Factors Influencing Value

By Ed Dalton

Processor speed, amount of RAM, hard disk size, and multimedia capabilities all influence the value of a computer, but the dominant factor affecting value is the vintage.

Computers and related equipment derive their value from the use you can make of them. What you should be willing to pay for such equipment must make sense in terms of what the computer will do for you over the next year or two. Few consumer durables depreciate faster than computers. Whatever you pay for a computer today, you can expect that one year from now it will be worth about half what you paid.

If a computer is more than five years old, you may even have trouble giving it away.

A used computer is generally worth substantially less than a new computer with the same capabilities. This is primarily because of the uncertainty a buyer has regarding any problems that may come up. However, if the used computer is still under warranty (and if the warranty is transferable) it could be a very good buy. A computer that has been used for a few months is actually less likely to develop a hardware problem than a new computer. This is because semiconductors exhibit a phenomenon called infant mortality - they are most likely to fail in the first few days of use. Computers that don't die in the first few weeks tend to last for many years.

The preceding material was written by Ed Dalton. These are the opinions of the author, not the opinions of eBay, and therefore eBay does not validate the accuracy of or endorse these opinions.