Guide to pricing/selling your Z1

Pardon me for sounding like a know-it-all and for this god-awfully long post, but i have bought and sold a number of these over the past 9 months and tend to keep tabs on market values, swooping up great deals for friends, colleagues and occasionally for resale. This guide, IMO, is the best way (short of listing and seeing what happens!) of determining the current value of your Z1.

First the bad news: lately prices on eBay would put your models (uness they have features you have not described) at closer to $1,000. But read on, there's lots more to consider.

First, search eBay for "Sony Vaio Z" (no quotes) to see what's for sale and at what price. Then do an advanced search (to right of search bar) and check the box entitled "completed listings." (Try this link ) That will show you what comparable Zs have recently sold for, as opposed to what they are presently listed for. Take heed not only of those that did sell (prices are shown in green) but in the ones that had listings end without selling (prices shown in red). If the majority are in red, and they are perfectly good specimens from sellers with high ratings, you must consider that the market may be soft at present. Sometimes it's best to hold off and wait for a temporary glut to work its way out. Stale listings are not good for getting a high price.

The market for used Z's can be quite volatile, particularly dependent on whether there are refurbs at the Sony Outlet (more desirable than used on eBay) and how they're priced, but also the inventory of items presently for sale on eBay. Presently there are NONE in the Sony outlet, so this may be a good time to sell - though there is what I consider a bit of a glut on eBay right now. The last time there were quite a few refurb Z1s on the Sony Outlet, you could buy a 256GB SSD, 1080p, Core i7 for $1,500 or so, and they came with a 30 day refund, 90 day warranty and the ability to purchase an extended Sony wtty (a mixed blessing at best IMO, but people value it, especially in a "used" model.)

All the above considered, your model as described is, sorry to say, about the least valuable - still very desirable, but less so than others with more options. It appears to be a base model - no extras - and a Z11 (oldest) at that. Desirable options (with rough estimates of added value - using $1,000 as the base) include:

1) At least 256 GB SSD - add $150-$200 for 256, $300 for 512
2) 1080p screen - add $100 - $200 (even though it was a free upgrade for much of the model run!)
3) Core i7 or newer Core i5 - add $50 - $100
4) WWAN - add $50, but might tip the scales to yours vs one without it
5) Excellent condition, verified with very sharp photos - $100, or $150-$200 if CF, but you pretty much have to have skinned it at "birth" to keep the black or CF finishes pristine
6) Blu ray drive - tough one; it was over $500 option when new, but not in high demand, figure $150+ price add-on, but will bolster the overall price and quicken the sale among those who seek it, because so few are in circulation.
7) Remainder of wtty, especially ADH, and preferably more than a few months (figure $150/yr left w/ADH, adjust up/down for diff. combos
8) Z12 or Z13, though there is no rational reason, other than them being a little newer - maybe $50, unless buyer has to have TPM (not avail except on 13)

Don't be discouraged. $1,000 is good money for any 2 year old laptop! (BTW, if you don't already have 8GB RAM, I would recommend adding it ($30 or so) because, although the machine probably won't benefit and most people know how cheap it is to do, it is a very cheap way to make yours seem a bit "deluxe.")

I would definitely list it on NBR as well. It's free, and you'll get an indication of demand. Also, if you have an ad up in the NBR Marketplace, you are permitted to have a link to it in your sig line, so every time you post, you're advertising! You can't post for the sole sake of advertising, or the mods will take you down. Caveat: unless you're selling an Alienware or offering a steal of a deal, selling on NBR is ssllooowww, so have patience.

Good luck!

 

sorry if this was an obvious question, but which section in NBR do we post a listing for selling out vaio z? and also, would you be able to give me a quote on how much my Z should sell for? VPCZ1: 6GB Ram, i7 processor, 250gb ssd

 

You can list your notebook for sale in the "NBR MarketPlace -> Notebooks and Desktops for Sale" section.

Good luck.

 

Assuming everything else is stock (screen, no WWAN, no wtty left, 900p screen...I would have said $1,300 except for this http://store.onsale.com/p/product~dp...SE#pdpOverview

EDIT: That link is dead now; it advertised a Z13, i7, 256GB for around $1,100. It was an anomaly, a.k.a. "great deal." I stand by my estimate of $1,300-$1,400 for a used Z13 with i7, 256GB source: eBay recent sales. Z1 resale prices took a big dive a couple of months ago when the Sony Outlet had a sale and you could get a refurb as described above for around $1,200 with a 20% off coupon. But since then the Sony Outlet has no Z1s and the used prices seem to have again firmed up on eBay. That said, it is now quite possible to find a new or slightly used Z2 with 128GB SSD for around $1,500, and that creates something of a ceiling on z1 resale prices, though I believe a new/open box Z1 with better specs than the base Z2 (except that it has gen1 cpu and SATA SSD) can and does sell for more than the Z2. It's not what I would call an efficient market, so both great buys and unfortunate overpricing are in the mix. Caveat emptor!

 

I like how this coincides with my thread where I screwed myself, parting my old one out

 

lovelaptops,

Good information, but I can't imagine making market price info a sticky when the market fluctuates with as much frequency as it does.

The bit about checking both current offerings on eBay as well as completed listings, however, is something that everyone who spends any amount of time on eBay should be familiar with.

AFAIK, the Sony Outlet hasn't had Zs for sale for some time now. When was the last you saw listings up there?

 

Good point about the need to update pricing, but I think all that changes is the "base price," with all the additions for the accessories staying the same. I did see quite a few units in the Outlet about a month ago - but there are none now. I was lucky and found two "open box" brand new, and fully wttd., one black Z13's - i7/256GB/WWAN; one a standard retail config:black, i5-460, 128gb. You just have to keep your eyes peeled.

 

For the price of used Z11-Z13 Notebook (1100-1200 USD) you can buy a Brand-New Asus Zenbook UX31 or Toshiba Portege Z830 (i5 and 256 SSD) ultrabook.

So, personally I prefer a new notebook instead of a two-year used Sony.

I really like Z series but they are very expensive for most of us.

 

Your points are well taken, but I think there are many Z owners who would take the slightly used/sony refurbed/open box Z1 over these "ultrabooks" becuase none can approach the screen quality, speed of the SSDs, benfit of a still-credible discrete gpu, convenience of either an optical drive or a second HDD/SSD bay, flexibility of an ExpessCard slot...what did I miss?

In fact, I've posted a thread about a similar dilemma I'm facing http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/627507-new-thread-z1-vs-z2.html. All of my options cost more than those ultrabooks, yet after owning a trouble free and pleasureful Z1 for 9 months, it's hard to go elsewhere.

Still, many people only want brand new, current model product for their hard earned money and I toltally respect that. (I only buy used cars too!)

 

Thanks for the post! I've been thinking about letting my Z13 loose and going for the SE for the added screen real estate that I could use.

 

If you are going to spend at least $1K on a laptop, you get the most of that money with a used Z series. It completely blows away ultrabook competition in terms of performance, as ultrabooks are designed for max battery life and ultrathin size (with ULV processors, integrated graphics, and associated slowness). The Z series is the best out there to date, hitting the sweet spot on the intersecting lines of size, price and performance. And don't get me started about ultrabook bezel sizes and their 20 year old resolutions. In 2011, I don't want to be staring at a 13" 1366 x 768 screen with a 1/2" bezel when my digital media is mostly 1080p, nor do I want one window to eat up 85% of my usuable screen real estate.

 

I think the analogy is something like comparing a used, 2 year old BMW to a brand new Mazda Miata.

 

Exactly