MBP in 2009 for $800 on CL, I specifically indicated in my listing that the only software that was included was the original system install DVD and the Snow Leopard DVD I received for $10.

There are some buyers out there who don't know any better that they're one drive failure(w/o backup) or an instance of having to reinstall the software they thought there we getting a deal on, from losing whatever software was thrown in to "sweeten the deal".

 

[ddehr026]

I have been watching mac prices on ebay for quite some time now and I would have to say these guys are pretty spot on with what you can get for that, unfortunately. Sorry dude.

 

[Nightarchaon]

Some people aren't too bright. Why would you buy a one year old product that was so close to the price of a new one? The warranty and peace of mind is well worth the extra $100 for a new over used.

This also amazes me when buying new apple products, the number of people buying an iPad 1 now because its £100 cheaper than the iPad2 is going to be...apple sure know how to fleece people (actually, they know how to program the market there in to accept being ripped off, Monopoly is a great thing for a large company like apple to have)

 

[farmermac]

To those complaining about how hard it is to sell an expensive Mac. It's Hard to sell any computer for $2000. The 13's are a lot easier to sell then high end 15 and 17. You have to let those sit for a while until a buyer comes along.

 

[grawk]

The trick to selling is to not NEED to sell. Just wait for the right buyer, and the sale will go through.

 

[rkaufmann87]

The trick to selling is to not NEED to sell. Just wait for the right buyer, and the sale will go through.

That is exactly right! I sold a 2009 13" base model MBP for $1200 in January of this year using CL. It did have AppleCare and I'd upgraded the HD to 500GB and 8GB of RAM. The machine was 13 months old. I received numerous lowball offers that I ignored and waiting for the right guy. We met at a Starbucks where I demonstrated the system and once he was convinced it was legit and I was on the up and up he gave me the cash and I did a reformat and re-install for him.

 

[badpinoy]

i like buying used macbook pros. when you factor in taxes and upgrades (hi-res and hard drives it adds up fast. in my mind it makes more sense to buy used. The only taxing program i use is photoshop (photography hobby). So i don't need the latest and fastest hardware out there. for the majority of population the new macbook line up is overkill.

 

[skiltrip]

I've had good luck with Apple resale. Best to stick with base models if that's your strategy though. It's easier to unload a 13" or base 15" then some of the higher priced 15" models. You're going to lose a higher percentage the higher up the MBP foodchain you go.

 

[jpjandrade]

Living in Brazil is usually a huge pain for buying Apple products, they come with a near 100% markup in taxes and transport fees.

If there's one advantage though, is that if you have a relative that travels to the US with some frequency (for work, for example), you can always make a profit by buying the new model in the US and selling the old model in Brazil.

 

[SPEEDwithJJ]

That is exactly right! I sold a 2009 13" base model MBP for $1200 in January of this year using CL. It did have AppleCare and I'd upgraded the HD to 500GB and 8GB of RAM. The machine was 13 months old. I received numerous lowball offers that I ignored and waiting for the right guy. We met at a Starbucks where I demonstrated the system and once he was convinced it was legit and I was on the up and up he gave me the cash and I did a reformat and re-install for him.

Damn, that price is more than 2x what I got for mine. I think I may have to stop reading anymore of this thread because reading more of such sales is just depressing for me as it just goes to show that I'm stupid beyond belief. But then again, I still don't get it how I struggled so hard to even sell mine for $550?

 

[revelated]

Damn, that price is more than 2x what I got for mine. I think I may have to stop reading anymore of this thread because reading more of such sales is just depressing for me as it just goes to show that I'm stupid beyond belief. But then again, I still don't get it how I struggled so hard to even sell mine for $550?

Your ad matters. Pictures matter. AND, the ability to really SELL the thing.

I see ads where they just put up a machine and some boring text and expect to sell it for a mint. I just lay down exactly what they're getting AND what they save by buying from me.

One point that was a good one is that the smaller sizes seem easier to move than the larger ones for some reason. Been trying to sell my 2010 for a few weeks and haven't gotten much interest even though I'm offering for what amounts to nearly $1000 loss. I don't really *need* to sell it, but it's just sitting there collecting dust.

 

[Steve121178]

It is kind of funny, I am in the UK and I have advertised my 2010 i7 2.66 for a great price, but no one seems to be interested.

