I need to sell my laptop! Maybe I’m planning to buy the latest laptop in the market and do away with my old one. Perhaps a loved one who knows about my love for gadgets like laptops has surprised me with a super-fast, sleek and powerful laptop on my birthday. So now that I have a better laptop computer, I need to sell my old laptop or give it away.

I could donate it to a recycling center, but if it is in a workable condition, I think I would like to at least make a few bucks on it? So if I have decided to sell my laptop, there are several ways I can sell it, but there is something I need to do before I try to sell it.

Things to Take Care of Before You Sell

Assess

Realistically, I need to assess the condition of my old laptop. Is it broken in any way or is there a major issue with it like a broken/cracked screen or bad display? Are some of the keys missing or not functioning? Does it have charging issues?

I need to approach the sale as if I was buying my laptop. If I was buying my laptop, I would not want it to have problems that I’m going to have to fix unless the price being asked supports the repairs. Most buyers do not want to have to invest time and money in a laptop they just bought.

If my laptop has problems, I could fix them to make the laptop more valuable. If I’m not handy, I will have to pay a computer expert to do the repairs. Either way, fixing the issues may not be worth it if I have to spend more to repair the laptop than you expect to get from selling it.

Sell, Donate, or Recycle

If my laptop is too far gone to be an easy sell, I may want to consider donating it to charity or recycling it. At the very least, I don’t want to throw it away. All used laptops have value to someone.

Prepare Your Laptop for Sale

Your buyer will also expect my laptop to reach him/her in a certain way – it should be clean, free from my personal data (back it up), and not have missing accessories like its charger, instruction manual and so on.

When I advertise it, I should be able to provide potential buyers with all the laptop’s specifications being certain to highlight any major benefits like special software or additional hardware that I am going to include in the sale.

It goes without saying, but my laptop also needs to be free from viruses or malware.

Demand

I also need to consider the demand for my laptop in the market. Is a newer, better, more affordable version of the laptop available in the market presently? Is the laptop running on an outdated technology? Is the device popular? Also consider the product life cycle – if the company made my laptop is likely to launch a new model soon, I may not attract a lot of buyers.

Gaming laptops are wildly popular. If I have a gaming laptop to sell, I can expect higher demand. Touch screen laptops are also in demand. If I have a touch screen laptop, it will bring a higher price.

Sell Your Laptop Today

I need to sell my laptop today. There are a number of effective options for me to explore.

Inform Friends and Family

I need to let my friends and family know immediately that I am looking for a buyer for my laptop computer. My family members will gladly help me find buyers, and I may not have to spend extra on the whole process.

Use Social Media

These are the times when social media accounts prove helpful. I need to mention the sale on my social media accounts, informing everyone about the laptop brand, model and specs. I also need to add a picture of the laptop (make sure it is a current photograph). Mentioning the approximate price of the laptop is also suggested.

eBay and Craigslist

I have both eBay and Craigslist accounts and I have sold many items on these websites before. This enhances my credibility and I am likely to get more buyers due to the ‘credibility factor’. Even so, it is likely that I will have to set up a few meetings before making a deal. It’s my experience that a lot of people sell PC laptops on both eBay and Craigslist.

Trade In or Sell Online

Another option is to trade in my laptop. This involves selling the laptop to a trade-in website at a relatively lower cost than my expected price. The advantage is that it’s fast and I will save myself from the whole process of making a sale myself.

Certain sites like Amazon Trade-In may offer me Amazon gift cards or coupons in lieu of cash. The same is the case with Apple. If my laptop is a MacBook for instance, Apple will offer me a gift card based on what they consider to be the current value of my device.

Among the most popular websites to sell used laptop computers (apart from the ones mentioned above) are Gazelle, Nextworth and Best Buy Trade-In.

Finally, before I ship my laptop, I need to make sure I’m aware of the policies of the website. If I plan to meet the buyer personally, from a sale on Craigslist for instance, I need to follow Craigslist recommendations and not hand over the laptop unless I get the complete selling price that was negotiated.

If you have a plan and you use the information in this article, you should be able to sell your laptop fast. I needed to sell my laptop fast and I used this information to help me.