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Where should I sell a water damaged MacBook Pro?

M

MacShawn

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 29, 2011
4
0
I posted on here quite some time ago about this issue and got no answers so I am posting my question again in hopes of getting some help from this community.

My original post was as follows:

"Recently my sister took our MacBook Pro into the kitchen and set it down on the stove, then proceeded to spill water all over the right side of the keyboard. Needless to say, it's fried.

My mother, my sister, and I went down to BestBuy today to see about getting it fixed and they said it'd be cheaper to buy a new one.

I was wondering, will we be able to sell it for scraps or parts?

I'm not sure what's still working on it. It doesn't turn on anymore though. The screen is fine. Untouched. The backlights on the right side of the keyboard aren't completely out, they're just really dim... Well, were dim when it would turn on right after it happened.

When my mom found out I told her not to turn it on, but she did anyway. So at first it powered up and looked fine, but the keyboard didn't work at all. Then she shut it down, powered it back up, and there was the *dun* noise that it makes when you press a key that doesn't work (if that makes sense) but it was over and over again without any stop in between. She then turned it of and on one more time, this time the power button didn't work to turn it off again so we had to let it die.

I just told you this because I am hoping it may give you an idea of what's broken inside, and therefore how much it may be worth.

We would like to sell it to put the money towards a new Mac.

So where could I put it up for sale, and what might be a good price?

Thanks for all your help in advance.

-Shawn"

We still haven't done anything with it because we are not sure the best course of action. I checked Gazelle and all they offered was $100. I know it's damaged so I'm not going to get too much out of it but I feel like I should get more out of it than that. Is that about as good as it's going to get? Or could I sell it for scrap somewhere else and get more money?

What would you guys do? What's my best option to get as much money out of this to go towards a new MacBook Pro?

Thanks,
Shawn
 
How old is the computer?

If it's a recent model (2011 or newer) you might ask Apple. They have a flat rate repair program that may be more economical than replacement. Older than that... I'd sell it on eBay for parts, but don't expect much more than $100.
 
Asuriyan said:
How old is the computer?

If it's a recent model (2011 or newer) you might ask Apple. They have a flat rate repair program that may be more economical than replacement. Older than that... I'd sell it on eBay for parts, but don't expect much more than $100.
Click to expand...

How would I go about finding out what model it is?
 
My roommate had an HDD issue, but his MBP just had liquid damage before he brought it in. Because of the liquid they wouldn't replace the HDD so I did it for him and it is running fine now. The Apple store wanted $1300 to replace all the internals.

The screen might be worth something, the RAM worth a little, and the HDD should be fine as well...the rest probably not. Maybe the casing itself could be useful to someone who damaged theirs, but it would take a while to sell.

It really depends on the specs of the machine - what kind of display, HDD size, amount of RAM, etc.
 
Anyone that tells you it's not worth much more than $100 doesn't know what they're talking about.

I sold a water damaged 2011 MacBook Pro for $450 on Ebay and the thing wouldn't respond at all to the power button, keyboard lights wouldn't come on at all.

I didn't even include the charger or a working DVD drive.

A water damaged MacBook on Ebay is worth at least $250-300 because someone out there hoards MacBook parts and puts your busted MacBook's good screen, good DVD drive, good ram and good hard drive, into a MacBook with a busted screen, busted DVD drive, etc and then sells a fully working MacBook Pro for $700.

Other people found out about this, like me, and started doing it for money. Thus, the demand went up for broken MacBooks and hence broken MacBooks sell on Ebay.
 
MacShawn said:
I posted on here quite some time ago about this issue and got no answers so I am posting my question again in hopes of getting some help from this community.

My original post was as follows:

"Recently my sister took our MacBook Pro into the kitchen and set it down on the stove, then proceeded to spill water all over the right side of the keyboard. Needless to say, it's fried.

My mother, my sister, and I went down to BestBuy today to see about getting it fixed and they said it'd be cheaper to buy a new one.

I was wondering, will we be able to sell it for scraps or parts?

I'm not sure what's still working on it. It doesn't turn on anymore though. The screen is fine. Untouched. The backlights on the right side of the keyboard aren't completely out, they're just really dim... Well, were dim when it would turn on right after it happened.

When my mom found out I told her not to turn it on, but she did anyway. So at first it powered up and looked fine, but the keyboard didn't work at all. Then she shut it down, powered it back up, and there was the *dun* noise that it makes when you press a key that doesn't work (if that makes sense) but it was over and over again without any stop in between. She then turned it of and on one more time, this time the power button didn't work to turn it off again so we had to let it die.

I just told you this because I am hoping it may give you an idea of what's broken inside, and therefore how much it may be worth.

We would like to sell it to put the money towards a new Mac.

So where could I put it up for sale, and what might be a good price?

Thanks for all your help in advance.

-Shawn"

We still haven't done anything with it because we are not sure the best course of action. I checked Gazelle and all they offered was $100. I know it's damaged so I'm not going to get too much out of it but I feel like I should get more out of it than that. Is that about as good as it's going to get? Or could I sell it for scrap somewhere else and get more money?

