10 Places You Can Sell Your Old and Used Laptop for Cash

How do you sell used laptop without settling for bargain prices? Is it better to sell it whole or for parts?

This is a common dilemma for people who upgraded their laptops even before their existing laptops begin to be problematic. Most of the time, the old laptop ends up being stored away while you decide what to do with it, and eventually forgotten.

If you have an old laptop collecting dust somewhere, the best thing you can do with it is to sell it and recoup some of the money you spent for a new one.

Things to Do Before You Sell Used Laptop

Although you could just hop on eBay and list your used laptop, there are things you must do first to ensure you’re going to end up with a good deal.

Check for damages

Check your laptop for damages. No detail is too small.

Look at the exterior (keyboard, monitor, USB ports, etc.) and interior (hard drives, CD drive, and so on).

Be clear about the defects you know, such as ‘laptop not charging’ and admit if you haven’t found a diagnosis to a broken laptop.

Find the original boxes, cables and other accessories

Prepare the original box that came with your laptop.

If it isn’t available anymore, find the accessories such as charger, cables, manuals, CD installer, and so on.

In general, if you have original accessories still working, you have a higher chance of selling the laptop for a better price.

Save copies of your files and clear the laptop

You also have to copy your files, photos, videos, and even browsers (with saved passwords).

The easiest route is to move it to Google Drive, or any cloud-based storage you have. Once you’ve saved everything, just delete all your files and reformat the laptop.

If the laptop isn’t working when you plan to sell it, find out how to retrieve files off a hard drive.

Know the value of your used laptop

Like all kinds of gadgets, the value of laptops decrease quickly.

You should visit appraisal sites like Gadget Value to learn how much you could sell your laptop for.

It’s important to know the make and model of the laptop to get the most accurate estimate possible.

Unfortunately, the site only values laptops from the last 10 years, so you can only get laptops from 2010 to the current year appraised.

Compare pricing

Visit buy and sell sites like eBay and search for the laptop make and model.

Do this for all similar sites, so you could get an idea how much you could sell your laptop.

Now that you’ve prepped your used laptop for sale, it’s time to list it on (one or all of) your chosen sites below…

10 Places to Sell Your Used Laptop

eBay (with over 170 million users) remains the best place to sell any used items, but Facebook Marketplace and Facebook Groups comes in a close second.

Craigslist isn’t the most intuitive or best-looking design-wise, but it is still a popular way of selling used items locally.

All three are free of charge, so you can list your item there simultaneously.

Note that the list of the best places to sell your used laptop below no longer includes eBay, Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace.

1. Device Pitstop

Device Pitstop exchanges laptops for cash and accepts trade-in as well. They also accept tablets, smartphones, and game consoles.

Unfortunately, since you do have to bring in the laptop to the store personally, this will only help those living in or near Minnesota, Colorado, Michigan, and Kentucky.

2. Gadget Salvation

This service is a hassle-free one.

You simply fill up a form with details about your laptop, which will help them quote your item properly. Once you agree to the price, they will send you a postage-paid shipping label so you could ship off your laptop to Gadget Salvation via any UPS store.

Once Gadget Salvation receives the laptop, the company’s team will test the laptop and assess if the laptop conditions you stated are accurate.

If not, they might send you a revised offer. You have the option of  accepting or rejecting the offer. You can cancel the deal anytime and still have the laptop shipped back to you free of charge.

If you do accept the offer, expect the payment after 48 business hours via PayPal, bank transfer, Venmo, or check.

3. LetGo, Offer Up, Varage Sale, Close5 and other Buy-and-Sell Apps

Launched in 2015, LetGo lets you sell your laptop (and other items like furniture, cars, clothes, and so on) as quickly as taking a photo and listing it onto the marketplace.

Sellers decide on the price and who they sell the laptop to.

If someone is interested on your used laptop, you have to meet up so they could review the item in person and you could receive the cash once the buyer decides to buy it off your hands.

Offer Up, Varage Sale and Close 5 work exactly the same as LetGo.

4. Mac Me an Offer

As the marketplace of MacOfAllTrades.com, it’s pretty obvious that the site focuses solely on Apple products.

So if you’re trying to sell a Mac, just fill out a form telling them all about your laptop, wait for an estimate and formal offer, then decide if you’re OK with the offer or not.

Once you accept the price, just ship the laptop using Mac Me an Offer’s paid shipping option. Receive the agreed-upon amount within 3 business days via check or PayPal.

5. SellBroke and SellLaptopBack

SellBroke and its sister site SellLaptopBack both let sellers list their laptops and other devices.

Like other marketplaces on this list, SellBroke and SellLaptopBack will quote your item based on your detailed description of the item. They’ll send you a quote back, and if you agree, they’ll give you a pre-paid shipping label via UPS.

There’s one difference though: SellBroke and SellLaptopBack guarantee that all personal information of the seller would be permanently deleted before putting the laptop back on sale.

6. Nextworth

Nextworth has been around for over 12 years and has paid out over $210 million through the 3 million gadgets that has passed their way.

Unlike other sites, Nextworth may not accept certain brands or types of gadgets depending on need.

If you get lucky and the site is accepting your laptop’s make and model, follow the same process of quoting, shipping the device and getting paid through check or PayPal.

7. SellAGadget

This site was launched only in 2017, but it has a pretty solid ranking on TrustPilot.

Like others on this list, the quotation and shipping process are straightforward.

SellAGadget provides free mailing labels through UPS and USPS. Payments are sent via PayPal, Chase Quick Pay, or Amazon.com Gift Card.

8. Swappa

Founded in 2010, Swappa is a user-to-user marketplace for gently used laptops and other devices.

You have control over pricing and who to sell the item to. Swappa just makes it safer and easier to handle payments. The site doesn’t charge seller fees, which gives it an advantage over more popular sites like eBay.

Trade-Ins and Swap Sites

If you’re open to trading your used laptop instead of selling it for cash, there are several programs you may find interesting:

• Best Buy Trade-in Program – Best Buy’s Trade-in Program makes it easy to get rid of an old gadget. Just let them know about your device’s make, model and condition, wait for an estimate, and if you agree with the offered price, bring it over to a brick-and-mortar store or ship it to Best Buy for free. Payment is via a Best Buy gift card.
• Amazon Trade-in Program – This program allows customers to receive an Amazon.com Gift Card in exchange for Amazon Devices, laptops, electronics, books, video games, and other eligible items.

The Bottom Line

This is list is everything you need to sell used laptop for cash or trade in for another gadget.

The cool thing about buy and sell marketplaces these days is you can do the transactions from start to finish with minimal effort on your part.

Just send the device using a prepaid shipping label, let the company assess your laptop, and if you (or the company of your choice) do not agree on the price, the laptop will be sent back to you without charge. How easy is that?

So instead of leaving your old laptop collecting dust in a corner of your room, put it to good use and turn them into cash today.