Selling my Thinkpad - Questions

[Miller88]

I'm thinking that this fall will be the last semester (I'm in college) that I will be using my thinkpad. I would like to sell it around November. When I sell it, I'll use my dell for a few months and then after my winter break, I plan on buying something that is 14.1 or smaller.

I figure if I sell my thinkpad in the next 8 months I should be able to get $500 for it ... right?

Anyway - how do I go about selling a laptop ... not sure what site yet, but how do I package it and stuff?

Yes I know this sounds like a stupid question but I have no idea how to do this.

[ajkula66]

If you want the least amount of headache, don't worry about "sites", offer it at a reasonable price in the Marketplace here, and you're good to go.

As for packing: nice size box and a ton of bubble wrap. First layer around the machine itself, wrapped tightly a couple of times, and then taped. One layer on top, and one on the bottom of the box. Styrofoam in between top layer and the machine itself, and you can ship anywhere.

Just my $0.02...

[KristianJ]

Check out the Marketplace for examples of how to list your laptop, and to gauge the sort of prices that similar examples are being sold for. Usually the FS ads are very descriptive and excellent "templates" whereby you can replace the details in them with those of your laptop without too much hassle. I picked this example from syedj, who is selling a T60, to show you what sort of detail will help you. And I wholeheartedly agree with George - sell it here and don't toss some of your hard earned to eBay/PayPal.

When the time comes, you'll need to be as descriptive as possible of the condition, whether or not there's any warranty remaining, the model number (so that people can check with the Lenovo support site and verify the component details), and make sure to include pictures.

As for a price, it really depends on what the market will be like in 6 months - if you post the model number for us we may be able to value it in today's market but it'll be hard to predict what it will sell for come November.

Packaging wise, if you still have the original box, use that, but if not, make sure that you overprotect it and not skimp on anything such as bubblewrap.

HTH somewhat

[Miller88]

Definitely helped!

I think my model is 2007CTO (that's listed on the base). But I've upgraded the memory and hard drive.

[KristianJ]

Because it's a CTO (configure to order), you'll need to list each part eg. LCD size and resolution, CPU, RAM, HDD, graphics, wireless card, etc. as opposed to putting the model number into the support page and getting the details from there. Which you should be able to find out by the time you come to sell the laptop.

[mgo]

Anyway - how do I go about selling a laptop ... not sure what site yet, but how do I package it and stuff? .

Just take the machine to your local UPS store and have them pack it up. They will do a good job. Remove the battery and wrap it separately for inclusion in the box. The heavy battery could jostle in transit and damage the contacts if it's left in the machine.