What decides the price of a used laptop
A laptop is priced on its specification first and its condition second — which is the opposite of a phone.
A used phone is priced on its model and then its condition. A laptop is the other way round: two machines with the same name on the lid can be worth very different amounts, because what is inside them is different. Getting the specification right is most of the job.
The specification sets the ceiling
Four things, in this order: the processor, its generation, the RAM and the storage. An i5 of the current generation can be worth more than an i7 four generations older, which is why the generation is asked about separately and why "i7" on its own is not an answer. RAM and storage each move the number on their own; so does a discrete graphics card in a gaming machine.
A MacBook is the exception, and only because Apple makes the exception easy: the model and year — an Air 2020, a Pro 2023 — imply the rest, so that is what the MacBook page asks for. Getting a laptop ready to sell has its own post.
The screen
Spots, lines, a dead backlight or a broken panel. As with a phone, this is the most expensive thing that can be wrong, because it is the most expensive thing to replace.
The hinge, the body and the keyboard
The three places a laptop wears out. A hinge that no longer holds the screen up, a cracked palm rest, a lid with a dent, missing or unresponsive keys, a trackpad that has stopped clicking — each is priced on its own. Check the keys by opening a text box and typing every one of them; people are often surprised.
Everything else that works
USB and HDMI ports, the headphone jack, speakers, microphone, webcam, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and the charging port. One failure is one deduction.
The battery
A battery that no longer holds charge, or that only runs the machine while it is plugged in, is a fault like any other and never a reason we will not buy it. On a Mac you can read the cycle count and condition in System Settings; on Windows, the powercfg /batteryreport command in a command prompt writes a report with the design capacity against the current one.
The charger
The original charger adds to the price, and on a laptop it is the accessory most worth finding — a machine with no way to power it on is harder to check at the door. Bring it if you have it.
Before the pickup
Back up your files. Sign out of iCloud and turn off Find My on a Mac; sign out of your Microsoft account on Windows. Deauthorise anything tied to the machine — Adobe, Office, iTunes. Then leave the wipe to our agent, who resets it in front of you at the door.
Start with the brand on the laptop page.
See what your laptop is worth
A price in about a minute, free doorstep pickup in a two-hour slot, and paid — cash or bank transfer — before our agent leaves.
Questions people ask
- How is a used laptop valued?
- By specification first — processor, generation, RAM, storage — and condition second. A MacBook is priced by model and year instead, because the specification follows from it.
- Can I sell a laptop with a dead battery?
- Yes. A battery that no longer holds charge is one of the condition questions and a deduction, not a refusal.
- Do you buy Windows laptops?
- Yes. Every MacBook in the catalogue has a live online price; most Windows laptops are listed but quoted directly by phone or WhatsApp for now, so pick the model and the page will tell you which it is.
- Does the original charger matter?
- It adds to the price. A laptop without one still sells.