If the laptop market is so big, it is because there are so many users who need and use them. But of course, buy a laptop it is at least an investment, because relatively good models cost a lot of money, so it is not surprising that many people also decide to resort to the market of second hand looking to save some good money when buying your new laptop. If this is your case, in this article we are going to give you a series of tips to avoid running into trouble… or worse.
The second-hand electronics market is tremendously broad, since the useful life of these devices is usually quite long. There are different platforms to buy your laptop with greater and lesser guarantees for the buyer, but we are not going to go into the sites where to buy second-hand, but in the precautions that you should take BEFORE making the purchase.
The keys to buying a second-hand laptop
The first thing before starting to buy a laptop in the second-hand market is that you consider what do you needsince it is not the same to buy a computer to work or study, than to do it to play, and in the same way, a second-hand laptop will not have had the same wear and tear if it has not moved from the house of an individual as another model that they have been taking it on trips constantly.
Once you are clear about what type of use you are going to give the laptop, you should think about what hardware you need it to have. Think that if you want a laptop to play, you will need it to have a good dedicated graphics card, while if you need it to take it on a trip, what interests you most is that it has a battery with good autonomy. What we are going to recommend is that you do not buy anything that has less than 8GB of RAM and have a ssdof more or less capacity, but avoid laptops with a mechanical hard drive both because they will be very slow and because they have moving parts and, in a laptop that moves from one place to another, they are more prone to breakdowns.
Ok, at this point you already know more or less what you need, so the next recommendation is that you start researching specific models on the Internet, but above all that compare prices online. If you have had your eye on a laptop, find out how much it cost new and calculate if the price they are asking for it is fair or not; As a rough guide, a 1-2 year old laptop should cost at least 30% less than new, while 3-4 year old laptops should cost you 40% less (at least). We would not recommend buying laptops that are 5 years old or older, since they would be too worn out (especially their battery and SSD).
The next step would already involve contacting the seller, and here we would recommend asking for one. Proof of purchase (that they show you the invoice and/or that they send you real photos of the equipment with a sheet showing their name and the date, to guarantee that they really have the equipment (the invoice is especially interesting both to know the real age of the laptop as to be certain that it is not a stolen product)). Also look at the credibility of the seller on the portal where you are buying it (positive votes, etc.) to see if it is trustworthy.
Once you have taken all these precautions that we have described, it is time to investigate further, and the ideal is to be able to meet with the person who sells the laptop and thus examine it carefully. Check that it is physically fine, that it has no bumps, that the screen has no dead pixels, etc., and it would also be advisable to check the status of the SSD with programs such as CrystalDisk Infoas well as the battery status.
There will be times when this is not possible because the seller is from another city and they have to send it to you, but you can always ask them to send you screenshots of these things, as well as real photos with more detail of the product. On platforms like Wallapop, remember that you have a certain period of time to carry out these checks before finalizing the purchase (this is what is called buyer protection).
If you have followed all these tips and are satisfied, all that remains is to formalize the purchase and start enjoying your new second-hand laptop.
