eBay advice: Selling a Dell R930 4x E7-4850 v3 + 4x 1100w [no RAM no HDDs]

[TrumanHW]

Been trying to sell a Dell PowerEdge R930 with QUAD (4) 14-core E7-4850 v3 & 4x 1100w (no RAM or HDDs)

I've seen other units without CPUs sell for the same as mine's listed for in the last few months.
Anyone see anything about my ad that's deterring people..?
FWIW, I have 100% positive feedback and offer free pickup + inspection.

I've literally sold between $5 - $10-million in IT gear on eBay (not this account) ... and usually feel confident; but I haven't sold server gear since ~2000 when I was selling Sun Ultra 30s and 60s, SGI Octanes and HP Visualize systems... (talk about good times!)

These days I don't have much $$ ... and I've been waiting for months for someone to buy this. I know if I wanted to sell it for cheaper than others sell them for in the last 6 months, of course I can sell it ... but is there a reason that it isn't selling even when it is a better deal than other units I've seen sell...?

Should I add hard drives + RAM to it and just charge cost for the component-upgrades..?
Since the warranty is expired, does it matters to people if it's OEM RAM or drives..?

You can look at the add or I've copied most of it below:

www.ebay.com/itm/233481084103




Dell PowerEdge || R930 || Quad (4) 14-core, E7-4850 v3 || 56-cores @ 2.20GHz

• Hard Drives + RAM [NOT INCLUDED]
• ALL IMAGES ARE [ACTUAL UNIT]
•• Excluding pic 2 (stock photo) ••

Dell Service Tag: CN74182 >> GUARANTEED WORKING<<

Quad (4) Xeon E7-4850 v3 CPUs with 14-cores each, 56-physical cores & 112-threads @ 2.2GHz

CONFIRMED:

338-BHCX CPU 2x Intel Xeon E7-4850 v3
374-BBJT CPU 2x Intel Xeon E7-4850 v3
115w, 2.2GHz Turbo, HT 14c | 28t 35M 8.0GT/s QPI, Max Mem 1867 MHz
412-AABP Heat Sinks for PowerEdge R930
540-BBBB C63DV Intel X520 (2) 10GbE (SFP+) + i350 (2) 1GbE BASE-T, rNDC
405-AAJB X4TTX PERC H730P RAID Controller, 2GB NV Cache
450-AENR 2+2 1100w PSU (Redundant Config.)
329-BCNK PowerEdge R930 Motherboard, No TPM
370-ACCG DIMM Blanks for Systems with 4 Processors
350-BBCT Bezel Bezel
321-BBQY 2.5" Chassis with up to 24 Hard Drives
429-AAAN DVD ROM, SATA, Internal
370-ACCI Qty 8 Memory Risers for PE R930


UNCONFIRMED:

385-BBHO iDRAC8 (integrated Dell Remote Access Controller) Enterprise


LIKELY CONFIGURATION:

384-BBBL Performance BIOS Settings
780-BBDV RAID for H330/H730P (1-24 HDDs) (unconfigured)



Terms & Conditions

>> can provide as many pictures as you'd like <<

• Guaranteed Working + Good Condition (see pics)
• No deep gouges / dents (only minor scratches)
• Packing: Boxed + Foam, Shipped via LTL on Pallet
• LTL Freight Take ≤ 5 days to ship from payment.
• Signature Required @ PayPal confirmed address
• ALL INCLUDED ITEMS: Are shown & stated, ONLY. (unsure? ask!)
• If any parts are missing they'll be shipped & can't justify cancelation.
• INTERNATIONAL ORDERS: PLS CONTACT TO DISCUSS

• NO RETURNS UNLESS THE ITEM IS DEFECTIVE • SHIPPING IS NON-REFUNDABLE.

 

[TrumanHW]

This guys looks like a good deal ... but it's using engineering sample processors, now OEM processors ... and from what I understand there are actual differences in how they work ... may lack instruction sets, etc.