What would you guys do? What's my best option to get as much money out of this to go towards a new MacBook Pro?

Thanks,
Shawn
Click to expand...

You should have listened to your mom. Why in the world would you not do that?

99% of electronics that have had water spilled on them can be saved by simply turning them off and leaving them in a bowl of rice for a day or two. The rice soaks up the water which evaporates away safely. By turning it on you activate all the circuits which are now carrying an electrical charge. The water shorts the circuits and blows everything out.

It's like soaking a house in gasoline and instead of cleaning up the gas you light a match.

Anyways, agreed, eBay is your best bet, you'll get around 30% of it's value.
 
Essenar said:
Anyone that tells you it's not worth much more than $100 doesn't know what they're talking about.

I sold a water damaged 2011 MacBook Pro for $450 on Ebay and the thing wouldn't respond at all to the power button, keyboard lights wouldn't come on at all.

I didn't even include the charger or a working DVD drive.

A water damaged MacBook on Ebay is worth at least $250-300 because someone out there hoards MacBook parts and puts your busted MacBook's good screen, good DVD drive, good ram and good hard drive, into a MacBook with a busted screen, busted DVD drive, etc and then sells a fully working MacBook Pro for $700.

Other people found out about this, like me, and started doing it for money. Thus, the demand went up for broken MacBooks and hence broken MacBooks sell on Ebay.
Click to expand...

Do this
 
so lets say i have a macbook that only needs a logic board, would it be smart to try to find a broken mbp to replace the part?? it was submerged in water for like 4 minutes but everything other than the cd drive works fine. randomly shuts off so im assuming its the logic board. get a sensor error during apple hardware test.
 
I would take Essenar's advise. Take good pics and write a keyword rich description. Put it on a eBay 7 day no reserve auction Sunday evening. Let the market decide what its worth...you may be pleasantly surprised. Good luck!
 
mobi said:
Put it on a eBay 7 day no reserve auction Sunday evening. Let the market decide what its worth...you may be pleasantly surprised. Good luck!
Click to expand...

If you're going to go the FleBay route, I would not exactly do it this way. MacBooks of any stripe are prime magnets for scammers who use and abuse FleBay's buyer protection. If you have little or no feedback, you have an especially big target on your back.

To minimize the risk as much as possible, list the item in a Buy It Now format, making sure to check the box for immediate payment required. This effectively eliminates non-paying bidders, which will save you time, money, and frustration. Make sure you set your preferences for shipping countries. In this instance, I would block all countries except for the USA or whatever your home country is. You'll need to scour every part of the listing wizard because sometimes these settings are hidden.

Go into your PayPal account and set your payment receiving preferences to block payments in a currency you do not hold, block multiple payments per invoice ID, payments from non-US PayPal accounts, and student accounts. This way, if an international buyer happens to break through the block you set on FleBay, they will not be able to pay you unless they have a US account.

When the buyer has "won" and paid for the item, make sure you ship only to the address listed on the PayPal invoice. DO NOT agree to any requests to ship elsewhere. If the buyers wants it sent to a different address, refund their money and tell them to update their PayPal account with the correct address. Confirmed or unconfirmed does not matter any longer on FleBay.

When shipping, my personal preference is to use UPS or FedEx for expensive items. Make sure you purchase insurance commiserate with the value of the item. If the price is more than $250, you will need to purchase the extra service where an adult must sign for the package. This is absolutely necessary if the buyer wants to scam you with an item not received claim. The tracking must be viewable online, and for an item more than $250, the signature must be viewable as well.

Now if you get someone who really knows the system, there's not going to be much you can do to avoid being scammed. But by taking the precautions I listed, you should be protected from most beginner/casual thieves.

Good luck.

Edit: Forgot to add another pointer regarding shipping. If you do use FedEx or UPS, if the buyer asks you to use their own shipping account number, do not do it. By shipping this way, the recipient can order the package to be re-routed to a different location, then claim the item was not received. It won't matter that you had the correct address on the label and so forth.
 
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saturnotaku said:
Edit: Forgot to add another pointer regarding shipping. If you do use FedEx or UPS, if the buyer asks you to use their own shipping account number, do not do it. By shipping this way, the recipient can order the package to be re-routed to a different location, then claim the item was not received. It won't matter that you had the correct address on the label and so forth.
Click to expand...

This is really good advise, this will help eBay newbies. Scammers suck!
 
I sold my Retina display 13'' MacBook Pro i-5 2015 256GB SSD for $350 on ebay. It was water damaged and would not start also the retina screen has water in it.


MacShawn said:
I posted on here quite some time ago about this issue and got no answers so I am posting my question again in hopes of getting some help from this community.

My original post was as follows:

"Recently my sister took our MacBook Pro into the kitchen and set it down on the stove, then proceeded to spill water all over the right side of the keyboard. Needless to say, it's fried.

