Just built sweet gaming computer... having to sell it for college :( need advice

[iasus]

I just found out I'm gonna have to take a few classes over summer since I'm doing my internship next semester. The shitty part is that financial aid doesn't cover summer classes and they're 300bucks a credit hour($900 a class). So I'm selling my computer I just built. here are the specs. It cost me $1300 to build it 2 months ago. I'm curious if anyone has done this before and what the best way(craigslist, ebay, etc) to sell it is and at what price. It's in perfect condition and barely used. Also, if anyone on here is interested in buying it... we can discuss that in private chat.
Thanks for any advice!

- COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

- ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

- XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

- CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...

- Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930

- CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TR3X6G1600C9

- SAMSUNG DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223L LightScribe Support – OEM

- COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible V8 RR-UV8-XBU1-GP 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler

[Japan]

$300 a credit? enjoy your community college degree bro

i wouldn't recommend selling your computer, you're gonna have lots of time to use it while you're collecting unemployment

[Rogean]

Hard Drive?

[Hasbinbad]

$300 a credit? enjoy your community college degree bro

i wouldn't recommend selling your computer, you're gonna have lots of time to use it while you're collecting unemployment
Probably state college, community colleges are much cheaper.
You Ivy League then, Japan? Upper crust?

[Japan]

not upper crust. More like enslaved by debt if i flunk out.

[Hurley]

You like anime bro, you'll be socially golden when you enter the workforce.

[Japan]

Anime is better than any entertainment gaijin scum have ever invented

[Taluvill]

Just my 2bits: Craiglist is for hagglers. Don't expect more than the 900$ for the PC if you sell it on there, but others don't buy their items on ebay because of the shipping (chance to damage PC items)

So Idk what to tell you. sorry. I would imagine Ebay would be best.

[Ishio]

Just my 2bits: Craiglist is for hagglers. Don't expect more than the 900$ for the PC if you sell it on there, but others don't buy their items on ebay because of the shipping (chance to damage PC items)

So Idk what to tell you. sorry. I would imagine Ebay would be best.

You can try eBay, but as Taluvil said, you would probably want to secure the buyer with either insurance or local pickup. Local pickup would lower your chance to find a seller. That's mainly because well, unless you live in a major city, the chances are slim someone is looking for a new gaming computer.

Craigslist is a hagglers dream, also a spammers dream too, so stay away from that if you can.

Only thing I can say is go to your grocery store and put up flyers. Maybe around your college, but I'm sure there is some way you can get school covered during summer so you can keep your school. Maybe talk to banks?

[Itchybottom]

Research each manufacturer involved with the parts in the computer, for transferable warranty service. Be sure to include that in your sales pitch if it's the motherboard, video card, or CPU. (something like "Like new, x months warranty service still remaining on ___)

Looking at your parts list, this seems like a mid-level budget build on the Intel side. Break down new:

Case - $85
Motherboard - $220
Video card - $135
CPU - $280
RAM - $125
DVD burner - $23
Power supply - $106
HSF - $50
Hard drive - $70-$80?

Around $1100~ is what it would cost someone to build it today (I factored in shipping cost, on each price.) Potential buyer may not have a monitor, so they'd have to factor that into the cost of the system versus picking up a $400 special at Best Buy or Walmart that comes with a crappy TFT, and throwing in a new video card if they're tech savvy enough. You might get $700-$750 on Craigslist if it's an honest sale to someone who is in the know.

It might be better to just bundle the system with the stock cooler installed, to give the sale the illusion of never being overclocked and properly maintained under warranty. You should really be aiming at people that wouldn't know about aftermarket cooling, so you can sell it for more. Price out similar configured machines from Falcon NW, Alienware and smaller integrators like CyberPower Inc, determine an average and sell it for half of that price if you're feeling dishonest and really need the money.

edit: typical buyer, is also going to have to factor in cost of keyboard mouse, speakers, etc if they don't have a pre-existing PC

[Japan]

OP i am actually interested in this machine, though I feel dishonest trying to suggest a price when you aren't sure what you're gonna ask yet. PM me when you have an idea what you're going for.

[rioisk]

Probably state college, community colleges are much cheaper.
You Ivy League then, Japan? Upper crust?

I'm Ivy League - i go to Brown

[iasus]

Hard Drive?

Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive62211470

And I'll keep windows 7 on it!

[Loke]

$300 a credit? enjoy your community college degree bro

i wouldn't recommend selling your computer, you're gonna have lots of time to use it while you're collecting unemployment

If I weren't rocking the G.I. bill, I'd be paying just over $300 a credit and subject to what program and ranking system you are referencing, there are only a hand full of schools whose degrees are indisputably superior (I attend the University of Wisconsin). Just saying, the idea that a good college education is going to cost you six figures and put you in the poor house is silly. There are a number of state schools that provide ridiculously good educations and a extremely low price (Wisconsin, Washington, California-Berkeley, California-San Diego, Michigan, and Illinois to name a few off the top of my head).