Computer Servers for sale | eBay

Get the best deals on Computer Servers and find everything you'll need to improve your home office setup at eBay.com. Fast & Free shipping on many items!

www.ebay.com

There are completed auctions for 4x E7-8890v4 ES for $550 ... which is about the same price as the OEM (non-HP) price per E7-4850 v3 ...

Should I upgrade these CPUs..? Sell the OEM processors and put in ES versions of a higher-end proc..?

 

[Bjorn Smith]

My 2 cents:

1. Its a lot of money for a single server - no matter if its powerful or not ( from homelab perspective)
2. You are not a business seller, so its more risky to buy - and if it goes wrong - 3k USD is a lot of money
3. The market for a server like this is not as big as single/dual cpu servers, simply because no or very few private homelabs would buy this - which leaves business buyers - and they probably prefer to buy from a business
4. I think your price is too high, it is a niche product and will probably only sell if its cheaper

So my suggestion is either contact a broker and ask them to give you an offer - or sell it much cheaper.
In comparison - I sold a Dell VRTX blade system - with 6 blades, memory, SSD's etc - fully working with 4x dual CPU blades for around the same price you are asking for a single server.

/Bjørn

 

[Rand__]

Yeah my thoughts were similar.
It might be worth it technically, but its indeed a big investment and a small market (quite specific).

I'd split out at least the CPUs to lower the price of the chassis

 

[Spartacus]

Have you checked what a local used parts dealer will pay you for it just to see?
When you cut out having to give 300-500$ for ebay fees it might not be worth messing with ebay and shipping.

UNCONFIRMED:

385-BBHO iDRAC8 (integrated Dell Remote Access Controller) Enterprise


LIKELY CONFIGURATION:

384-BBBL Performance BIOS Settings
780-BBDV RAID for H330/H730P (1-24 HDDs) (unconfigured)

This section doesn't instill alot of confidence, figure out if it has idrac or not that'd be a deal breaker for me.
And as others have said at 3k$ and a 4u 2.5" behemoth its not really a user market.
If you have limited $ already, I wouldnt put more into it, accept a cut in your gains and get rid of it at what you can get imo.

 

[TrumanHW]

Thanks for the input everyone. I appreciate it all.

 

[T_Minus]

Have you checked what a local used parts dealer will pay you for it just to see?
When you cut out having to give 300-500$ for ebay fees it might not be worth messing with ebay and shipping.

This section doesn't instill alot of confidence, figure out if it has idrac or not that'd be a deal breaker for me.
And as others have said at 3k$ and a 4u 2.5" behemoth its not really a user market.
If you have limited $ already, I wouldnt put more into it, accept a cut in your gains and get rid of it at what you can get imo.

This was my thought looking at specs too, it has "original" cpu then "upgrade" and then this text.

Clean all that text up, list exactly what it has.
Show screenshots of it booting, bios, etc. (then be sure to have in red\bold at bottom what's NOT included, don't put this at top IMO).

If you have old SSD or HDD throw some in there.

It's a cool looking system but I'm not familiar with the Dell lineup so maybe show some more pics of where CPUs go, ram goes, etc, to give people more ideas.

Unique selling feature IMO is it takes DDR3 and DDR4 -- That fact alone (DDR3) had me interested, if I needed a high core system \ single large system.

 

[TrumanHW]

Checked what a local dealer will pay -- avoids ebay FVF + shipping)

I'll do this before I invest anything ... etc., first. I did ask a while ago, but I only called 1 or 2 places.

Figure out if it has iDRAC express or enterprise, etc

I'm thinking about buying...

+8 -- 8GB ECC DDR4
+4 -- 900GB 15k HD <-- Can I use the PERC as an HBA..? Without putting it in IT mode (as a customer might not want it conf'g that way).
+24 -- 2.5" HD trays

... though, someone else says I might be able to use DDR3 ECC with it ...
If I get a good deal on DDR4 8GB modules it might be cheaper than buying the DDR3 risers.


Let's me run the system, confirm specs, (including the iDRAC) for any eventual buyer.


