Barely a week will go by without the launch of the latest mobile phone, laptop, tablet or whatever else. This is great for technology, it makes each generation of gadget more advanced and better designed.
As the market place grows the competition between manufacturers’ increases, meaning better products, at better prices. This is how technology evolves over time but this technology comes at a financial price.
When to upgrade is just as important as what to upgrade as choosing the right time to sell will make a huge difference to its second hand value. If you have the patience, waiting even just a few weeks could save you some money.
Once the mania and excitement has died down a little so will the prices, the on-line marketplace will often bring prices down a little quicker than the high street. If the new product is coming out in October or November in time for Christmas, waiting for the January sales will certainly bring down the price. It’s usually a case of how patient you can be, if you have no patience expect to pay “top whack” for your gadgets
What to upgrade is complicated and everyone will have their own reasons for their own choices and order of importance. The first and most important reason to me to upgrade something is simply if the item in question is broken or clearly dying a slow death. I use my computer for work as well as video editing, storing my all of my music as well as sound processing (mastering if you must know) so I have a lot invested in my computer simply because I need it.
My last phone was indescribably irritating with an operating system as intuitive as the flight panel to a space shuttle with a Klingon instruction manual. That was enough for me to upgrade my phone. I have a colleague who upgrades everything and anything he has whenever Apple brings out a new anything. He loves Apple and would much prefer having an iPhone over a Samsung or another competitor, but that could change in the future. Not for now though. He is so protective over his phone, so you can imagine that he was super upset when it broke. Luckily he found a company that were able to Fix iPhone for him, which he was really grateful for. I think this is a great route to go down when you don’t want to upgrade your phone. I laugh at my colleague every time he gets a new phone (in fact, I frequently laugh at his slavish loyalty) but it makes him happy and it’s his money.
Remembering to sell your old model and at the right time can help you off-set the cost of your upgrade. When I decided to sell my laptop I sold it the moment that the release date was announced and got a good price for it. If you are anticipating for example purchasing the new Playstation 4 you would do well to sell your PS3 or Xbox 360 sooner rather than. It is at the point in time when everyone wants to sell their old generation of console that the market will become flooded. It is simply supply and demand; if supply outstrips demand the product has little or no monetary value.
So by asking yourself what needs upgrading, when it needs upgrading, how long you can wait and what to do with your old model you will could find few pounds in your back pocket you would have otherwise lost. Put it towards your next upgrade.
I’m George Tomos from Cardiff. When not creating informative posts on how to sell technology such as laptops I am usually using it and buying new shiny gadgets.