Selling a used computer? (Pricing in-particular)

[Omnistegan]

Hey guys. I'll be moving out of country soon and am considering getting rid of my desktop system and replace it with a robustish laptop.
I've never bought or sold a computer used so I'm really at a loss about how to go about doing so, especially when it comes to setting an asking price. Any advice I've managed to find suggests tracking auctions and what-not. That's all well and good, but with the range of computer systems that are available, and especially considering it's home-built, I'm really at a loss.
Possibly those of you knowledgeable in this field might be able to give me some pointers in this area. Below are specs:



In the Tower:

Motherboard:
Asus P5N32-E SLI (http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=397&model=1459&modelmenu=1)
RAM:
4GB Mushkin 6400 (2x2GB) (http://www.mushkin.com/doc/products/memory_detail.asp?id=563)
Processor:
Intel Q6600 (http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=29765)
Power Supply:
Antec Earthwatts EA-500 (http://www.antec.com/Believe_it/product.php?id=NjU=)
Video:
Palit 8800GT PCI-E 512MB (http://www.palit.biz/main/vgapro.php?id=143)
WinTV 878 Based PCI card
Audio:
Creative labs SB0090 (http://www.amazon.com/Creative-SB0090-Blaster-Audigy-Firewire/dp/B000XD47DU)
Optical Drive:
LG DVD Writer (http://ca.lge.com/en/products/model/detail/supermultidvdrewriter_gsah55n.jhtml)
Storage:
Hitachi 160 7200 RPM
Seagate 500GB 7200 RPM
Seagate 1TB 7200 RPM
Software:
Windows XP Pro x64 (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx)

Outside of the tower:

Mouse:
Logitech MX Air (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/mice_pointers/mice/devices/3443&cl=US,EN)
KB:
Logitech Wave (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/keyboards/keyboard/devices/3071&cl=US,EN)
Speakers:
Logitech X-530 (http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/speakers_audio/home_pc_speakers/devices/211&cl=roeu,en)
Monitor:
Dell 2407 FP


Where I could I've provided links to product pages.

I've priced it out piece by piece and I reckon it would cost about $1500 (CAN) to replace every part. Not claiming it's worth that, but it's really all I've got to work with right now. Any suggestions, tips, or whatever are appreciated. :D

[HappyFeet]

To be honest with you, you will be lucky to get 50% of what you paid for it. It's not that it's not worth more, it's just that most people don't know enough about computers to appreciate what they are getting. I sell computers all the time, and if I am not dirt cheap, I have a hard time selling them. Therefore, I tend to stay away from getting and selling high-end computers. All the customers know is that it is used, and they are taking a chance. My profit margins on low end computers is much greater.

Then again, you might get lucky and a tech savvy person will know and appreciate it. But realistically, you're looking at $800. Most people will not pay big dollars for used equipment, even though it is in perfect condition.

[gn2]

Give it to a relative to look after for a while?

[WatchingThePain]

To be honest with you, you will be lucky to get 50% of what you paid for it. It's not that it's not worth more, it's just that most people don't know enough about computers to appreciate what they are getting. I sell computers all the time, and if I am not dirt cheap, I have a hard time selling them. Therefore, I tend to stay away from getting and selling high-end computers. All the customers know is that it is used, and they are taking a chance. My profit margins on low end computers is much greater.

Then again, you might get lucky and a tech savvy person will know and appreciate it. But realistically, you're looking at $800. Most people will not pay big dollars for used equipment, even though it is in perfect condition.

Same here.

That would be a very specialist market item.
I aim for cheap reliable parts to push the price down otherwise ppl see something cheaper (but not really better) in a shop and buy that.

Most people want a Gaming pc but don't realise that that means top end.

You could disperse the parts into other builds or keep the pc until it's value drops then try selling it.

[Omnistegan]

Thanks for the advice guys.
I think I was being overly pessimistic.

[PurposeOfReason]

If you know how to sell things, you could scrape $800 for that. $900 if you're damn good. A lot of people don't know really what they're getting/what they want.

[Vostrocity]

That's a fairly nice build, though already a bit outdated. The problem with it is not getting a good price, it's finding anyone to buy it at all. Most people who know enough about computers will just make their own, and the people who don't won't know how powerful that is and will probably want a name brand rather than a home-built one.

[x33a]

another problem is that newer hardware is dirt cheap these days, and most people will prefer to invest $800 in a new computer than a used one.

i am facing a problem similar to yours, i have a $1000+ rig, 3 yrs old, but i know no one will pay more than $300 for this, as new pcs are really cheap. so i dropped the idea of selling this pc.

[ezsit]

You would make more money selling the parts individually than trying to sell the entire computer. Better yet, find a needy friend or relative and give them a very nice birthday present. You'll get more appreciation than money for the computer. Better yet, pull half the memory and two of the hard drives, then give the computer away and sell the memory and hard drives. You'll make some money and make someone very happy.

[Biochem]

You would make more money selling the parts individually than trying to sell the entire computer. Better yet, find a needy friend or relative and give them a very nice birthday present. You'll get more appreciation than money for the computer. Better yet, pull half the memory and two of the hard drives, then give the computer away and sell the memory and hard drives. You'll make some money and make someone very happy.

Better yet, keep the hard drive and buy a usb to sata converter to use as external storage.