7 Tips For Selling Your Laptop On eBay

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I've another article which I think would be useful in the 'Notebooks for Dummies' section of this forum. I have many tips I want to share with you guys, but I am not sure if I might violate forum rules. Let me know if posting this content is appropriate. If it is not, do let me know and I will stop. Thanks guys.


7 Tips For Selling Your Laptop On eBay

Are you trying to sell your laptop on eBay? Well, eBay is certainly a good channel to get some extra cash from your old laptop sale, but be warned - there are some scammers out there who might cheat you.

You need to be careful when you're selling your laptop - this article shows you some tips. In particular, you have to be careful of fraudulent bidders who scour eBay for the unwary and snatch their cash away.

1. Keep All Your Laptop Stuff
One great tip I have for selling laptops - make sure that you keep ALL the stuff found in the shipped laptop package when you first bought. You see, a buyer would certainly pay a bit more if the laptop has its original box, manuals, software, cables, etc. So make an effort to keep the original stuff with you - so when you finally sell your laptop, you have some good original stuff and 'extras' to offer the buyer.

2. Monitor The Auction's Close
One of the most important things to do when selling your laptop is to monitor the auction's close. In fact, this does not just apply to laptops, it applies to the sale of any kind of item you have.

The great majority of bids come in only within the last few minutes of an auction. What some scammers might do is to hijack an eBay user ID, then bid up the laptop as the auction is ending. You have to monitor your bidders towards the auction's close. Those with poor feedback scores or who have not been active in eBay for more than a year are very suspicious indeed.

3. PayPal Is Not A Guarantee
Some of you may live and breathe by PayPal when you sell your laptop on eBay. Now, PayPal is owned by eBay - and they offer a Seller Protection Policy (covering the selling for up to US$5000 per year on any transaction PayPal deems fraudulent. However, there is some fine print you need to take note of - PayPal only provides cover is the transaction meets some specific criteria (e.g. must be shipped to an 'eligible' address, proof of signature by recipient needed for sale items US$250 and above).

4. Check Out Escrow.com
One website that is very useful in selling your laptop on eBay is Escrow.com. What does it do? Well, Escrow.com is a third party that collects, holds and disburses funds according to buyer and seller instructions. These guys are licensed and regulated, and serve to protect both buyers and sellers. They act like a 'judge' in any transaction and ensure that all flows smoothly and fairly.

5. Hold On Before Shipping
One lesson I learnt in my eBay adventures (not just with laptops but other sale items) is to hold on a bit before shipping. Do not - repeat - do not ship your laptop to the buyer until at least one business day after a PayPal payment has been made into your account or a money order has cleared your bank. You don't want to send off the laptop only to discover the payment was fraudulent.

6. Communicate via eBay
Here's an important one - do your communication via eBay. eBay has its own built-in communications system and you should fully make use of it. By keeping transactions and communication within eBay, you have a solid and traceable record that will help investigations is you get scammed.

7. Wipe Out Your Hard Drive
Many people forget to do this after selling their laptop. Please, please please - remove all your personal information, credit card numbers, love notes and passwords from that hard drive on your laptop. There's a good video on ' How to Completely Erase a Hard Drive' out in the Internet that you should definitely watch.

 

Great tips - thanks for your write-up!

 

Wiping data is one of the most important things you can do.

I've purchased a few used PDAs, laptops and cell phones with sensitive information still in them. One PDA still had supplier phone numbers and company sensitive information on it when I received it.

Fortunately for them, I really don't care about the data and erased it. I am interested in the device itself for my own use.

 

I was given a computer before that had old tax receipts - full social security numbers address name numbers etc...i got so scared i could be held responsible if that info got out i ran a disk eraser on it and then physically destroyed the platter with my own hands by taking a grinder to it. Hard drives are cheap. I know people that also either sell them without a hard drive or sell them with a new hard drive to avoid any problem.

 

I once sold a laptop and realized later I forgot to wipe out hard drive data - it's not a good feeling. You need to wipe out EVERYTHING before letting the machine go. That goes for everything, not just laptops - your desktop at work, etc.

 

This is a great post. I thank you for taking the time to put this together for everyone.

 

Yes wipe all of your data dont be an idiot. I bought a dv8000 as is on ebay and the person left all their data on it everthing they didnt even try to remove any of it. Lucky for them i have better things to do then bother with it and wiped it clean.

 

Make sure you take plenty of pictures. Use Auctiva to help you list your auctions, that way you can avoid paying additional ebay fees for additional pictures.
Divide your listing into sub-headings: Description, Shipping, Payment, Returns/refunds so it makes it easier for buyers to read and follow

 

Ditto on the pictures. it's helped me for years!

 

Auctiva is an excellent support service for eBay. I found it very useful for selling all sorts of items on eBay.

 

Great tips you have here and yes, I also agree on the auctiva tip. Another thing one should do is research the current market price for the model and brand you're selling, as well as comparing it to your competitors' listings.

 

Great tips! Really helpful for sellign laptop on ebay. Thanks!

 

Also, make sure to clean up what your selling first! If the thing you are advertising is dirty, grimey, or just flat out nasty, nobody is going to want to buy it. Just take a mild cleaning agent, and wipe it down thoroughly. A clean product is a sold product.