Home » Blog » Things to know before selling your computer Things to know before selling your computer

If you are excited to buy a new computer, you would be looking forward to enjoying the new performance capability. Before you buy a new system, you can always look for options for selling your computer. There is a good demand for used computers and computer parts that can offer a good cash value. You can easily sell your computer at a good price and use the gains towards buying newer upgrades. Depending on the overall condition, model, year, features, and specifications, you can find the right place.

There are a number of places that can offer a good value in return. In order to get the maximum benefit, you can research the options beforehand. You can either trade your old computer on a number of trade-in websites. You can also add a listing on ecommerce websites like eBay and Amazon. Besides these options, you can also use the convenience of social platforms like Facebook marketplace or Craigslist. Before selling your computer, it is a good idea to look at other similar listings. You can get a better view of what you expect. It will also make it easy to create a rough idea before planning to buy a new computer.

Rather than turning your old computer into a piece of junk, only to be discarded into trash at a later date; it is beneficial to reap benefits at the earliest. Depending on the demand and supply, you would find good offers on the used computers. 

Preparation steps before selling your computer

1.     Back up of the data

This is one of the most important steps before selling your computer. When you sell your computer irrespective of the platform, you must take a backup. It will ensure that you have a copy of all your data. Though you may or may not need it in the future, you must save it beforehand. You can also take this opportunity to look through your hard drive. You can easily classify the files as important or miscellaneous and make sure to keep the copies.

If you have large files with a wide variety of databases, you can copy and transfer it to an external hard drive. An external hard drive has a large capacity so you can save all the files in one place. Windows operating system has a built-in ‘Backup and restore utility’ program. You can use it to transfer the files to an external storage. 

Besides the hard drive, you can also create backups of important files on cloud-based storage. This approach will be useful for easy access from anywhere. It is beneficial to store important data that uses less capacity as opposed to the entire backup. Some of the common applications include Dropbox, OneDrive, and Google Drive. It is extremely necessary to check if the data is transferred correctly. You can login to the cloud-based storage from another device and make sure the transfer is successful. 

To ensure that the hard drive contains all the data, you can connect to another device and make sure. 

2.     Save product keys for software before selling computer

After selling your old computer, you must be able to use all the programs and applications in the new system. For a smooth and hassle-free process, you can find the product keys of the software and Windows. It is important to save all the product keys so you can use them on the new computer. 

If you do not have a backup of the product keys, you can use a convenient tool like Product key finder.With this tool, you can find product keys or serial numbers of the installed software. You can get product keys for Windows, Office, Internet Explorer, Visual Studio, SQL Server, Exchange Server, VMWare, Abode, and many others. 

 You must also sign out from all the accounts. This is an important step to ensure privacy and security of your data. You must make sure to sign out of email, applications, browser, and any other accounts. 

3.     Erasing the data and formatting the computer

A successful backup is the first step to secure all your data. Following the verification step, you can erase the data on a permanent basis. This is to give a completely clean and clear computer to the buyer. It would not contain any files or personal information before selling your computer. By erasing and formatting, you would be resetting the device to factory settings. 

Erasing the hard drive on Windows 10

1.     You can click on the Start menu icon on the lower-left corner.

2.     Select settings icon.

3.     Go to Update and Security from the list of options.

4.     Click on Recovery on the left side of the window.

5.     Select the option ‘Get Started’ under Reset this PIC. 

6.     You can select the option Remove Everything

7.     After deleting the data, you can select cloud download to reinstall Windows 10. 

8.     The next step is to clean the hard drive after deleting. This will ensure that the next user cannot recover any personal files. It is a beneficial step before selling the computer. You can go to the Change settings option and slide the switch under the option Clean Data. 

9.     Select the final Confirm icon and follow the confirmation prompts. It works as the final verification that you would like to delete all the data permanently. 

After this final step, you can leave the PC connected to the power supply. It would take several hours for the final clean up. After it is complete, you will notice the new Windows setup screen. It would be as good as a new computer.

4.     Final step of selling your computer

This is the final step that would take you closer to the cash value. You can sell it on eBay that has an auction-style selling process. You must find out all the details including specifications of hardware to write an impactful listing. The right price would depend on supply and demand in the market. 

If you would like to sell your old computer for an excellent cash value, you can contact us at BuySellRam. We are happy to offer cash for all types of used computers. You can visit our website BuySellRam.com and take advantage of an easy and convenient process. We can offer a free quote so you can get an idea in a short while. All you have to do is send us the details about your old computer. After confirmation, you can look forward to enjoying the cash value by selling your computer.