Case Selling Advice

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darunium
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:29 am
Location: Boston

Case Selling Advice

Post by darunium » Fri Jun 10, 2011 4:34 am

Hi All,

I recognize this probably isn't the best place for this, but I wasn't sure where else to post.

I've been trying to sell my case, an Antec P193, but have run into the clear issue of shipping costs which limits me to selling in my area (greater Boston area). The problem is I haven't been able to find a lot of places to vend it to locally. I've tried craigslist, but there haven't been any bites and given what's generally posted up there (5-15 year old parts often broken or damaged) I'm not terribly surprised.

So I was wondering if anyone has had a similar experience and knows of a good way to sell parts (especially cases) locally?

I though of maybe making an eBay posting with the appropriate ($40) shipping but offering to waive shipping and deliver personally to anyone in the Boston area?

Thanks for any advice!

matt_garman
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Re: Case Selling Advice

Post by matt_garman » Fri Jun 10, 2011 8:37 am

Cases are one area where upgradeitis can really get you, because they are hard to sell.

If you have the original box (or at least an acceptable box), I've had pretty good luck selling on ebay, even with high shipping costs. But you'll probably have to settle for a lower sell price. You can specify "local pickup" as a delivery option in your ebay listing; you can even say "local pickup only".

I will say, however, that I tried listing on ebay with "local pickup only". This wasn't for a case, it was for a half-height server rack (still available, by the way). First someone did a "buy it now", and didn't bother to read that it was local pickup only. Fortunately, the buyer agreed to a partial refund (i.e. minus the ebay and paypal fees). I then tried to list it a couple more times, but realized every time it didn't sell, I was losing money to ebay just putting the listing up. As always, YMMV, but I thought I'd throw that out there.

If you're patient, you can use craigslist and even the "deals" forum here on SPCR for local pickup only. I got rid of a P182 this way. But I had that case for months before someone snagged it up. I would think that Boston would be a big enough metro area to find a buyer, although, as I said, you might be waiting for quite a while.

You might look for computer parts shops in your area that buy used equipment. Chances are they won't give you a very good price, but if you need to get rid of it now, that's the way to go.

Oh, also, there are those firms that sell your stuff for you on ebay. I've never used one of them, but I do believe they generally take a handsome commission (guessing 20% or more). You basically pay for the convenience.

You can also sell used stuff on Amazon. You have to become a seller with them (fairly painless process). I tried this once, trying to sell a wireless router. The nice thing about Amazon is your listing stays up for a long time (60 days if I remember correctly). But I don't think you get as many views as you do with e.g. ebay or craigslist. At least that's my assumption. I only tried with the one item, and it never sold. After it expired on Amazon, I turned around and sold it straight away on ebay.

So, with the exception of this server rack (still available!), I've stuck to ebay for selling stuff to support my bad case of upgradeitis. :)

darunium
Posts: 31
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2010 9:29 am
Location: Boston

Re: Case Selling Advice

Post by darunium » Fri Jun 10, 2011 9:10 am

Thanks! I put it up on eBay's Kijiji site (local listings), we'll see if that yields anything, but that's a good idea I will try their local pickup option. I'll post on the Deals page here too, I didn't realize we had one. I do have the original box and absolutely everything that came with it, and it is in perfect working and cosmetic condition, so if someone were in the area it would be a great deal for them since I'm willing to take quite a hit.

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