How to BUY and SELL Computers on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and eBay
How to BUY and SELL Computers on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and eBay
2018-06-20
hey what's going on everyone another
how-to video here and we're gonna talk
about buying and selling pcs on a used
market site like Craigslist or Facebook
marketplace let go what have you all the
sites are great for buying and selling
it used PCs PC components in this video
I'm going to hopefully make you feel a
little more comfortable about either
buying or selling
I have points for both buyers and
sellers on here and I also have a couple
tips for both buyers and sellers to end
the video so if you learn something
that's great if you don't maybe just a
refresher to make it a little more
comfortable about the process that's
what this video essentially seeks to do
so we're gonna start first with sellers
and then move on to buyers
now full disclosure upfront I have been
buying and selling pieces in Craigslist
for several years now I do dabble an
eBay every now and then but I prefer
Craigslist cuz it's personal I don't
recommend you deal online on Craigslist
without meeting a person in person so if
you want to ship a product to somebody
who lives in a totally different state
and just kind of wing it with Craigslist
I don't recommend you do that there's no
buyer seller protection like there is on
eBay so it's just kind of you know walk
in the draw whoever you deal with on the
buyer or seller side so yeah stick to
sites like eBay for that but Craigslist
is more personal they contested
components you know it's all good fair
trade and I get to meet a lot of cool
people who want and share the same
passions that I do in the industry so
it's a good experience I recommend you
do it if you want to dabble in kind of
thing but it's actually how I finance a
channel again because I was basically
buying parts myself with my own money
and then cycling that money through
inventory I'm building with those parts
reviewing those parts selling those
parts or full-on builds with the parts
that I purchased and then taking that
money again throwing it back into new
inventory and I was especially useful
when I didn't have company contacts
basically companies now send me pretty
much whatever I want as long as it's not
really really expensive I don't have to
pay anything for it now I don't sell
those components on the market I find
that to be really distasteful and
unethical there's nothing saying that we
can't do that but it's just not a good
practice it just I don't know it just
casts a really dim light on a channel
like this so we don't do it here now if
we do Pacelle anything it's something
that we bought out of our own pocket
and that's pretty much where it stays so
I've got experience in this in this
realm I guess you should say and that's
why I feel comfortable making this video
I have a whole I read playlist that's
basically littered with Craigslist
videos because I feel comfortable enough
labeling you know certain products with
certain prices we'll talk about pricing
strategies in a second so disclaimer out
of the way we're going to start with
selling tips and a point one is to price
your PC at a slightly higher value than
the lowest price at which you'd be
willing to part with your build or
component now what I mean by that is
this if you have a product let's say
that's worth five hundred bucks in your
mind and you wouldn't take a single dime
less than five hundred bucks you
shouldn't just throw it up on Craigslist
four or five hundred dollars people are
gonna haggle with you look buyers want
to buy the product at the lowest price
possible sellers want to sell the
product at the highest price possible so
you gotta find the middle ground that's
what
bargaining is for it's a beautiful thing
and I really I really don't want you
guys to get the wrong impression here
but I'm gonna be pretty cutthroat and
and ruthless on both sides here look the
seller should never price something at
the lowest price possible always ask
more than you think your products are
worth base price right so if you have a
gtx 1070 let's say and you see that on
ebay and other sites those are going for
between 400 and 500 dollars and you know
graphics for a market where prices are
pretty inflated right now that would
make enough sense at least to it maybe
entertained some buyers it would not
make any sense at all to price the card
at 300 bucks unless you want like an
instant sale because you could get so
much more money out of that card you
want to be as greedy as possible your
seller right you want to get as much
money as possible that is perfectly
normal
okay it's it's not a sin to want more
money for a product if you can get it
from somebody it's not like you're
taking advantage of anybody the buyer is
agreeing out of his or her own free will
to purchase a product at that price
you're not manipulating anybody it's a
fair transaction and that's why the
seller should price a component higher
than the minimum value that that person
will be willing to take for the product
because you might be able to get more
money for it there's nothing wrong with
that the buyer sees value in that price
you've labeled it at and boom you've
made a few extra bucks go and buy
something else contribute to society in
some other way now the second tip for
sellers is cash is king do not trust any
buyer who says that he will send you
money via PayPal or Western Union which
is the classic Craigslist scam if you've
tried to sell anything on Craig's you
know the Western Union scam don't fall
for that garbage don't fall for any
email that just seems super fishy out of
the ordinary only trust people who are
willing to meet you in person in a
public place and who are willing to pay
you in cash don't trust checks because
they can cancel checks and don't heed
don't dabble with I wouldn't dabble with
anything other than cash personally I
wouldn't do cashier's checks bank notes
I just wouldn't touch it because there
are usually ways to get around those you
know you can cancel checks while they're
in the transition phase right of being
processed
maybe someone writes you a check and
they don't have any money in their
checking account then you're stuck
paying the bouncing fee you know so
