Which parts should you buy, and which ones should you avoid?
Check a seller’s reputation, and check whether an item has been tested and is in working condition.
Look for sellers with positive feedback, and avoid anyone with a history of selling faulty components.
Justin Duino / How-To Geek
When you’re checking an item, look at how used it is.
Do some research to find out the average market price for the specific part you’re buying.
This will help you determine if the price being asked is reasonable for an item and its condition.
Justin Duino / How-To Geek
Never wire money directly to the seller or use Zelle, as these payment methods are perfect for scammers.
Should You Buy a Used CPU?
UsedCPUsare generally a safe bet.
Justin Duino / How-To Geek
However, chipset compatibility can be an issue, so you should check that beforehand.
Should You Buy Used RAM?
UsedRAMis a pretty safe bet.
Josh Hendrickson / How-To Geek
Should You Buy a Used Monitor?
But generally, it’s considered a safe purchase.
Related:Should You Use a TV as a PC Monitor?
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek
Monitors can age, and so can their displays.
They might get ghosting, burn-in, color fading, geometric distortion, or dead pixels over their lifetimes.
And if they aren’t, you’re free to probably buy an adapter anyway.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek
Should You Buy a Used Keyboard/Mouse?
You should watch out for issues like sticky keys/buttons or dead keys/buttons, as they can ruin your experience.
once you nail cleared all that out, though, you might safely buy these items used.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek
ensure it’s possible for you to return them, though, just in case.
Should You Buy a Used Graphics Card?
The answer to whether you should buy a used GPU is complicated.
Hannah Stryker / How-To Geek
But also, cryptocurrency mining has made this specific second-hand market segment more complicated to navigate.
Related:Buying a Used GPU?
Should You Buy a Used Motherboard?
However, you should exercise increased caution.
If any part were to fail, it’s hard to predict what would happen.
It might be completely fine, or the whole motherboard might just not work at all.
verify the motherboard is in complete working order before you buy it.
Should You Buy Used Storage?
Hard drives have physical magnetic platters inside that are very fragile and very easy to break.
An SSD can also have problems, but at least those won’t be mechanical problems.
you could use it — just don’t save anything in there that you don’t mind losing.
If you want something to use as your primary drive, just get a new hard drive.
Should You Buy a Used Power Supply?
(PSU)
Used power supplies are an absolute negative — you should never buy one.
A used PSU can be very problematic, especially if it’s really old.
In addition, the power it does provide can also be more unstable.
