In the paradigm to have one laptop to do all my computing needs - I recently purchased a 16-inch MacBook Pro will lots of delicious options - I have to sell my remaining machines to the second-hand market. Not wanting to spend the time nor energy on the likes of Craigslist and eBay just for a slightly higher return on price, I elected to go with third-party resellers that guarantees a price up front. All there is for me to do is box up the computers nicely and drive it to the local Fedex store.
For my old 15-inch MacBook Pro, I went with Apple’s own trade-in program. Customers can either directly apply the credit towards a new purchase, or take an Apple gift card for a future date. I did the latter because at the time I was not yet ready to order this 16-inch MacBook Pro I am currently typing on. It turns out, the Apple trade-in program is handled by a third-party company: Phobio. It does feel a bit bait-and-switch because the the Apple website makes it look like the reputation of Apple is behind the trade-in, but in reality you are to deal with Phobio. Should something go wrong, Apple support isn’t going to do anything - they’ll instead refer you to Phobio.
That’s not exactly confidence inspiring, but I am happy to report I was successful in getting the money for my 15-inch MacBook Pro as promised.
For my circa-2017 27-inch iMac, I went with the company called Cash For Your Mac, after reading solid reviews about the San Diego company on the forums. Like most resellers, they will pay for the shipping, but because it’s a huge iMac, they don’t provide the box. If you need a box, Cash For Your Mac is happy to sell you a bespoke one for $50. I work in IT on a university campus, so lucky enough I was able to grab a spare original iMac box from work. Many rolls of bubble-wrap later, the machine got down to San Diego in two days, and another three days later I received the check in the mail. The transaction is as painless as it gets.
Now that I’ve consolidated my entire digital life onto this 16-inch MacBook Pro, up next is to pursue a solid backup strategy. After all, these mobile machines are relatively easy to lose compared to something stationary like a workstation. I would hate to lose absolutely everything in an instant.
Good point.