Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

[PVarck31]

I have a laptop and most of the time it works great but every couple days it restarts to try to install updates and it takes an hour only to say updates cannot be installed then it goes back to normal.

I also keep getting a pop up saying activate windows and when I press it it goes away and everything goes back to normal. And to round it off I lost almost all my icons on my windows home screen.

I'm just fed up with dealing with it and want to sell it and get a smaller basic PC. This one is 17" and heavy as hell.

So do people buy these on eBay to fix them or am I prob ably wasting my time hoping.

Thanks.


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[Hooe]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

My gut reaction - I imagine you could sell it for a reasonable amount if you completely wiped the hard drive. One of my friends has bought computers which were basically just hardware that he had to install the operating system on, I imagine there are plenty of people like him out there.

[PVarck31]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

My gut reaction - I imagine you could sell it for a reasonable amount if you completely wiped the hard drive. One of my friends has bought computers which were basically just hardware that he had to install the operating system on, I imagine there are plenty of people like him out there.

Only problem is it won't let me wipe the hard drive. I tried to do it and it said it cant. So I'm not sure what to do. Any ideas?

[Phobia]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

3rd party system wipe program. Google them, use that to erase your hard disk. Most hard drive manufactures will house a wipe program to write zeros to the hard disk.

[PVarck31]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

3rd party system wipe program. Google them, use that to erase your hard disk. Most hard drive manufactures will house a wipe program to write zeros to the hard disk.

I tried do a reboot again and it said they reboot partition could not be found. I also tried a refresh and it said something was locked.

So I'm basically screwed it looks like.

[Redacted01]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

Like someone else said, you need a 3rd party application to reformat. Boot and Nuke is what I use to wipe computers. And then you're going to want to install the OS from scratch.

But you're not going to get much for it on eBay unless it's a near-new laptop or it's only around a year old or so and was top of the line when it came out, especially if you don't have an OS disk to install and are selling it with Linux or with nothing. If it's from 2013 or 2014, I'd say $50-$100 tops. Craigslist may be your better choice as your shipping costs probably won't be covered completely. There just isn't a market for older tech when the new stuff keeps getting cheaper.

[PVarck31]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

Like someone else said, you need a 3rd party application to reformat. Boot and Nuke is what I use to wipe computers. And then you're going to want to install the OS from scratch.

But you're not going to get much for it on eBay unless it's a near-new laptop or it's only around a year old or so and was top of the line when it came out, especially if you don't have an OS disk to install and are selling it with Linux or with nothing. If it's from 2013 or 2014, I'd say $50-$100 tops. Craigslist may be your better choice as your shipping costs probably won't be covered completely. There just isn't a market for older tech when the new stuff keeps getting cheaper.

I don't know how to do any of that lol.

Its a good computer about a year and half old I think. Its a Toshiba AMD10 8GB 1TB. Not sure how much that would go for now. I'm gonna take it up to a local repair shop and get a free estimate on it and go from there. If its more than $100 to fix I'll prob just sell it and get a new one.

[Cyros]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

I don't know how to do any of that lol.

Its a good computer about a year and half old I think. Its a Toshiba AMD10 8GB 1TB. Not sure how much that would go for now. I'm gonna take it up to a local repair shop and get a free estimate on it and go from there. If its more than $100 to fix I'll prob just sell it and get a new one.

You would have to install something like DBAN onto a flash/thumb drive and get your laptop to boot from the flash/thumb drive.

[p_rushing]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

If you want to get rid of it, see if the repair company wants it. They may give you $50 or something and have them wipe the drive for you.

[PVarck31]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

If you want to get rid of it, see if the repair company wants it. They may give you $50 or something and have them wipe the drive for you.

I'm not about to take $50 for a $700 PC I bought a year and a half ago.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but is that the going rates on PC's that price, that old?

[Redacted01]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

I'm not about to take $50 for a $700 PC I bought a year and a half ago.

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but is that the going rates on PC's that price, that old?

Computers are cars on steroids when it comes to depreciation. What cost $700 a year and a half ago you could probably get for around $500 today, if even that. Throw in that yours is used and at this point, does seem to have problems, $50-$100 is not unreasonable.

That's why I said try Craigslist. Staying local you'll be able to get more out of it, especially if wiping it and starting over does the trick. But getting a copy of Windows will go into your costs... You won't be able to sell it for much at all without a functioning OS.

[PVarck31]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

Computers are cars on steroids when it comes to depreciation. What cost $700 a year and a half ago you could probably get for around $500 today, if even that. Throw in that yours is used and at this point, does seem to have problems, $50-$100 is not unreasonable.

That's why I said try Craigslist. Staying local you'll be able to get more out of it, especially if wiping it and starting over does the trick. But getting a copy of Windows will go into your costs... You won't be able to sell it for much at all without a functioning OS.

Wow. I mean I'm pretty sure a clean restore will do the trick as I did it before and it fixed everything, it just won't let me do it this time. If I could find a way to restore it then I would expect a hell of a lot more than $50. It would for all intents and purposes be fully functional at that point.

I just hate dealing with craigslist. People are so shady on there. I had a guy just this week try to short me $20 on something. Maybe ebay would still work if I can get it back up and running again right. I mean I'm using it right now. Its not like its totally disabled that's what's weird about it. It just goes a little wonky sometimes and a few clicks and its back to normal.

I don't know man. This whole thing has me pretty upset.

[p_rushing]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

$700 is nothing for a laptop, it will hold little value, if it was $2,000 then you could sell it. It's on the verge of being too old, its used (so value could increase/decrease based on the condition), and you need to wipe/image it before selling it.

If it is a common laptop, you may get something for parts, but most likely unless you find some local that needs one, your looking at selling for a value low enough that it may not be worth it to try and sell.

[PVarck31]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

$700 is nothing for a laptop, it will hold little value, if it was $2,000 then you could sell it. It's on the verge of being too old, its used (so value could increase/decrease based on the condition), and you need to wipe/image it before selling it.

If it is a common laptop, you may get something for parts, but most likely unless you find some local that needs one, your looking at selling for a value low enough that it may not be worth it to try and sell.

Somehow I just fixed it. I was able to do a complete restore. So now I think I'm gonna test the ebay waters.

[Redacted01]

Re: Is there a market for computers with issues on eBay?

The only problem with eBay is pricing is pretty optimal. p_rushing mentioned something about common vs. uncommon. I'd see what others are trying to sell it for on eBay, and then sell for less because if those still out there, they aren't selling at that price. People won't pay more for something on eBay, especially a common used laptop because they can find another one up a few minutes later. And the longer it sits out there at a higher price, the less you'll get because it'll continue losing value.