My mother, my sister, and I went down to BestBuy today to see about getting it fixed and they said it'd be cheaper to buy a new one.

I was wondering, will we be able to sell it for scraps or parts?

I'm not sure what's still working on it. It doesn't turn on anymore though. The screen is fine. Untouched. The backlights on the right side of the keyboard aren't completely out, they're just really dim... Well, were dim when it would turn on right after it happened.

When my mom found out I told her not to turn it on, but she did anyway. So at first it powered up and looked fine, but the keyboard didn't work at all. Then she shut it down, powered it back up, and there was the *dun* noise that it makes when you press a key that doesn't work (if that makes sense) but it was over and over again without any stop in between. She then turned it of and on one more time, this time the power button didn't work to turn it off again so we had to let it die.

I just told you this because I am hoping it may give you an idea of what's broken inside, and therefore how much it may be worth.

We would like to sell it to put the money towards a new Mac.

So where could I put it up for sale, and what might be a good price?

Thanks for all your help in advance.

-Shawn"

We still haven't done anything with it because we are not sure the best course of action. I checked Gazelle and all they offered was $100. I know it's damaged so I'm not going to get too much out of it but I feel like I should get more out of it than that. Is that about as good as it's going to get? Or could I sell it for scrap somewhere else and get more money?

What would you guys do? What's my best option to get as much money out of this to go towards a new MacBook Pro?

Thanks,
Shawn
Click to expand...
 
Sellbroke pays the most of all websites that I was able to check. Gazele doesn't compare as they don't list any defects plus their offers are very low
 
I have the following machine that's been warped somehow - one of the bottom screws fell out and it's been sitting in a closet for about a year (I got a newer laptop for work and personal use and forgot about it). Would you recommend that I sell it on eBay? At what price? The computer powers on and the OS loads, it just looks terrible. No screen damage, just warped bottom case and track pad does not work. Thanks!

- 2010 MacBook Pro 15.4"
- 2.4Ghz core i-5
- 8GB Ram
- Upgraded to 500GB SSD

Essenar said:
Anyone that tells you it's not worth much more than $100 doesn't know what they're talking about.

I sold a water damaged 2011 MacBook Pro for $450 on Ebay and the thing wouldn't respond at all to the power button, keyboard lights wouldn't come on at all.

I didn't even include the charger or a working DVD drive.

A water damaged MacBook on Ebay is worth at least $250-300 because someone out there hoards MacBook parts and puts your busted MacBook's good screen, good DVD drive, good ram and good hard drive, into a MacBook with a busted screen, busted DVD drive, etc and then sells a fully working MacBook Pro for $700.

Other people found out about this, like me, and started doing it for money. Thus, the demand went up for broken MacBooks and hence broken MacBooks sell on Ebay.
Click to expand...
 

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You want to fix mine too?!? Lol.

I have a MacBook Air Early 2013 and it looks brand spankin' new. I kept it in my briefcase or on my desk at work at ALL times, so I was shocked when the Apple store told me it had liquid damage. They wanted $800 to fix it, but I know there has to be a cheaper way!!!! Are there other places not owned by Apple that could possibly fix it for me for far less than $800? Any advice is appreciated!!! It still had Apple Care until December 2017 and of course, the "corrosion" voided it, even though the photo they showed me of the "corrosion" looked much different than what my laptop looked like when we opened it up at my office!!!


jclardy said:
My roommate had an HDD issue, but his MBP just had liquid damage before he brought it in. Because of the liquid they wouldn't replace the HDD so I did it for him and it is running fine now. The Apple store wanted $1300 to replace all the internals.

The screen might be worth something, the RAM worth a little, and the HDD should be fine as well...the rest probably not. Maybe the casing itself could be useful to someone who damaged theirs, but it would take a while to sell.

It really depends on the specs of the machine - what kind of display, HDD size, amount of RAM, etc.
Click to expand...
 
banannieannie123 said:
I have the following machine that's been warped somehow - one of the bottom screws fell out and it's been sitting in a closet for about a year (I got a newer laptop for work and personal use and forgot about it). Would you recommend that I sell it on eBay? At what price? The computer powers on and the OS loads, it just looks terrible. No screen damage, just warped bottom case and track pad does not work. Thanks!

- 2010 MacBook Pro 15.4"
- 2.4Ghz core i-5
- 8GB Ram
- Upgraded to 500GB SSD
Click to expand...

Selling it yourself will almost always yield the most amount of money. If you choose to sell to a third party I would get a few quotes as some of them give very low ball quotes. I've had somewhat luck selling my macbook on gazelle for newer computers, but for older ones (2010 mbp) they offered less than $50 if I remember correctly. From memory Gazelle.com was best for very new computers, sellmymac.com was average, and macbookmoney.com (apparently they don't exist anymore and are now called beaglebrain.com, haven't done a quote on it?) gave the most out, but still less than selling it myself on ebay. On ebay I was able to sell it for $150 broken, but this was a few years back. Good luck!
 
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