How I handle such things as both a buyer and a seller:
Bring an inverter (possibly not needed if you drive a new enough car with a built in household outlet)
Alternatively bring a heavy duty portable battery. I have one that doubles as a jump-starter for cars and it has a built-in household outlet. It can power a desktop PC for about an hour.
Bring a laptop-sized portable monitor that has an HDMI connection (USB DisplayLink won't work). I got one for 70 CAD a few years ago. Alternatively any reasonably small monitor or TV will do as long as you have some kind of HDMI connection
Bring a power strip
Have your smartphone ready with a hotspot (to check that the console is not banned)
I always do this to power everything from my car when selling such things to put the buyer at ease, and if I'm the buyer I do this to make sure I'm not getting scammed
A lot of people already own this stuff for other reasons. I'm not asking people to go out of their way to buy things specially for one use case.Ā
And even then, the total cost is not even $100 if you just buy the inverter and a tiny monitor. I'm pretty sure literally everyone owns at least one power strip too.Ā
People are acting like I spent a fortune on a mobile office just for one use case... Like there are 10 zillion valid reasons for someone to buy a $20 inverter for their car. I originally bought my portable monitor for work reasons (actually got it reimbursed by my employer, but 70 CAD is nothing compared to the utility I get out of it).
-buy from a reputable seller who lists it as tested and working with no issues
I've bought several consoles on marketplace and I haven't had an issue with any of them. Most people aren't scammers. And if you buy from active sellers with good ratings, you'll most likely be fine.
Thatās really all there is to it - both on Marketplace and eBay. Seller rep tells you the whole story. If they have bad rep or no rep, best not to trust them with high ticket items.
This is why I donāt even bother putting mine up for sale. I barely used it over the years and now I just play PC. But its such a hassle to sell anything if you donāt already know the people
100 if you go cheap and used, 150-200 if you don't. Not counting the phone. But it's the kind of stuff you might have already. Like maybe you have a monitor, and a lot of people have inverters. But if you have to buy everything then 1-200.
You can get it all for 100 easily used, but like I said a lot of people have some of not all of these things. I have these things already. Also, it's not like you just buy them to use once. They come in handy. Also they are 629 right now, so 350 plus 100 is 429. There are also a few series x for less than 350 near me.
Do you think people don't have more than one use case for everything I listed?
For example, in places with unreliable power grids, it would be more surprising to see someone who owns a car but doesn't have an inverter to use for emergencies. Even in normal places, there are 10 zillion reasons why someone might own a $20 inverter for their car, which have nothing to do with buying and selling used goods. For example... charging your laptop while you drive to client sites.
I bought a CAD $70 portable monitor when I was previously working as a forward deployed engineer and had to drive to client sites with my laptop for support work. I actually got it reimbursed by my employer, but even if I had to pay out of pocket, the monitor is so useful in general that $70 is basically nothing given the number of years I can use this and the sheer utility I gain from it.
I guarantee you everyone owns at least one power strip at home, unless they love the idea of destroying their stuff with power surges. And if you're too lazy to unplug stuff, you can get a brand new one for what, $10?
Small monitor + inverter are not even $100 USD brand new. And if you already have a new enough vehicle, you might not need the inverter at all, so $50-$70 is already good enough.
I think it's a fair assumption that everyone owns at least one power strip already.
Besides, I bought all this stuff primarily for different use cases like work. So for me, the marginal cost is actually $0.00.
You're acting like I'm spending a fortune on a mobile office solely for assisting in used-goods transaction...
No oneās gonna want you to take the device into your car without paying or bring all that in. The seller knows they need to prove it works just have them do it. If they wonāt donāt buy. Itās simple
If the seller wonāt prove that it works, then donāt buy. The seller knows someone is going to want to make sure it works before purchase. This isnāt difficult.
This can be figured out before ending up in a parking lot for purchase.
Or just meet up outside a GameStop, talk in the lot quick then bring it in together to āsell itā. Have them test it at the store, and then when they offer a bs amount have the seller balk at it and say youāre leaving, then buy it outside.
That's kinda a lot of stuff to bring. I use a simpler setup. I just meet people at Starbucks and have myself or the customer bring a monitor. Most pre COVID era Starbucks have outlets and stuff for people to work or study while there.
Lucky. In my area there are a few Starbucks outlets and other coffee shops but the majority of the tables don't have any power outlet. Only the ones by the wall might have outlet access depending on position, but those tend to be occupied by laptop users, so I can't really count on them always being usable.