That's because most people are skint.

 

[ddehr026]

Your ad matters. Pictures matter. AND, the ability to really SELL the thing.

I see ads where they just put up a machine and some boring text and expect to sell it for a mint. I just lay down exactly what they're getting AND what they save by buying from me.

One point that was a good one is that the smaller sizes seem easier to move than the larger ones for some reason. Been trying to sell my 2010 for a few weeks and haven't gotten much interest even though I'm offering for what amounts to nearly $1000 loss. I don't really *need* to sell it, but it's just sitting there collecting dust.

I agree. Nice high res pictures htlm'd on craigslist will make your sale stand out. You wouldn't believe how many more hits you get when you use a upload site like photobucket and put the pictures right in the listing that way.

 

[ddehr026]

I just had an idea. I think we should start a thread on here for just this reason. When people list their macs either on ebay or craigslist, put up a link and we can look at them and give advice on things to change and correct. What do you guys think?

 

[SPEEDwithJJ]

Pictures matter.

All my ads for my previous Mac sales contains at least 5 photos (3072 x 2304 resolution) each. But for some reason, I just couldn't attract any high paying buyers, no matter how hard I tried. I was also very realistic with my asking prices but almost half of those sales I ended up taking are offers by buyers.

For my last sale of a like-new (no scratches, no dents) mid-2009 13" MBP with remaining of extended AppleCare & 2 accessories, I waited 3 weeks before getting something that is not a super low ball offer, which I reluctantly accept. The selling price of $550 is still lower than I listed but then I figured out that if it has been listed on CL with photos for 3 weeks & not sell, then maybe my price is way too high or something. I even thought I was very, very lucky to get a great deal out of that sale. But what do I know, it turned out that I was in fact too stupid to let it go at that price because it is way too low according to you guys (& comparing to what you guys got from exact/similar MBP model).

 

[adrian1480]

I sold my 2010 17" for $2k. Not great, but not bad either.

 

[SuprUsrStan]

Most of all those offers I got are so low that I would rather donate the Mac I'm selling to a local charity organization than actually accept the offer. I just sold a 2009 13" MBP for about $550 at my local CL when people here are saying that it can easily get me at least $850.

Don't sell it on CL. I sold my 2007 Black macbook 13 on Ebay for $550. Paid 50 in fee's but still you got ripped for selling a 09 Macbook PRO 13.

 

[izzisdashiz]

I sold my 2008 2.4 ghz 2gb ram unibody Macbook (with one year left of AC) for $775. After shipping and fees, I netted about $725. Turned around and bought a 3 month used 2010 2.4 model 4gb ram for $920. I used that ebay 8% off electronics coupon. So essentially I paid $830 (I saved $90 using the coupon). Long story short, I was able to upgrade to the new model, got 2 more gigs of Ram, better battery life (my old batter was in bad shape), and gained a SD slot for about $100. I think I got myself a good deal.

 

[SPEEDwithJJ]

Thanks for the tips & I appreciate it. However, I'm not selling on eBay unless there is no other place to sell because of the following reason:

I'm definitely not selling on eBay. I have a very unfortunate incident selling a Windows based notebook a few years ago. Ended up losing both the notebook & the money when the buyer did a chargeback. eBay & PayPal sided with the buyer no matter what kind of evidence I had to prove that I've indeed sent out the whole package & that it was in excellent condition when I shipped it. Even UPS basically wouldn't help me out & just indirectly indicate to me that I'm SOL.

These are the kinds of things when added up makes me feel that when it comes to selling notebook computers, I'm simply just a JINX & unlikely to ever do any better, even though I wish I can!

By the way, is it only me who keep getting rotten luck when selling my Macs?!?!?

 

[revelated]

All my ads for my previous Mac sales contains at least 5 photos (3072 x 2304 resolution) each. But for some reason, I just couldn't attract any high paying buyers, no matter how hard I tried. I was also very realistic with my asking prices but almost half of those sales I ended up taking are offers by buyers.

For my last sale of a like-new (no scratches, no dents) mid-2009 13" MBP with remaining of extended AppleCare & 2 accessories, I waited 3 weeks before getting something that is not a super low ball offer, which I reluctantly accept. The selling price of $550 is still lower than I listed but then I figured out that if it has been listed on CL with photos for 3 weeks & not sell, then maybe my price is way too high or something. I even thought I was very, very lucky to get a great deal out of that sale. But what do I know, it turned out that I was in fact too stupid to let it go at that price because it is way too low according to you guys (& comparing to what you guys got from exact/similar MBP model).