sticking with real cash check it in the
sunlight if you want make sure it's real
if it's USD you guys
what to look for in the big Bill's and
that's it you're gonna have the peace of
mind that you have real cash for your
real product and you don't have any fear
of being conned by somebody who doesn't
actually have money in his or her
account or by somebody who is literally
trying to steal the product from you tip
3 for sellers don't be an asshole I'm
being 100% dead serious about this don't
be this guy right here okay don't be him
don't try to bully people into buying
your product at whatever you think the
price of the product is or products for
selling a whole bundle of items it's
just not it's just distasteful you're
gonna turn off buyers you're not gonna
make a sale any if you do it I don't
know I mean I really hope nobody buys
what you're trying to sell them if
you're willing to be an asshole look
there are plenty of fish in the sea
buyers have the power of choice you have
more than one product usually on a used
market to choose from and if one seller
is being an asshole move on to the next
guy who's gonna be more than happy to
sell you a product at said price it's
just not worth your time to deal with
people who want to give you crap just
because they don't agree with either
your initial offer or your preference
for a PC build now moving on to buying
tips we have three of those for you guys
as well starting with the first tip
price of the parts of a PC building
question individually so I expect the
seller will have a breakdown at every
part included in the build you can use
that to your advantage you can go on the
used market elsewhere eBay other
craigslist ads and you can break down
those used price offers just kind of see
what the use market is for that
component in question and then you can
compare it to the new market for the
same products and you can do a little
Delta comparison right so if a new PC is
selling for twenty five hundred dollars
and someone on the US market is selling
it for 2,300 dollars you have to ask
yourself if the extra two hundred
dollars spent on the new build justifies
the added peace of mind having a new PC
build versus trusting someone who built
it you know maybe six months ago it's
basically a tug of war between spending
more money and not having as much risk
versus spending less money and having
more risk and the degree of risk there
depends ultimately on the Builder and
just how stressed the components were
for however long the PC has been in
existence that right how long it's been
built and used so what I try to do is
look at the seller and question
try to see if that person is familiar
with pcs in general I look at the
quality of the build cable management
all that's why Iowa cable management in
the Craigslist videos you guys sometimes
Harbor me for that likely web management
doesn't determine the price but for me
it does it determines for me the the
value and the care and the time taken to
build the PC in the first place and that
can affect a lot of things it can affect
thermals it can affect just you know the
overall aesthetic appeal of the build
and if your build looks good it's
probably gonna sell if it looks like
trash and it's probably not gonna sell
and that's just because people like
things that look pretty that's a natural
thing and that's why I recommend sellers
make their pcs look as good as possible
especially if you have the audacity to
ask outrageous prices for your builds on
sites like Craigslist and that basically
covers tip to assess the quality of the
build you know try your best to get as
personal familiar with the seller as
possible without getting weird try to
see if they're just kind of winging
these PC built if they've been doing it
for a long time that's always a good
sign there you know it's pretty routine
at this point then you know that they
probably did everything right they have
their fan curves and overclocks all
adjusted and accounted for and things
aren't running super hot right to the
point where you're questioning the
longevity of the component in question
now tip 3 is don't be afraid to lowball
and this is another area where I'm just
gonna say up front it's gonna sound
super weird and super harsh to you when
you hear some of the things I'm gonna
say here but it is perfectly fine and
acceptable for a buyer to lowball a
seller it's there's nothing illegal
about it I don't think there's anything
ethically wrong about it because the
seller is putting a value on a product
and the buyer is putting the same value
on the product now the buyer could be
trying to rip off the seller but you
know what the seller could do the same
thing so in my view both the buyer and
the seller have equal power here because
it is again in a transaction of sorts
and both the buyer and seller have to
agree the buyer is just trying to
maximize his right saved money he's
trying to save as much money as possible
and so paying a product the seller is
trying to do the opposite trying to make
as much money and still get rid of the
product so those are the tips I have for
both buyers and sellers look you guys
might not agree with all of them you
might not agree with any of them frankly
but these are the ones that I operate by
whenever I'm buying or selling something
deal with cash make sure that you do
your due diligence as
if you're a buyer meeting the public
place try to get familiar with the
seller and and/or buyer as possible just
because you want to minimize the risk
you want to keep that peace of mind
elevated because trust me there's
nothing worse than getting scammed out
of something you spend a lot of money on
and it's very easy to to do it's very
easy to be scammed online especially if
you're not actually meeting the person
you're just receiving something via mail
we have this video right here to prove
that right with eBay but eBay a virus
protection with Craigslist you don't so
be especially careful there and look
don't be afraid to do it you know if
you're of age and you think that you can
trust yourself and your own instincts
and your own investigation processes
then just start small work your way up
get familiar with the market the used
pcs use components and I guarantee you
you'll have a fun time all right Greg
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