Looking to upgrade my home MacBook Pro (i5 2.7GHz 13" 256GB SSD; new display in 2020). Apple website offers only $115 for trade-in value. How should I determine price to sell, or is it even worth my time?
amrohe wrote:
Looking to upgrade my home MacBook Pro (i5 2.7GHz 13" 256GB SSD; new display in 2020). Apple website offers only $115 for trade-in value. How should I determine price to sell, or is it even worth my time?
A 2015 laptop may be near end of life. I would not buy a Mac that old, although I recently paid $150 to put a new SSD in my wife's 2015 iMac and it is working well. The model you have is one of the lower end models from that era. It has the slower processor, the small internal storage (256GB) is limiting, and also it is limited to Monterey, which will soon (this fall) be two MacOS out of date. I see some similar models on eBay advertised for $100-$400 or so but the pricier ones have 16 GB memory, much more storage (512GB or 1 TB), and at that price most come with a warranty (which probably means they are being sold from a store).
You could try advertising yours and see if someone bites -- all it takes is one to make a sale. But you will likely have shipping and insurance costs (maybe another $50 or more) and the general effort to deal with all this. Places like eBay offer mechanisms for buyers to claim damage or ask for a refund, possibly more hassle. I think in your shoes I would take the $115 offer from Apple, I am even a bit surprised Apple offered that at all.
amrohe wrote:
Looking to upgrade my home MacBook Pro (i5 2.7GHz 13" 256GB SSD; new display in 2020). Apple website offers only $115 for trade-in value. How should I determine price to sell, or is it even worth my time?
A 2015 laptop may be near end of life. I would not buy a Mac that old, although I recently paid $150 to put a new SSD in my wife's 2015 iMac and it is working well. The model you have is one of the lower end models from that era. It has the slower processor, the small internal storage (256GB) is limiting, and also it is limited to Monterey, which will soon (this fall) be two MacOS out of date. I see some similar models on eBay advertised for $100-$400 or so but the pricier ones have 16 GB memory, much more storage (512GB or 1 TB), and at that price most come with a warranty (which probably means they are being sold from a store).
You could try advertising yours and see if someone bites -- all it takes is one to make a sale. But you will likely have shipping and insurance costs (maybe another $50 or more) and the general effort to deal with all this. Places like eBay offer mechanisms for buyers to claim damage or ask for a refund, possibly more hassle. I think in your shoes I would take the $115 offer from Apple, I am even a bit surprised Apple offered that at all.
The price offered by Apple is a dealer BUY price. They offer what it is worth to them to take in, clean up a bit, replace the battery, and resell.
If you are wiling to do some marketing yourself, you MIGHT get closer to US$500 for a direct-to-User sale, PROVIDED it did not need a battery replacement, a US$250 repair. What users want is to take it out of the box and use it TODAY. All others are offering dealer (needs to be fixed up) prices.
No one can advise you about what your time is worth -- only you can decide that.
amrohe wrote:
Looking to upgrade my home MacBook Pro (i5 2.7GHz 13" 256GB SSD; new display in 2020). Apple website offers only $115 for trade-in value. How should I determine price to sell, or is it even worth my time?
You could look on Ebay or community sale sites to see what others are selling similar old computers for.
I would not pay anything for an eight year old computer. $115 is probably not a bad offer.
I also vote for using community sites like Craigslist as a guide. Used Mac prices vary wildly with location, even in the US. In my region they are far cheaper in two university towns than in our town that is only 40 miles away.
Generic sites like everymac.com have estimated used values but they do not seem realistic for where I live.
I find that used Mac prices vary widely by location, and even between cities in the same state. Because of taht I feel the community sales option Bob recommends the be the most effective way to see representative pricing.
Example: I live in a town that, until Costco started selling Macs recently, had no Apple resellers for computers. However, 30 miles away are two university towns, with each university selling Macs.
When I compare Craigslist used Mac pricing for the Uni towns, the selection is far better and the prices about 10-20% lower than where I live.
✋🏼 TIP: Before you sell on your Mac, be sure to carefully review this Apple support article:
What to do before you sell, give away, trade in, or recycle your Mac - Apple Support
We see a lot of posts from angry buyers here when a seller does not properly prepare the device for sale. You don't need an unhappy buyer showing at your door!
The $115 trade in offer is only an estimate. If the Mac is determined to have any type of wear that's visible, or doesn't work as expected, the real offer will be less.
My 2015 21.5" iMac's estimate was $290. The actual offer came back at $70 because of dead pixels you can't even see.
What's the likelihood I can sell my 2015 MacBook Pro, and how do I determine price?
