Does anybody know of a used TV price guide?

[lookimback]

I'm wondering if there is something like a blue book for working used TVs. Something that I could use to find a TVs value based on factors such as brand, size, type, age, accessories (remote, wall mount or stand, etc), condition (mint, light scratches, scuffs, etc). I would find this very useful and I'm sure others would too. Perhaps if such a thing doesn't exist could we make a list here to give me a general idea? Thanks.

Edit: I did find usedprice.com but they want $130 per year for access to TV and video blue book and don't even offer a trial membership so a person could find out if they are even accurate.

[capkid]

No, I doubt anything like that exists. Craigslist ads in your area and the prices for new TVs are going to be your best gauges. These were typical prices in my area on an average 5-year-old TV about 8 months ago:

40": $150
42": $200
46": $250
50": $300

Prices have dropped dramatically since then, which is why I stopped buying TVs awhile back. When I was buying TVs, I stayed away from TVs that had scratches on the screen or scuff marks that stood out. Also, I didn't buy TVs that didn't come with a stand. TVs without remotes got lower offers. Lastly, I only bought common brands: Panasonic, LG, Samsung, Vizio, Philips, Sony, and Toshiba.

[lookimback]

Much less than I thought. CL is what I've been using. I think brand plays a significant roll as well. I've found Sony and Samsung to have higher prices than others such as visio and other off brands. I did find that I can at least get some basic info, such as production year, for free on the usedprice.com site. That can help a lot.

[capkid]

I used hdtvsolutions.com to do my research on TVs. The thing about using Craigslist as a gauge is that you don't actually know the final selling price or how long it took to sell the TV. I used to watch some ads to see how long they stayed up and the flexibility of the seller on price ("OBO", "Make me an offer", "Firm", etc) to get a general idea of the final selling price.

Edit: My goal was always to move TVs within two days of my final testing of the TV. I always set my price just slightly higher that the average of similar TVs on CL, and I put "OBO" in the ad to attract buyers.

[lookimback]

I always set my price just slightly higher that the average of similar TVs on CL, and I put "OBO" in the ad to attract buyers.

That's a very good idea and I will definitely use it. I'll check out the hdtvsolutions site as well. I have a 32 inch Magnavox I bought for $20. I'm replacing 3 bad caps on the power board for about $10. I told my neighbor he could get it for $75 when I fix it. After his reaction to the price I've been thinking I should have said more but it is a 2006 model. I gave him my word on the price so I won't change it but will start higher and be willing to come down next time.

[capkid]

Yeah, I sold a couple TVs more cheaply than I should have. Sometimes, though, it's a matter of convenience, and it sounds like it will work out just fine. You won't have much time invested in selling this TV, since you don't have to take pictures, place an ad on CL, and weed through flaky buyers; time is money. Also, a 7-year-old 32" TV isn't easy to move when you can get 42" TVs for a few buck more. The last 32" TV I sold about 8 months ago went for $95, and it was 7 years old.

[lookimback]

So I guess I did good. I'm usually happy if I can just double my investment.

[tibimakai]

I can still get better prices then that in LA, but I have to wait sometimes to get that price.
I don't have problem waiting, that TV is money, why to rush selling it? I'm still asking much less then others. I see 2008 Sony TV's (46") asking $550 which is crazy in my opinion, I'm staring around $390 and going down from there.
I have sold last week, a 2010 Sony 46EX400 for $360. I still have one to repair, but I was busy with other things(this is for budm).
A year ago, I was selling 46" TVs (2008-2009) around $400-460, now the prices went down a lot.
I stay away from lines on screens, scratches, and stick to well know brands. The only cheap brand that I had is the 46" LED Westinghouse(2x) with the ribbon cable. It was fairly new, very thin TV and an easy repair.
I stay away from 32" TVs, they don't bring enough profit. Sometimes though, I have neighbors asking for smaller TVs for there bedrooms.

[lookimback]

I've been doing well with 32s but wouldn't mess with anything smaller. I'm picking up a 32" Westinghouse (ew32S5kw) today for $30. I guess it powers up but then goes black. I figure worst case scenario its the power board, best case its bad caps on the power board or maybe a blown ccfl. Won't know until I open it but I'm sure I can fix it and make a profit.

[capkid]

Originally Posted by tibimakai

I can still get better prices then that in LA, but I have to wait sometimes to get that price.
I don't have problem waiting, that TV is money, why to rush selling it? I'm still asking much less then others. I see 2008 Sony TV's (46") asking $550 which is crazy in my opinion, I'm staring around $390 and going down from there.

Everyone's market is different, and I'd have to get VERY creative to make those kinds of sales in my area. One-year-old 50" Panasonics were going for less than $400 at a few local discount outlets that advertise on Craigslist. A person who lives 25 miles south of me was able to sell at a little higher price because the demographic is different; less sophisticated buyers. Also, I wasn't going after top prce. The more I waited, I was turning over fewer TVs and making less money in the long run.

[tibimakai]

That is the thing that I don't have to many TVs, so I rather keep the price higher, but still lower then others.
When I pick up to many TVs(which is rear) and I hear it from my wife, then I change the price.

[capkid]

Originally Posted by tibimakai

That is the thing that I don't have to many TVs, so I rather keep the price higher, but still lower then others.
When I pick up to many TVs(which is rear) and I hear it from my wife, then I change the price.

LOL - yeah, I hear you. I was on hiatus for a few months, so I was doing several a week. I have a few leftovers from when I quit buyiing and selling, but they're in a storage area of my house that's hardly used.

[Dangermoose007]

Why repair and resell on CL, from what I've seen breaking them down and listing for parts on E-bay brings in a bigger buck. I'm new to this so maybe time will tell otherwise, shipping and underhanded E-bay buyers may ruin the profits there.

