Advice Please- Fair Price to Pay for a Used 2018 13” MacBook Pro?

Laninchris on 01/05/2020 - 18:28

Hi All!

Can I ask for opinions on the current value to buy a used (but looked after) 2018 MacBook Pro, please? Specs-

  • 13”
  • i5
  • 8GB RAM
  • 256GB SSD
  • Touchbar
  • 4 Thunderbolt ports

Our boss has had to close his business completely, making us all redundant (along with half the population, sadly). I need to return the MBP that I was using, because he needs to sell what he can to cover costs (completely understandable).

But, when it goes back to him, I will be without a computer at home, so I asked how much he wants for it. He said he wasn’t sure what they‘re worth and asked me to have a look online etc to give him a price…

I want to be sure to offer him a fair price - because he was a good boss, and he has lost his business, but I also need to be careful with $$ because I am out of work and the current prospects aren’t looking too good!

Thanks heaps 🙏🏼

Computing

Comments

  • No Username on 01/05/2020 - 18:38
    +1

    $1800? $1400

    You can buy a new 2018 for $2,279.05

    Whats the cycle count on the laptop?

    • Laninchris on 01/05/2020 - 18:51

      I have no idea what a cycle count is, but will go and look it up now 👍🏼

    • Laninchris on 01/05/2020 - 19:01

      Ok, the cycle count is 29… 🤔

      • sghetti on 01/05/2020 - 19:22
        +1

        That’s quite low, cycle count tells you (In simple terms) how many times the battery has been depleted and charged again.

        High cycle count will usually indicate the battery is worn and performance won’t be great. 29 is pretty good.

        • Laninchris on 01/05/2020 - 19:29

          Great! Thanks 🥳

    • No Username on 01/05/2020 - 18:44
      +1

      Holy S**T that is cheap. Didn't expect it to lose that much value over time.

      • stratbargain on 01/05/2020 - 18:49

        to be fair i didn't read the descriptions but i always find ebay sold prices to be a good guide for second hand market.

      • Laninchris on 01/05/2020 - 18:56

        I know- right? I’ve had it from brand new and know he spent $2899 on it from Apple. But I’m trying to put that knowledge aside to be fair to me as well (I’m usually a bit of a soft-touch and always end up conceding more than I probably should- in this case, I just can’t afford to ☹️)

    • Laninchris on 01/05/2020 - 18:54

      Thanks stratbargain- I notice that you’ve dropped $400-$500 from the eBay prices you listed- is that for bargaining/bartering room or factoring in the ‘friendship’?

      • stratbargain on 01/05/2020 - 18:57
        +1

        If I'm not mistaken on a $1500 sale you're looking at about $200 of ebay/paypal fees.
        Plus another slight reduction based on the fact he isn't having to deal with people on ebay/scams etc.

        Pay what you feel is fair, but I would always go cheaper than the ebay sale prices. It's much more convenient for him to sell to you.

        • Laninchris on 01/05/2020 - 18:58

          Ah, yep- thought that’s where your thinking was at… but I forgot to factor in the eBay fees 🤦🏻‍♀️
          Thank you 🙏🏼

  • MagicMushroom on 01/05/2020 - 19:41

    Some people buy Apple products for their "high resale value" but its really not that different from other branded products.

    • Laninchris on 01/05/2020 - 20:19

      I buy Apple for the compatibility with my other tech, and local support.
      I had a bad experience with a brand new PC, years ago and can’t bring myself to go back 😕 Everyone’s different I ‘spose 🤓

    • Kangal on 01/05/2020 - 20:52

      Nah, Apple products do keep more of their value, but only fools* take that into consideration.

      The last 5 years (2015 - 2020) the MacBooks diverged from the "Jobs Design" and into the "Ive Design". The biggest changes been that bad quality keyboard, and loss of useful ports/dongle-life. So it's not a surprise that they lost value quicker than in-general.

      Actually I noticed the same phenomenon with iPhones as well.
      The iPhone 5S to the iPhone 8 Plus have seemed to hold their values much better than the iPhone X variants. This might be due to the bad display/notch, and the loss of the useful Headphone Jack.

      *actually, not all fools. On Android, Smart buyers will buy 1.1 year old ex-flagships, flash them with custom rom, then upgrade to another ex-flagship phone after 1.6 years. And keep the cycle going.

    • Kangal on 01/05/2020 - 22:04

      Just as a follow-up to my previous comment.

      Since software updates are few, slow, and don't last very long. That way your device remains relevant to developers of the custom roms, there are still accessories/parts when needed, spec-wise your device is not outdated, AND the depreciation has passed its first wave. Upgrading yearly was a smart thing to do from 2009 to 2014, as long as you were able to sell your old device fairly quickly. Since then, phone's have plateaud, and it requires upgrading every 2-3 years to notice meaningful improvements.

      As they say "hindsight is 20/20", so I've made a list of Android phones that make the most sense for upgrade path:

      (Q1 2009) Motorola Cliq > (Q4 2009) Motorola Droid > (Q3 2010) Samsung Epic > (Q1 2011) Samsung SII >
      (Q4 2011) Samsung Note > (Q3 2012) Samsung Note 2 > (Q3 2013) Samsung Note3-Q > (Q3 2014) Samsung Note4-E
      (Q1 2016) Samsung S7 Plus-E > (Q4 2017) Google Pixel 2XL > (Q1 2019) Samsung S10+Q > (Q4 2020) ???

      …that's basically 12 phones over 12 years :\

    • Butanal on 02/05/2020 - 13:53

      Good luck trying to sell your Acer/Lenovo/HP laptops on eBay. They sell at a significant discount or don't sell at all.

      Only products like Dell XPS lines have decent resell value.

      I've been trying to sell my Dell XPS 13 9360 for ages and my 2015 Macbook air sold in 2 weeks for $650…

  • technowiz11 on 11/05/2020 - 22:39

    Would your boss be open to selling all the Macbooks?

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