Sell Laptops for Parts: Breaking Down the Most Valuable Components

How do you sell laptops for parts and get the most money? In this blog, we’ll take a look.

As business professionals, we’ve all been in this situation at one time or another: we look at our worn-out or unused office laptops and think “It’s time to sell my laptop parts for cash.” After all, your laptop may have served your business well throughout the past few years but the time to upgrade has finally arrived.

Why You Should Sell Your Laptop for Parts

Rather than simply throwing your laptop in the trash, consider disassembling it and selling off various parts.

When you sell your used laptops, you cut back on waste. And, this helps the planet.

Also, you could actually get some good money back in the process, it’s never been easier to sell used processors.

Simply put, laptops are a trove of parts that can be repurposed for other uses. Whether they are simply sold as spare parts or used for DIY purposes, there is a lot of value in selling your extra hardware parts.

Selling Laptop Parts vs Manufacturing Materials

You and your colleagues likely do not have time to disassemble a laptop yourselves.

That’s fine though. You can always take inventory of your used laptops. From there, you can take them to a recycling facility for recovery of useful materials. These materials including aluminum, copper, and even gold.

Although all laptops have a standard array of common parts, they are assembled by each manufacturer in different ways. This often depends upon the brand. Therefore, there is no definitive standard for removing certain parts.

Conversely, stocking up on old parts is also relatively fruitless. This is because technology changes so fast that they often become useless after a short time.

Basically, you want to get paid the most money possible for old parts. And to do this, you need to sell them as soon as possible.

What Laptop Parts to Sell

Selling laptop components can vary based on production year and manufacturer. However, you can expect the same general make up for most laptops.

Components of laptop parts that can be sold include:

• The Power Supply
• CPU
• Battery Packs
• RAM
• Displays
• HDD and SDD
• Optical Drive
• CMOS Battery

Power Supply

A fair amount of businesses are concerned with offloading unused or outdated CPUs. Yet, there are many other components that could get a sizable return as well. One of those components is the power supply.

If your laptops are entirely broken whatever you replace it with will likely have a new connector, so keeping your old supplies does not make much sense.

If you’ve ever had to replace a power supply, you already know that it is not cheap to do so.

So you could make a fair amount of money undercutting some of the more expensive offerings.

Additionally, the power cable itself is fairly easy to repurpose for use with other devices. So consider keeping it if you decide not to sell.

CPU

A lot of people ask, “What can I make if I sell my CPU?” Fortunately, selling CPUs can be as lucrative as selling your laptop’s display (more on that below).

Better yet, they are ridiculously easy to sell. This is due to the fact that they are not permanently attached to the motherboard.

Most of them are actually mounted on top of the motherboard, so all you have to do is dislodge it from a small socket.

Depending on the model you have, you may need to remove a passive cooling system prior to accessing the CPU.

When doing this, take care to hold the CPU around the edges so as to not bend the pins, and removed, you will soon see that selling CPUs has never been easier.

Battery Pack

While most businesses only think to sell processors, battery packs can also be profitable.

That’s of course if there is a demand for them.

Most laptop batteries are exclusive to a specific model and are usually not cheap to replace.

So, don’t just toss your old computers in the trash. First, check to see if your old battery packs have any life left in them.

Even if there is only a small amount, say a couple of hours or so, there is a chance someone might be willing to purchase it.

RAM

While most people ask “how can I sell my CPU?”, there’s also a fair amount of money to be made in selling RAM.

These memory sticks are relatively easy to remove and can yield lucrative returns for a few simple reasons.

RAM is differentiated by its storage capacity, which is measured in GB, and shape, designated by the name DDR2 or DDR3.

Additionally, RAM also has different clock speeds, which are measured in MHz.

Selling old RAM is somewhat more reliable than selling CPUs because the technology does not change as rapidly. In this regard, people may have devices that are compatible with your old laptop’s memory sticks.

So, if you’re looking to sell your used processors that aren’t able to be repaired, it wouldn’t hurt to consider selling some RAM. If you are considering your options, you can obtain a quote from us on your memory and RAM.

For other IT equipment, we can help with selling old hard drives, servers, and computers in bulk. For your convenience, we also provide free asset valuation and service quotes.

Display

If your business is trying to offload unused or out of date computer displays that are in good condition, we can help with that also. Displays are one of the most valuable parts of a laptop.

However, they are fairly difficult to remove, so if you have specific questions be sure to consult a professional.

Additionally, if you have to ship a display, be sure to pack it extra carefully.

LCDs break very easily,  so couple layers of bubble wrap and a thorough tape job should be good enough.

HDD and SSD

When some businesses sell used processors, they are usually not sure what kind of return to expect. Unfortunately, due to consistent technological advancements, hard drives consistently fail to yield favorable returns.

Additionally, sometimes it pays just to sell processors because selling a hard drive means you experience the added strain of having to delete your information before you ship it.

For this reason, we recommend using them to store non-essential files and data.

It doesn’t matter whether your laptops use an HDD or SSD, as both are easy to remove.

Once you remove the drive, you can install it in a small USB case for use as an external drive.

From there, all you need is a USB adapter and you’re in business. Luckily, your business probably already has a few lying around.

Optical Drive

Similar to an old hard drive, an optical drive can be repurposed simply by installing it into a new USB enclosure.

However, before you remove the drive be sure to note what type of connector it uses to attach to the motherboard, it will either be IDE or SATA.

CMOS Battery

You will find the CMOS battery atop your laptop’s motherboard. It is a small coin cell responsible for powering a computer’s low-level functions while it is switched off.

If you’ve ever been in a situation where your BIOS loses its settings, the CMOS was likely the culprit.

They are used on most computer motherboards along with a variety of other devices. So hang onto them if you have them.

Instead of looking to only sell used processors, you could just as easily sell used CMOS batteries.

Other Parts

This list has covered some of the most essential laptop parts that can be sold. However, there are many more components that your business might be able to repurpose or sell.

It’s still important to properly dispose of any hardware to reduce your risk of a security breach.

Don’t solely sell processors when you can remove the keyboard, touchpad, card reader, webcam, or even the fingerprint reader (for those of you that have the new Macbook laptops).

It is true that some of these items will not sell for much, though they can make excellent replacement parts if any of your current gear breaks down.

Also, there are niche markets for some of the smaller components, such as fans, so be sure to check online before you throw anything away.

Remnants

As anyone who has ever tried to sell used processors can attest, there will always be parts that cannot be repurposed or used in any productive way.

Some of these components could include parts we have already mentioned, such as the battery, power supply, motherboard, or even the plastic covering, the primary factor is the overall condition of the parts.

It’s Time to Sell Laptops for Parts

Hopefully, this article has convinced you to refrain from throwing away any old laptops.

No matter how many parts have been stripped, there are likely more that can be recycled and put to good use.

If you have questions, don’t be afraid to consult one of our qualified professionals.

In business for over 25 years, exIT Technologies is the gold standard when it comes to IT asset recovery. Our impeccable team makes selling your servers, processors, memory, hard drives, and a variety of other components a cinch.

Our expedient and thorough process will save you time, money, and stress in the long run.

Once you send in the parts, we immediately process and wipe any sensitive data before sending you a check along with an itemized report.

We aim to provide expedient solutions within one business day or so. Our goal is to make liquidating your assets as painless as possible.

Have something to add? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!