From what I can tell brand name is the best indicator of parts profit, followed very closely by screen size. (the bigger the name and screen the more likely someone will want to repair it/be in the market for parts)

[capkid]

Selling on eBay works, but sometimes there's an overabundance of parts for a particular TV because there's a common failure in a scarcer part.

[lookimback]

Also, parts may not sell right away and then your money is tied up for a while.

Edit: I have considered buying TVs with broken screens and parting them out. Might do it after I move next month. My place is too small right now.

[capkid]

Originally Posted by lookimback

Also, parts may not sell right away and then your money is tied up for a while.

Edit: I have considered buying TVs with broken screens and parting them out. Might do it after I move next month. My place is too small right now.

That's where I was going when I mentioned an overabundance of parts: You might be sitting on them for a while, or you might have to lower your price so much that your profits are gobbled up.

[lookimback]

@Capkid and Dangermoose007, I'm going to try just parting out 2 working TVs this week. I picked up a 37" Olevia 237-t12 which shuts it self off after about 10 minutes. I'm figuring its something getting hot on the power supply and thermal protection is kicking in. I'll fix it and part out the entire set just as a test. Its a good TV to try this with because I'm seeing lots of parts for it selling on eBay. The trick is to refine your search to show all completed listings. The other TV is a Samsung LN32B360. It won't turn on but must have standby power because red light is on. I haven't picked it up yet. I'll get it tomorrow and I suspect bad caps on the power supply. I'm seeing the main and power boards selling for as much as $95 on eBay. Not exactly sure how to ship the panels safely. I'm thinking the safest way would be to build a wooden box with some 1x1s or 1x2s and make top and bottom from 1/8 inch Masonite. Then use a lot of bubble wrap so they can't move. Probably sell backlight assembly with the panel. I think I can get $150 (w/free shipping) just for the panel/backlight assemblies. Probably cost about $50 for the shipping. I'll post how it goes here.

[lookimback]

OK, I said I would post back here regarding my parting out a working TV on eBay. So I tried 2 TVs instead of one. One was the Samsung LN32B360C5D and the other was a Dynex DX-LCD32-09 with Chunghwa panel (some versions have different panel. Maybe ChiMei, can't remember and don't have time to open my other Dynex to see.).

The Samsung, with remote, I paid $45 for.
The Dynex, with remote, I paid $30 for.

Cost of repairs was around 6 or 7 dollars.

So, that's about $82 invested.

Now, to protect myself from fraudulent buyers, I purchased tamper evident labels to put on every item. I accept returns so I need to prevent buyers from trying to switch boards on me.

I haven't listed the bases or the panels yet because

1) I don't have suitable packaging to ship the panels.
2) I want to order larger tamper evident labels so I can place one on the panel frame/backlight. I warranty items I sell for 180 days but conditions apply. Panel and backlight are sold as one unit and can not be separated without voiding the warranty.

As for the bases, I was waiting on my postage scale so I can accurately calculate my shipping expenses. Scale came today so I'll be listing them tonight.

My listings have been active for about a week. My prices are between 50¢ and $1 below the lowest priced current listings for each specific part. The only exception is where one seller is selling an item way below its value.

In theory my listings should sell first. Mine cost less, come with 180 day warranty, and I offer no hassle returns provided that tamper evident labels aren't removed or altered.

So far I've sold the power supply/inverter board and remote from the Samsung.

Power Supply $89.99
Remote $12.99

Shipping was $11.19 for priority mail. (2 buyers)

Ebay selling fees 10% or $10.29
PayPal fees $3.59
Packaging about $2.50 but in the future I'm going to make my own boxes.

So, $102.90-27.57 = $75.33

So, its been a week and I haven't even recouped my initial investment yet.

I'm not going to pass judgment on this yet because I haven't listed the panels or bases yet. Nobody is selling panels for those models so they might sell quick. I'm going to try $150 for the Samsung panel/backlight and $125 for the Dynex. Free shipping. If they don't sell I'll lower the price until they do. If I removed the panel from the backlight and sold it separately I could drop the price quite a bit. Shipping is about $50-60 each with the backlights, which weigh about 15 pounds each.

I think I can make more money per TV this way but my money stays tied up longer. If I just sold the TVs I probably could have made $125-140 for the Dynex, $160-180 for the Samsung (based on current listings on craigslist, no guarantee they sold for those amounts though).

To be quite honest, I don't think I'll make that much more by parting them out. Once you deduct shipping, selling fees and PayPal fees, the return, assuming I sell every part, is probably not going to be more than $30-50 more. That and the amount of time required to list, pack and ship. That's all time that I could spend buying and fixing other TVs. May by that's why everybody isn't doing it.

[capkid]

Yeah, as you've realized, there's more involved than just listing parts and waiting for a buyer. PayPal and shipping can kill you, especially on some of the larger, heavier, or oddly-shaped parts. Determining how to properly dispose of parts that aren't worth selling can be an issue, also. Some people have made it work, but it's not my cup of tea. If I had time, the only way I'd do it is if I got TVs free or EXTREMELY cheaply.

[lookimback]

Of course, all that said, I'm not going to give up. Selling on Ebay is a great way to recoup losses on TVs which I can't fix. I got $89.99 for the main board from my Westinghouse LD-4255VX which had irreparable TAB bond failure. I paid $80 for it (which was way too much). On that I'm almost even. But, as you said, they would have to be free or very cheap for it to be really worth it. Sets with broken/defective screens which could be obtained cheaply will be my focus for ebay sales now. I still believe I could make a very profitable business out of this. Considering what I'm paying for TVs now, selling a working 32" TV for $140 would give me enough money to buy 3 or 4 more.