STOP BEING SUCH A HATER JAPAN!

[Messianic]

If I weren't rocking the G.I. bill, I'd be paying just over $300 a credit and subject to what program and ranking system you are referencing, there are only a hand full of schools whose degrees are indisputably superior (I attend the University of Wisconsin). Just saying, the idea that a good college education is going to cost you six figures and put you in the poor house is silly. There are a number of state schools that provide ridiculously good educations and a extremely low price (Wisconsin, Washington, California-Berkeley, California-San Diego, Michigan, and Illinois to name a few off the top of my head).

STOP BEING SUCH A HATER JAPAN!

It's true. If you're rockin the in-state rates, Florida State University (where I graduated) only runs approx 180 a credit (Undergrad coursework) when all is said and done (that's with all those fees/etc tacked in, which is higher than what they advertise), and housing/living costs aren't absolutely insane in North Florida. Same is true of UF, which is stronger academically.

Even Graduate coursework only runs 340ish per credit at FSU...Most of the Florida schools have similar rates.

Community/State Colleges in the area only run 90 bucks or so per credit when all is said and done...

[Lill-Leif]

Guess how much I pay per credit in Sweden?

[FatMagic]

I buy/sell my stuff on Anandtech.com (http://forums.anandtech.com/) and HardOCP (http://hardforum.com/) - look there for a place to sell your stuff. Most people like it "parted" instead of being sold as a "whole".

[Messianic]

Guess how much I pay per credit in Sweden?

Just a rough guess based on general education costs in EU-style countries, but approximately 15,000 Krona a year in VAT/Income taxes every year of your working life on an average salary?

Not sure how Sweden structures the specific funds and sources of funds that go to Education, or i'd have a better idea...

[dallammarr]

I buy/sell my stuff on Anandtech.com (http://forums.anandtech.com/) and HardOCP (http://hardforum.com/) - look there for a place to sell your stuff. Most people like it "parted" instead of being sold as a "whole".

This is true for ebay as well, you'll have better luck and less chance of something getting damaged if you part it out and sell it in pieces rather than a whole machine. I tried to sell my desktop about 6 or so months ago via ebay as I bought a laptop to replace it. My desktop is nothing special as its about 2 years old now, it sold for $450 on ebay but the mobo somehow got damaged in shipping. I shipped it as a complete machine with a valid copy of windows. So needless to say I had to refund the buyer his money, luckily the mobo was still under warranty so I contacted Asus, and well had to ship them the mobo twice, but its fixed and the machine runs brand new again. I trie dto sell it out a couple more times locally but as we know with computers, especially desktops, people would rather invest their money on something newer than older hard ware.

Not a bad desktop though specs are:

Intel Core 2 Quad q6600 OC'd to 3.0ghz
Asus P5N-D 750i mobo
PNY DDR2 800 4gb 2 x 2gb sticks dual channel
GeForce GTX 275 w 896mb of GDDR3 ram
Soundblaster Audigy 4
WD 250gb SATA drive
SATA DVD RW DL
Customized Black ATX case with Dragon etched into the side window
Dual Black Cold Cathode Light kit
Floppy Drive/ Card reader combo
Windows Vista Home Premium x64

Other mods: Took out the red IDE light on the case, replaced it with a UV LED
Replaced the green LEDS in the floppy and DVD rom for bule LEDS.

[fuji]

Take my advice, college is very overrated. In life, it is all about "who you know".

I recently got a firefighters position where I know that I wasn't the most qualified. So how did I get in? My uncle is a captain at the station.

[Ihealyou]

If your uncle isn't a fire captain, college is a great place to "know" people. Networking is probably the biggest advantage of a more expensive private school over a state school.

[korrowan]

not upper crust. More like enslaved by debt if i flunk out.

Don't have to flunk out... I have a good job as a SQL/Access Developer and my wife is a doctor and we are enslaved by debt. Just the way it is.

[Ritley]

If your uncle isn't a fire captain, college is a great place to "know" people. Networking is probably the biggest advantage of a more expensive private school over a state school.

Lots of colleges also have excellent career centers. Some companies do their entry level hiring solely through college recruitment.

[Messianic]

Take my advice, college is very overrated. In life, it is all about "who you know".

I recently got a firefighters position where I know that I wasn't the most qualified. So how did I get in? My uncle is a captain at the station.

Maybe Nepotism is okay where you live, but I know plenty of people fired by their family or friends because they didn't do the job right, or people not offered jobs despite deep connections because someone else was more qualified.

The whole "it's about who you know" thing is overrated. Most of the time it's really only a way to get your shoe in the door for an interview because whoever referred you is trustworthy, and it might push you over the tipping point to getting the job, but it's definitely not a majority of the reason.

It's also really dangerous because referring bad people craps up your reputation as well. I do not refer or recommend people unless I know them extremely well.