Sell old computer software

There is NOT an ultimate legal agreement regarding reselling software. If you purchase a new license, rather than upgrade your old software, you are permitted to transfer your old license. That is, as long as you did not purchase the original license with a volume licensing arrangement. Autodesk , the courts said that because Autodesk had said, explicitly, that old software had to be destroyed — that Vernor never owned it, merely licensed it — he was not allowed to resell it.

One wonders if Vernor had thrown the software into the trash, and someone had retrieved it and started using it, rather than Vernor trying to sell it on eBay, if Autodesk could have sued Vernor for not truly destroying the software.

And note that it has info on how to find out if your user agreement forbids you reselling a particular software tool. Also see: Shout out to nonprofit efforts to refurbish computers.

Also see my page on how I use my lime green clam shell iBook, bought in Unfortunately, as of , I can no longer get online with this device. And have you ever looked for older versions of software for a vintage computer that you use? This article is the second most popular entry on my blog. If you have benefited from this blog or other parts of my web site or my YouTube videos and would like to support the time that went into researching information, developing material, preparing articles, updating pages, paying for this web site to be hosted, etc.

I receive no funding for this work , here is how you can help. How to sell to us. All terms on this page are trademarks of their respective holders. EMS is not affiliated with the producers of any of these products nor with any other company. Novell is a registered trademark of Novell, Inc. Sadly, their lawyers are destroying what was formerly a fine company. They are now simply the worst software company we've ever dealt with. Craig's List is entirely free — an electronic version of the classifieds board in your local supermarket.

There are no selling fees to pay — but also very little in the way of financial protection, so use it carefully. See also Facebook Marketplace. Old computers soon lose their value — but the bits and pieces inside them could be useful to someone. So, if you're selling a PC that has a couple of years on the clock, consider dismantling it and selling the parts. Recoverable bits include RAM chips, drives, video cards, power transformers and the case. Even USB 2. Strictly speaking, most software licenses forbid resale.

But then again, so do the terms and conditions inside books and CDs. One thing to look out for in this age of electronic activation though is to ensure you've deactivated and removed the software you intend to sell from your computer before you box it up and stick it on eBay.

Failing to do so may prevent others from being able to install the software on their own machine. Here's a nice Christmas story: two weeks ago we found an eight year old Bondi Blue iMac in a skip. Got home, plugged it in and, presto, it worked. With minimal expenditure on a new keyboard and mouse , some free software and an old printer, the machine is up, running and ready for our nephew's bedroom. Your old tech, suitably spruced up, could make a great gift for someone else — and a penny saved is a penny earned.

A couple of old hard drives from eBay bunged into an old PC, alongside the networking tools built into Windows, gives you a cheap alternative to a brand new NAS drive.