Laptop Appraisel Wanted

[Enkidu]

I'm selling this laptop (I'm going to try selling it locally now) and I'm looking for an appraisel. Its a 2.4 ghz Pentium 4 M, 32mb Radeon 7500 video card (dedicated), 256 MB of ram (one stick, 2 slots in the laptop) 15.1 inch XGA TFT display, 40 gig HD, Dell Inspiron 5100. Paid 2400 Canadian for it back in June. Any help is appreciated, thanks. It has a Combo drive with CD burner and DVD player as well.

[nobbie]

One of the hardest things to do is estimate the value of used high-tech equipment. So many factors come into play here. Condition. Obsolescence. Features. Availability. Just to name a few.

Here is how I figure out the market value of my used equipment:

eBay. Yup. eBay. Go there and do a simple search for your item. See what they are going for. Better yet, click on the "completed items" link and then sort the results by "newly listed". This will place at the top the winning bid values for the most recent auctions. This should give you an idea of what your laptop is going for on the used market. You can then use that as a "bargaining tool" with your local market. You know how like people selling used cars will say, "offered for less than 'Blue Book'!" That kind of marketing approach can help you. "Offered for less than current eBay bids!"

Other things you need to check are what your particular laptop is going for brand new. This is really important. Since it is older, it probably is being blown out by the manufacturer. Or, worse yet, there are refurbs being sold for next to nothing. Price searchs on cnet.com, mysimon, etc should help.

I know this didn't answer your query directly, but it should help you get the best answer you're looking for.

Good luck,

Nobbie[]

[Enkidu]

Much thanks, I'm ashamed I didn't think of doing that before :-)

[nobbie]

[] Hey, don't be ashamed. We all forget the angles sometimes. Like, I always forget to show my AAA card at Sportmart/Gart Sport stores for my $10 off $50 or more purchase! I beat myself up every time I "throw away" $10 like that!

Good luck and keep us posted on how you fare. Also, don't forget to post your laptop for sale here (with an asking price, of course) when you're ready to sell.

Cheers!

Nobbie[]

[m3]

Hi Enkidu,

Nobbie's counsel is right on and applies to all would-be individual sellers of notebooks. Remember that you have to throw out the price you paid. You can only consider the price for which Dell is selling your machine.

In your specific case, there's good news. Dell still sells a 5100 with your notebook's particular stats (with the exception of the CPU, which is now a P4 2.8) for over 1000 USD/1400 Can. In the U.S., the lowest-priced P4s, mainly HP notebooks, can be had for 800-900 USD. And used but respectable P4s on Ebay, which usually has the best prices, don't seem to go for less than 700 USD. There are tons of used and OLD (2-4 years) PIII Dells and IBMs that go for at least 600 USD on Ebay. And they have just 30-day warranties! And worthless batteries.

Your comp is well-equipped, so you should pump the key features, the things people really want in a notebook: the 15.1-inch screen (big selling point), the combo drive, the dedicated video card, and the good-sized HD (not 30 or 20). Also make sure to let people know that you have a 5100, and not an 1100. That's important info for people who like Dells. In the U.S., I think you can get at least 600 USD/800 Canadian on Ebay. The ceiling's probably 800 USD/1000 Canadian (again, in the U.S. only).

I may be wrong, and correct me if I am, but I believe Canadian prices vis-a-vis notebooks are higher than those of the U.S. (even excluding the HST/TVH). So if you're selling locally, you should be able to get more money there in NB/Canada than in the U.S (also good news that you don't live in a big market, like GTA, Montreal, or Van - less competitive prices).

One more piece of advice, rather than say that you bought your machine in 6/2003, you should say that it's 8 months old. It sounds better; what do you think about that? Would it sound better to you, if you were a buyer?

Let me know your thoughts.