Sorry to ask a second time, but, re: the CPU upgrade idea....
If I can sell the 4x OEM CPUs and upgrade to an E7-8890 v3 SR21V for under $400 difference, think that'd be worth it..?
(Cheapest listed R930 with Quad E7-8890 v3 is $4,700 (in the UK, which I know is a diff market).
E7-8890 v3 = 18c @ 2.5GHz with 45MB cache
eBay listings for R930 with Quad E7-8890 v3

 

[Rand__]

Rising the price will make the target audience smaller (imho), even if you offer bang for the buck then.

Usually there is more money in stripping it down and selling individual parts (within reason o/c, although spare parts can bring a lot of money too)

 

[TrumanHW]

This was my thought looking at specs too, it has "original" cpu then "upgrade" and then this text.

They're OEM Dell CPUs, that's how the Dell invoice looks.
It lists a 4-way system as having a 2-CPU upgrade.
They sold it as a 2 CPU unit unless upgraded ... but that's why it has a Dell PN next to it, it's [their] BOM...
I'm assuming Dell buyers will be familiar with that ... but I'll add some emphasis next to it for clarification.

Clean all that text up, list exactly what it has.

Though that's Dell's BOM, I thought I DID clean the F out of it! lol.
I spend considerable time trying to make my auctions CLEAN, clear and beautiful.

My formatting / layout goals:
I avoid making people read walls of unformatted text (I try lining it up carefully)
Show them EVERYTHING they're agreeing to in sections ... and avoid ambiguity like the plague.
The reason I indicate [NO RAM + HD] up front is to avoid claims anything was misleading, as shipping would be a small FORTUNE!

Honestly (though I'm surprised) I hope you're right (no sarcasm); any valid / accurate criticism is a huge help.
Would you please give me some links to auction formats you prefer ..? (Clarity, clean, etc.)
I'm ALWAYS looking for ways to better communicate things I'm selling.

Show screenshots of it booting, bios, etc. (then be sure to have in red\bold at bottom what's NOT included, don't put this at top IMO).

Agreed: That's why I'm looking for some DDR4 ECC
I (literally) have HUNDREDS of hard drives 2.5" & 3.5" (not high end, all used) as I owned a retail Mac repair business.
But -- no 2.5" SAS drives. Fortunately they're DIRT cheap, so I'll grab 4-8x of whichever is on that PERCs HCL, maybe set it up with TrueNAS
(Which will also get me acclimated with the unit).

Someone else says the unit is compatible with BOTH DDR3 AND DDR4 ... if so, I also have TONS of DDR3...
Literally, probably a couple hundred 2GB DDR3 ECC... 50-100 4GB, easily another 50x 8GB DDR3 ECC ... and probably 20-30 16GB DDR3 ECC.


I wonder if I can use the PERC controller as an HBA without putting it in IT mode ... even with OEM drives from their HCL to setup TrueNAS...

Unique selling feature: it takes DDR3 + DDR4 -- That fact alone (DDR3) had me interested

You're not going to believe this but ... I didn't have ANY idea that it actually allowed that. I mean, I'm pretty sure all the risers in it are DDR4 ... and I'd assume I'd need to buy DDR3 risers ... but DDR3..? I have just TONS and TONS of.

I literally have HUNDREDS of 2GB PC3- 8500, 1066 and 1333 ECC
~50 to maybe 100 pieces of 8GB PC3- 8500, 1066 and 1333 ECC...
probably another 50-100 4GB DDR3...
And 20-30 16GB PC3 ECC...

Might be worth buying the DDR3 risers! Which ... I'm going to research now! THANK YOU! lol. (Where did you see that info, anyway..?)

 

[TrumanHW]

Rising the price makes the target audience smaller, even if you offer greater bang per buck.

Usually there's more money parting things out (within reason o/c) although spare parts can bring a lot of $$)

Absolutely. In fact, when I ran my Mac business ... I could've made more money parting units out than selling them; the problem gets to be managing parts, the amount of space things take up when 'exploded out' as it takes up FAR more space... involves many many more transactions, and, after you sell off some of it -- you're no longer able to verify if any of the parts work.

