Marty asked: I've got a bunch of
name-brand computer hardware that's a little out of date, and I'm not using it
any more. Is there an easy way to sell this stuff? I don't have the patience to
deal with eBay selling--I've heard too many horror stories. Are there other,
simpler options?
I know everyone has different
experiences, but I had a terrible time selling things on eBay. I've had crooks
sign up for eBay at the last minute, bid the highest bid on a computer I was
trying to sell, and then expect me to send it to them even though they never
bought anything on eBay before.
Because they have no record of
buying on eBay, I’m not going to send them an expensive computer without
knowing anything about them. There are just too many ways to scam a seller. And
eBay is set up to protect buyers, not sellers.
I found selling on Amazon.com to be
the easiest way to get rid of slightly used name-brand computer products. Anyone can sign up for a vendor account on
Amazon and then sell anything that already has a page on Amazon.com.
This means you don't have to take
photos of things, and you don’t have to write up sales material and find out
all the specs of things you want to sell. All you need to do is list the
items. I have sold thousands of dollars
worth of slightly used stuff on Amazon.com.
I have even sold books, although it's hard to sell books because people
sell them for almost no profit at all.
(Selling books works best for technical books, or for
specialty/art/antique books. Best-sellers have no resale value on Amazon.com.)
You can also be brave and try
Craigslist (http://www.craigslist.com)--my
brother has had good success selling everything from used batteries to old
reel-to-reel tapes on Craigslist. One big caveat: selling on Craigslist
requires 3D contact with the buyer, and you have to arrange for the sale to
take place in a public, safe place. Because there are no real protections in
place when selling via Craigslist, you must be careful about where and how you
transact the sale. You’l find more information about safe Craigslist sales
online, and in some cases, it’s really the best way to move used equipment.
Of course, I would be remiss were I
not to mention our local Swap Shap program on KNCO (http://swapshop.knco.com/). You may find
this the simplest way to sell used equipment, although it does limit you to a
local audience.
No comments:
Post a Comment