Stop anchoring to what you paid
The most common mistake in valuing a PC part — buying or selling — is starting from its launch price and taking a percentage off. Hardware doesn't depreciate on a schedule. It depreciates in steps, mostly when a replacement generation launches, and the size of the step varies enormously by part. A graphics card can lose a third of its value in the month a successor appears. A processor from the same era might barely move. A memory kit can go up when supply tightens.
The only number that means anything is what that part is selling for right now.
Look it up
We publish current used-market values for around a thousand specific components, free, at Market Prices. Find your part and the page will show you:
- The current used value, with the date of the most recent observation
- The 30-day and 90-day averages, which matter more than the latest reading if you're deciding rather than trading
- Which way it has moved over the last 30 days
- The full recorded range and how many observations that's built from
- A buying band and a selling band, derived from that part's own numbers
The figures come from completed eBay sold listings — what buyers actually paid, not what sellers are asking. That distinction is the whole thing: asking prices are free to invent, and a marketplace full of optimistic listings will tell you a part is worth far more than anyone will pay for it.
Adjust for your actual part
A published market value describes a working, complete unit in ordinary used condition. Yours may not be that. Adjust downward for:
- Untested, or "worked when removed." This is the big one. A part nobody will vouch for sells at a real discount, and should.
- Missing accessories — power adapters, brackets, mounting hardware, the specific cable a card needs.
- Cosmetic damage, which matters less than people fear but isn't nothing.
- Wear you can measure: a drive reporting heavy use, a fan that's audibly tired.
- Selling in a hurry. Speed costs money, in either direction.
Adjust upward, modestly, for a matched kit rather than singles, for original packaging, and for remaining manufacturer warranty.
Two different numbers, both correct
If you're selling, there isn't one price — there are two, and they price different amounts of work. Listing privately gets you close to market value, and costs you photography, questions, packing, shipping and the occasional return. Selling outright to a shop or as part of a whole machine gets you meaningfully less, because the buyer is taking on the testing, the warranty and the time. Each component page shows both bands so you can decide which trade you want.
Valuing a whole computer
A complete machine is worth roughly the sum of its worthwhile parts, minus the labour of separating them — which is why the case, the power supply and the memory contribute far less than people expect, and the graphics card usually dominates. If it's a whole desktop you're valuing rather than a loose part, our sister business Cash For PC has a free Windows app that reads the hardware and returns a firm cash offer in seconds, and a longer write-up on what sets a used PC's price. That service buys machines in the Columbus, Ohio area; the price research is useful anywhere.
Look up any part's current value → Free, no account, updated continuously from real sold listings — whether you're buying from us, selling elsewhere, or just settling an argument.