# Is it worth it to buy broken desktop and laptops, repair them and sell them on ebay?



## Armymanis

What do you guys think? I am trying to come up with ways to gain experience. I am already in school going for my AA and then my bachelors and have my A+ certification. I am mainly going to be a Technical support guy. 

Do you think buying broken desktops and laptops, fixing them and selling them on ebay is worth it?


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## clonxy

it depends how often you can fix them.

but i would say no, if it could be fixed, i think the owners would try to fix it first by someone like you.


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## gcavan

I do just that on a part time basis. It helps to pay the rent, but I'll never get rich at it. You can make a few dollars at it, but you have to be very selective as to what you buy, otherwise, it will end up costing you to haul it to the recylcler. You will mostly find a lot of OEM's and a few custom computers which are too old to upgrade without having to replace everything.

I generally stay away from non-functional laptops altogether and pay very little for any computer that doesnt boot. As clonxy pointed out, the previous owner has already expended his resources in getting it running, so there is likely something seriously wrong with it.

If a PC will boot and run, I base my offer on what I feel is the value of the sum of its parts. (ie: a used OEM has virtually no value). My definition of 'value' is what I can sell it for. Spend a few moments on eBay looking at what used computer parts actually sell for. Ignore all of the 'Buy it Now' prices, and look at items that have actually sold at auction.

edit: That said, I have found a few gems at foreclosure sales and estate auctions.


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## Tyree

It is all dependent on what you pay for the part(s) and what you have to invest to repair.
In general, I would say no.


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## linderman

Tyree said:


> It is all dependent on what you pay for the part(s) and what you have to invest to repair.
> In general, I would say no.



agreed



"if" you can buy a "worthy" system (not older than 2yrs old" and buy it VERY cheap, sometimes you can fix them easily and make a marginal profit, but after you factor in the ones that arent fixable for cheap cost, it turns into not so pretty of an adventure especially once shipping charges start to mount up.


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## stringcheese166

well it depends how broken they are


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## linderman

stringcheese166 said:


> well it depends how broken they are




that too!


I have bought 6 month old notebook computers cheap from college brats and the only thing wrong was the power pack connector at the laptop was broken.

others I bought needed new motherboards which is not so great


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## Dblanchard1278

Well it depends on what you buy and who you buy it from, some people are not that computer litterate and will toss a good pc cuase it has a virus. But then there are those who won't provide enough info on what they are selling and what the problem is with the item. The better option is to keep your eye out for pc's being left for trash pick up. Not a bad way to get some parts with out paying shipping and other charges. The only problem with that is getting a twelve year old pc you can't do anything with.


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## emosun

I say if you get them free with only software problems then there's money to be made.


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