Macs hold their value better than most computers. If you’re looking to upgrade and your existing Mac has still got some life in it, you should easily be able to sell it to fund your new purchase. Here are the steps you should take to get the best price for it.
Keep the Boxes and Accessories
Buyers who are splashing out hundreds of dollars on used gear like it to look as close to the original thing as possible. Keeping the box goes a long way towards this. It makes your Mac appear newer and better cared for. As a bonus, it makes it easier to package as well.
Having the rest of the original box contents helps too. The original plug and charging cable are obviously preferred; the stickers are great, especially now that Apple no longer includes them with new Macs; and I even keep things like the warranty card and setup booklet.
Give It a Clean
Give your Mac a good clean before you start advertising it. A microfiber cloth should be enough to clean a MacBook or iMac screen. Give the casing a wipe-down. Apple recommends a 70% isopropyl alcohol wipe or 75% ethyl alcohol wipe if you need it, but a damp (but not too damp) lint-free cloth should do the job. Blow the dust out of the ports.
It’s a good idea to clean the keyboard on a MacBook using the same damp cloth, but you won’t be able to wipe the shiny spots off the keys. These aren’t caused by grease but happen when the matte coating wears off, so you can’t undo it.
Also, it might look like parts of a MacBook’s speaker grille are blocked with dust. But a lot of the holes aren’t actually holes; they’re aesthetic details. Some people use a pencil to try to fill them back in, but I leave mine as they are.
Finally, don’t forget to give the charging cable some attention. They can get pretty grubby after a while.
Check It for Damage
When advertising your Mac for sale, it’s a good idea to be honest about its condition. So, give it a good look over for signs of damage. Check it for scratches, scuffs, or any other problems. You will be able to sell the Mac for more money if it is in pristine condition, of course.
As well as checking the condition of the outside, you can test the hardware to make sure it’s all working well. The Apple Diagnostics tool runs a series of tests and highlights any problems.
Apple’s guide shows you how to use it. On an Apple Silicon Mac, restart it while keeping the power button held down. When you see the Startup Options menu, release the power button and press and hold Command+D.
Get the Software Ready for Sale
Before you sell your Mac, you obviously need to reset it. First, it’s a good idea to update it to the latest version of the software. Install any available updates, both system and security, which you can find at System Settings > General > Software Update.
Wiping and resetting a Mac is easy if it uses Apple Silicon and is running macOS Monterey or later. Go to System Settings > General > Transfer or Reset > Erase All Content and Settings and follow the instructions.
On an older Mac, you need to log out of your Apple account and follow various other steps that you can find on the Apple website. If the Mac remains tied to your Apple ID, a new user won’t be able to set it up.
If you got your Mac through work or school, and it has Mobile Device Management (MDM) software on it, you have to remove that, too. You may have to ask the system administrator to remove it.
Confirm That You’ve Removed All Locks
Once you’ve wiped and reset your Mac, you can advertise the fact that you’ve removed your Apple ID and any activation locks like MDM. This won’t affect the price you can ask for your Mac, but it will give buyers some reassurance that you know what you’re doing and that they won’t get any nasty surprises.
Check if Your AppleCare+ Plan Is Transferable
If there’s still some time left on your original AppleCare+ plan, it might be transferable to a new user. As long as you aren’t paying monthly, the plan is typically tied to a device rather than an actual person. You can factor that in when setting your asking price.
Check Apple Support to see if you can transfer your plan.
Set the Price Based on Trade-In Values
Finally, as a way to get the best price, you need to find what the market rates are. As well as looking on places like eBay and Facebook Marketplace to see what others are asking for, you can get some insight from Apple.
Apple offers trade-in deals for new Macs and also sells refurbished Macs. Check what they would offer you for a trade-in, and how much they charge for a refurb, and set your price somewhere in between.
Selling your old Mac is a good way to help fund your new one. But if your Mac is very old and no longer gets OS or security updates, you might find it isn’t worth that much. Instead of selling it in this case, you can try repurposing it instead. I recently turned an old MacBook Air into a Chromebook, and there are many great ways to repurpose a Mac Mini.