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Need advice on selling MB Pro for parts :(

B

brown.eyed.girl

macrumors member
Original poster
Jul 12, 2008
92
28
Hi Mac community,

Unfortunately, my mid-2009 MB Pro is officially dead (i.e. logic board is corroded) due to an unfortunate incident with a water bottle. The Apple Genius guy said I could fix it for ~$750 + tax, or just get a new computer, and he told me I could try to sell it for parts. My MB Pro is 13", bought it in May 2010, it's had a shell on it the whole time so the exterior is perfect, screen is perfect, but it won't start up because of the corrosion (still takes a charge though). It has a 2x2 GB RAM, 250 GB HD, SD, 2.4 Core Duo I think.

I've never done this before. Can you please help me?

My questions:

1) Is eBay the best bet for doing this?
2) Any particular pricing point? Any price range I can expect? (just want to know so I can figure out what I can afford to budget for a new computer)
3) What needs to be included or is traditionally included? Do I include the power adapter?
4) What happens to my data? Do I need to have the Apple store wipe my HD before sending out the computer for parts?
5) I have an incase hardshell on the computer. How the heck do I get that top cover off???? (Ok, you guys don't need to answer this but if you could, I would appreciate it as in 1.5 years, I have not been able to get the top shell off).

Thank you all so much! I'm still getting over the shock that my very much beloved computer is pretty much dead. This is the first time this has ever happened to me. Ugh.
 
i would try craigslist also idk how cheap you are going to have to sell this for someone to buy it

the c2d processors are every outdated so for a comparable they aren't wanted very much ( to a comparable i understand the logic board is corroded)

so you can get a brand new one for 1200 dollar with specs of 2.4ghz i5 2 times faster 500gb hd 4 gb (faster) ram and hd graphics 3000 which suck yet are better then the ones on that generation

no on wants a broken computer because people that buy macs don't know how to fix them and a laptop you can't replace the mother board so the laptop is not reparable put of apple for 750

so that would leave you selling a battery 2x2 1066mhz used ram (nearly worthless to both maybe battery to dead battery mbp owners)

a 180x720 13.3 inch screen and a used 250gb 5400 rpm drive ( worthless any size drive as long is it fits the size (2.5" 3.5") can be as many gas as they make so you could put a 3tb in a mbp and because its used less) and thats pretty much it


Personally i would try to sell it as a whole with a dead motherboard and tell them it comes with these parts because if you don't then selling it for parts will result in maybe 100 dollars if your lucky and maybe grouped to gether

any way good luck
 
^^ C2D aren't outdated, and many people are willing to buy broken Macs.


You could try to see if you can fire it up by cleaning the corrosion with alcohol. If you're comfortable with selling it for parts and listing many items, then go for it. I'd personally just sell it as a whole. But try to see if you can clean it up yourself.
 
wordoflife said:
^^ C2D aren't outdated, and many people are willing to buy broken Macs.


You could try to see if you can fire it up by cleaning the corrosion with alcohol. If you're comfortable with selling it for parts and listing many items, then go for it. I'd personally just sell it as a whole. But try to see if you can clean it up yourself.
Click to expand...

By alcohol he probably means Isopropyl alcohol. Basically, you have to remove the bottom cover and clean the logic board inside with swabs and alcohol.
I'd try doing this first as well.
 
Thanks guys for the quick replies!

I took it to the Apple store - the genius guy made it seem pretty unsalvageable :(

I did end up selling it for $300 on ebay. Kind of wish I had waited as I had put it up fo $400 on CL and gotten a few hits but someone snapped it up within 15 min. on ebay through BIN. But $300 is still more than I expected and helps defray new computer costs so I'm happy.

Thank you all! I knew I could count on you guys for help!

ETA: Now I need to decide which laptop to get. Another MB Pro? Or MBA?

ETA2: I made a mistake. My MBP wasn't mid-2009, it was mid-2010.
 
Mid 2010? You probably could have gotten at least $375 on http://www.macbookfix.com/sym.php. Often liquid damaged units only need the top case replaced, sometimes the logic board, or more. If it's only the keyboard you can pick these up for under $100 on eBay. If the keyboard is shorted the power doesn't work. The appearance is the computer or logic board is dead when in fact it's only the Power button ( connected internally to the keyboard). I've seen this quite a few times.

Also, ALWAYS wipe your data, especially when listing it on eBay. You never know who is buying your system and many people leave personal data on the drive that can be easily retrieved.
 
Took it to the Apple store again to ask about wiping my data. I guess the graphics card isn't working either - the Genius guy was trying to hook it up to an external display and another computer to see if we could get it working and it didn't work :(

He did take out my hard drive and I got an enclosure so I was fortunately able to get all my data off the drive and I'm currently in the process of erasing it. Thanks!
 
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