How To Sell An Old LCD Monitor Quickly

So you succumbed to temptation and bought that new 32″ LCD monitor for your computer, and now you’ve got an old but still perfectly functional LCD monitor taking up space on your desk or in your closet. The reality is that most of the time we don’t replace monitors because the old one broke, but rather because we wanted something bigger, brighter, and better, like a backlit LED monitor or a curved display.

So if you have an older LCD panel monitor (or stack of them) in perfect working order and aren’t doing anything with it, you might want to sell it and get it off your hands. In this article I’ll present some basic suggestions for selling your monitor quickly, easily, and safely.

Before I list off my suggestions, here are a few no-no’s:

• Don’t state how much you paid for it originally. Nobody cares, and it doesn’t make your monitor any more valuable because the thing is used. Saying “Originally paid $X” in your ad means absolutely nothing. Monitor prices drop constantly and your monitor wouldn’t fetch what you paid for it the day after you bought it, let alone now, months or even years later.
• Do not price it higher than the current lowest-priced new monitor of the same size. It’s very unlikely anyone will buy it if you do this. People aren’t idiots; they can go to the Walmart website or Amazon as easily as they can pick up their phone. If the equivalent new model of your monitor is selling for $99, you’re not going to be able to get $99 for your older one. In fact, pricing it anything close to new is just going to make people angry. Realistically, the highest price you can charge is 20% below what the cheapest new monitor of the same size and feature set costs now – assuming yours is in mint condition.
• Not showing a photo of the monitor with a picture on it. It’s a monitor and buyers want to see it working. Don’t show that, and it will be a hard sell.

Where to post your ad?

In the USA, the best place is Craigslist. No cost for the ad, and tons of people use CL every day. Depending on your location, you might also do well with Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp, or Letgo.

How to post your ad?

Unless you live in the middle of the woods, it should be a local-only sale, cash only, local pickup only (meaning no shipping). If you have to ship the thing, you’ll have to increase the price out of what most people would be willing to pay.

Example ad

Title: [Size here] [Brand name here] [Model here]
Price: [20% below cost of same-size monitor brand new here]
Description: Mint condition [Size here] [Brand name here] [Model here] monitor. No dead pixels, backlight is good and bright, all controls work, comes with power cable. Local pickup only, cash only.

Some people feel compelled to write ads that waffle incessantly. Don’t do that. You don’t need to say where you got it, or when, or why you’re selling it, or what you’re going to use the money for. Again, nobody cares. Just get to the point and the monitor will sell quickly.

How to determine your price and deal with hagglers

Say a brand-new monitor like yours sells for $100. Knock off 20% and you end up with $80, so that’s what you post as the price.

The haggler, looking to get everything for nothing, will lowball you and offer $40. Come back with $65, he’ll say $45, you say $55, he says $50, you take the $50.

And yes, if you can sell a used panel for $50, take the money and be glad you got it. The rule of thumb is to list for 80% of new and be willing to sell for 50% of new.

Final notes:

Don’t discuss price in email. If the haggler makes an offer before coming over to see it, just reply with “We can discuss price when you come to take a look at it”. That lets the haggler know you’re willing to negotiate. However if the haggler starts getting snippy at you in email, don’t bother with the guy and wait until more replies to your ad come in (and believe me, they will).

There’s always that idiot that will reply to your ad and say “Do you ship?” even though you said point blank “Local delivery only” in your ad. Just ignore those people. There’s no dealing with them, and trying to engage will just waste your time and encourage their bad behavior.