Why we cannot match a private sale
We buy to resell. The margin between what we pay and what the item eventually sells for is the entire business, and no shop can pay a private-sale price and still exist.
Any buyer telling you they beat private sales is either mispricing or not telling you something. We would rather put the trade in front of you plainly and let you pick.
What the private route actually asks of you
The higher price is real. So is the work, and it is easy to leave out of the sum when you are looking at completed listings.
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Time
Photographing, writing the listing, pricing it, relisting when it does not sell. Then answering the same three questions from six people, four of whom disappear.
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The lowballs
An offer of half your asking price, ten minutes after posting, every time.
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The no-shows
Somebody agrees a price and a time and simply does not turn up, and you have kept your evening free for it.
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The meeting
A stranger from an app, a car park, cash in hand, often after dark because that is when they are free.
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What happens after
Chargebacks, "it arrived broken", a return demand three weeks later. A private sale is not always over when the money moves.
What you get from a local buyer instead
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An established business at a fixed address
Buyback Geeks is the buyback division of Alamo Geeks LLC — 11503 Jones Maltsberger Rd, the same address and phone as Alamo Geeks LLC, run by people with 20+ years in tech. There is somewhere to come back to.
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Daylight and a front door
Tuesday to Saturday, 12:00 PM to 5:30 PM, in a suite with parking at the front. No car park at eleven at night, no stranger's address, no meeting in the middle.
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One trip, one quote, done
A quote online before you drive, confirmed in about fifteen minutes per item at the bench rather than argued over by message.
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Paid the same day
Cash or company check, before you leave. Not "when it sells", not pending in an app for five days.
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It is final
Once you have been paid, it is finished. Nobody messages you in a fortnight claiming it never worked.
Same-day cash, and no interest in why
Sometimes the reason the money is needed this week is not a good week. Rent moved, a car failed its inspection, a bill arrived that could not wait. People arrive slightly embarrassed to be selling a graphics card, and there is nothing to be embarrassed about.
We do not ask why you are selling and it makes no difference to what you are offered. That is not the same as asking nothing: we record the model and serial of everything we buy and the ID of the person selling it, because that is a condition of dealing in secondhand hardware and it protects both sides. What we have no opinion on is your reason for being there.
You need to be 18 or over with a valid government-issued photo ID. Payment is cash or company check, the same day.
So which should you do?
Honestly, it depends on what you value, and both answers are defensible.
Sell privately
If the item is desirable, you are not in a hurry, and you do not mind the admin. You will get more. Genuinely — go and do that.
Sell to us
If you want it resolved this week, you have several items rather than one, you would rather not meet strangers, or the money is needed now.
Not sure what you have? Start here, or call (210) 710-2020 and describe it.
Common questions
Will you match what I could get privately?
No, and nobody in this business honestly can. We buy to resell and the margin is the business. What we offer instead is speed, safety and finality.
Why do you need my ID?
We record the seller against every serial we buy, and hand the bill of sale to law enforcement if they ask. It is a condition of buying secondhand hardware, and it is the same for everyone.
Do you ask what I am selling it for?
No. It makes no difference to the offer and it is not our business. We do record what you sold and who sold it, which is a different thing.
How quickly can I be paid?
The same visit. Reckon on ten to fifteen minutes of evaluation per item, then cash or a company check before you leave.