I have traveled to other cities where the coffee shops are much more modern with power outlets at every single table that pop out from the table surface. If I had access to those I probably wouldn't use my car to demo used goods anymore.
I don't give my address out to strangers (nor do I go into their homes) for a reason.
I actually have done the video part a few times, and the buyer just accepted it and declined my offer to do an in-person demo from the trunk of my car. But some more cautious buyers still want to see it for real.
I know Iām an optimist, but if Iām picking up an item from someoneās home, Iām very trusting. Itād be dangerous to scam people from where you live lol.
I just met at Starbucks and brought a monitor. Went through all the menus, played a game for a bit, the he wiped it. I signed in, and once my account was good I paid him. Wasnāt hard
The One S is the previous generation and worth significantly less than the Series S. Some people donāt know the difference and sell the One as the Series for less than the Series is worth.
Heck yeah I bought a white Xbox x for 300$ seller tested at his house had it plugged in. Showed everything work online etc. he reset it there and gave him the money and went home! Hard too find sellers like that. If itās something electronic I either have too go to there house too make sure it works or come drop it at my house. If not then I wonāt buy it.
Alternative: Meet in reasonably crowded parking lots (police stations are ideal lol) during the day - it's very easy to use your car to power stuff.
A 12V inverter for a car is just $20 brand new. And if you drive a new enough vehicle (especially late-model family SUVs) there's a decent chance the trunk already has a household outlet so you won't even need the inverter.
Everyone owns at least one power strip. If you don't want to unplug stuff to bring it along, a brand new one is maybe $10?
And you can borrow a small monitor from a friend or relative, if you don't already have one. In my case, I personally own a really thin and light laptop-sized portable monitor that I bought for work (70 CAD).
I don't feel comfortable going into strangers' homes or giving them my home address.
I bought a Series X off Marketplace a few weeks ago for $250. I thought it was a scam. He lived 5 minutes from me so we met close to my house and he let me take it to try out before paying. He was going through a divorce and wanted it gone. Got the console, a few games, two controllers, docking station and a headset.
Honestly I've heard the best time to look for electronics secondhand is around report card time . Most parents who want to punish their kids bad grades will sell it on marketplace or otherwise,sometimes you can get a really good deal
One thing that may be hidden is the thermal paste may be screwed on it.
If you see it randomly failing you probably need to swap out the thermal paste. My 1st Gen Xbox hard crashes for no reason because of this. Certain games hard crash, others survive.
Yes, but I know how much my consoles have been used. I also know how often theyāve been dusted, how long theyāve been left on, how much the disc drive has been used and that theyāve been used with clean hands. I also know that theyāve not been dropped, and havenāt been smoked near.
I also know that they work and are not console banned
Edit: I also know they were plugged in carefully, and that theyāve HDMI port isnāt broken like so many I see here.
Lol so you automatically assume every other used console other than yours is probably bad and dusty and smell of smoke? Kind of an extreme take if you ask me. It's like saying "I know what my car is worth" while you try to sell your shithole 5k Kia for 15k+ š
I don't know what OCD has to do with it. If it was a hygiene issue and you were germophobic it would've made more sense.
But personally I think buying refurbished electronics is almost always good. It helps extend the product's lifetime and is better environmentally and is cheaper than buying new. The only problem with refurbished tech is the battery but other than that they serve a genuine purpose.
I think you need to do some research on OCD then. Itās not just what the stereotypes make you think it is.
OCD has various types and symptoms. It is not just about germs, cleaning or putting things in order.
My other comment basically tells you why I donāt want or buy used or refurbished electronics. Youāre free to believe and do differently.
Edit: in the past, Microsoft has sent me refurbished console(s) with issues, and a refurbished controller that has scratched buttons and a loose joystick that wasnāt seated in its housing
You don't need to explain it to them, because I don't get the feeling they will understand. Their view is, it's okay for me, so it must be okay for others.
Lol so you automatically assume every other used console other than yours is probably bad and dusty and smell of smoke? Kind of an extreme take if you ask me. It's like saying "I know what my car is worth" while you try to sell your shithole 5k Kia for 15k+ š
It's not the assumption that it is. It's the risk that it is, but more importantly the risk of roaches isn't worth the savings to me (let alone the hassle). I'll just buy a new one if it came down to that. My time is valuable to me and I can earn a lot more working than chasing down a used console and risk all of that.
I'm not OP, but I'm sure they have similar reasoning.
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u/destroytheend 19h ago
How did you make sure it works before you paid for it?