Backbone.

I don't accept alternate offers. Ever. If I sell something, it's at a price I choose, which in my case is always just beneath whatever Apple's refurb price is. That's quite fair, considering you don't pay shipping, tax, recycle fees or anything like that. You also don't have to wait to have it shipped or risk damage during shipping. You can power it on and make sure it works. I will even offer to upgrade RAM if I have a spare chip laying around, upgrade hard drives since I have 3-4 laying around at all times, or whatever else. I do charge a little extra for these services, but my bottom line is, no alternate offers. Take my price and buy at that price, or don't buy it.

I would say that the 13" MacBook Pro and the 15" MacBook Pro were the easiest to sell. The 15" MacBook Pro sold within hours at a $100 loss. I don't use high res photos either, I just do the Craigslist upload.

Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes, you just can't move whatever you're selling right then, but you repost it and eventually you get a bite. The key is to not settle for anything less than what the thing is really worth no matter what. We're not talking about some old couch where it's an unknown. Browse around, even on CL itself. See what others are asking for theirs and then go slightly lower than that. If a lot of people are posting the same item, you're going to have a hard time getting yours to move. Not impossible though. But settle for nothing less than what you should get.

 

[SPEEDwithJJ]

Backbone.

I don't accept alternate offers. Ever. If I sell something, it's at a price I choose, which in my case is always just beneath whatever Apple's refurb price is. That's quite fair, considering you don't pay shipping, tax, recycle fees or anything like that. You also don't have to wait to have it shipped or risk damage during shipping. You can power it on and make sure it works. I will even offer to upgrade RAM if I have a spare chip laying around, upgrade hard drives since I have 3-4 laying around at all times, or whatever else. I do charge a little extra for these services, but my bottom line is, no alternate offers. Take my price and buy at that price, or don't buy it.

I would say that the 13" MacBook Pro and the 15" MacBook Pro were the easiest to sell. The 15" MacBook Pro sold within hours at a $100 loss. I don't use high res photos either, I just do the Craigslist upload.

Another thing to keep in mind is that sometimes, you just can't move whatever you're selling right then, but you repost it and eventually you get a bite. The key is to not settle for anything less than what the thing is really worth no matter what. We're not talking about some old couch where it's an unknown. Browse around, even on CL itself. See what others are asking for theirs and then go slightly lower than that. If a lot of people are posting the same item, you're going to have a hard time getting yours to move. Not impossible though. But settle for nothing less than what you should get.

I wish I can settle with my asking price, like you do. I've not had a single good luck in being able to find the "right" buyer since I started selling my stuff (whether it is Macs or something else). I've always ended up losing a substantial amount of money in my sales. There was also once where I got scammed on eBay, losing both the money I should be receiving from the sale as well as the notebook. eBay, Paypal, & UPS basically cannot be bothered to help me out at all. I doubt you'll ever come across any other seller who has worse luck than I do.

For my previous sale, I ended up selling at the price I did because of simple (or you can call it stupid) logic. If I had already waited for 3 weeks without even finding a buyer take my deal for the listed price, what are the odds of me being able to get what I want? I may sound pessimistic, but I seriously can't see me being able to sell at the price I want if I had gone for so long on my local CL. I reluctantly sold it (& some other Macs in similar situations before it) for fear that keeping it longer down the road will only decrease the price I'll be able to get.

Sometimes, it is really very depressing when I think about the amount of losses I made when selling my Macs, especially when everyone are saying that Macs have great resale value, which I simply don't see based on my Mac sales.. Maybe when it is time for me to sell my current MBP, I shouldn't stress over my bad luck selling on CL & instead just go dump it at one of my local pawn shops & take whatever amount of money they offer to me.

 

[grawk]

You could just use ebay's "instant sale", which would take the hassle out of it. You get a little less, but there's no risk.

http://green.ebay.com/instantsale/?...balHeaderLink&utm_campaign=InstantSaleGeneral

 

[Macsavvytech]

How easy would it be to sell the computer in my sig? just interested i want one of the new mbp 11, but i feel that noone would want my computer?