An up side ... when parting out systems -- you're never responsible for the complexity of the interplay between OS, drivers, applications, and the tech support that comes with it when selling parts!

Thank you very much for the help...


OFF TOPIC -- Re: eBay BS ...
The down side is the increased shipping costs, transaction costs, etc. AND, when dealing with consumer gear (laptop logic boards for instance) ... idiots will break it or do something stupid and then blame me for it. I have an EFI reader for instance, for all Apple Products from 2009 - 2017 which tells me the SN of the motherboard (DIRECT from the MB) ... the date mfr, the last wifi connected to, whether location services were enabled, etc. I cannot TELL YOU how many times an idiot either shorted the board, or swapped it for another one ... but eBay never cared that I could PROVE that someone returned a broken product for a good one, claiming it was 'DOA' ... the only thing I could do was deliberately ship stuff iCloud locked, and only remove the lock once they acknowledged it was working. lol. (if any of that makes sense ... as I know it's all very specific to Mac)... I did the same thing with iPhones ... bc people were just ALWAYS pulling BS shenanigans. The last idiot who bought an iPhone XS Max said the USB charger (yes, the $4 part) had "stuff on it" and "she deserved better" ... after filing a non-receipt claim 45m after signing for it... which she received before I was required to even ship it ... meaning those e-idiots never should've allowed the case to be opened. (I won that). Then opened the dispute over the USB cube. What did the USB cube have on it..? The plastic wrapper. So the $60 in shipping ... AND, received an iPhone back with HER iCloud on it....which she didn't remove until 2 weeks after the new model came out and the cheapest unit on eBay had depreciated $200.

 

[T_Minus]

The CPU's specify they work with DDR3 and DDR4

Intel® Xeon® Processor E7-4850 v3 (35M Cache, 2.20 GHz) Product Specifications

Intel® Xeon® Processor E7-4850 v3 (35M Cache, 2.20 GHz) quick reference guide including specifications, features, pricing, compatibility, design documentation, ordering codes, spec codes and more.

ark.intel.com

I'm not sure what you need to swap-out on that system to use one or the other, but may be worth checking and adding to description.

I would use bullet points for the BOM, don't use 2 lines for 4 cpus, put that on 1 line the indention and the fact that you stated it already above it's just strange to see.

Remove the uncertainty from the description, specifically about not confirmed, likely, etc... and just list what it has, don't list what it doesn't have it.

 

[TrumanHW]

The CPU's specify they work with DDR3 and DDR4

AH, I see what you're thinking... Unfortunately, I think the 'south bridge' determines a MB can use DDR3 or DDR4. I don't think it's flexible though.

Use bullet points for the BOM
Don't use 2 lines for 4 cpus ... put it on 1 line
(the indention and the fact that you stated it already above it's just strange to see.)

Dell R930 Service Tag: CN74182
• Click on the above link to pull up that service tag, then
• Please click on the link for that service tag to... 'View System Configuration'
It may explain some of the formatting and info I included.


I'm assuming most Dell Server 'buyers' know that a Service Tag shows it's original build-info...
Otherwise, maybe I could include an image of the actual BOM..?
(stupid ass eBay won't allow you to put links to anything)


The things I listed as "uncertain" (the BIOS + PERC) are just references to their configuration
Is that one of the things you think may come across as disconcerting to some buyers..?

• 384-BBBL Performance BIOS Settings
• 780-BBDV RAID for H330/H730P (1-24 HDDs) (unconfigured)


Also, the BOM is what says (verbatim) ...
780-BBDV : Unconfigured RAID for H330/H73 0P (1-24 HDDs)
374-BBJT : Upgrade to Four Intel Xeon E7- 4850 v3 2.2GHz,35M Cache,8.0GT /s QPI,Turbo,HT,14C/28T (115W)
338-BHCX : 2x Intel Xeon E7-4850 v3 2.2GH z,35M Cache,8.0GT/s QPI,Turbo, HT,14C/28T (115W) Max Mem 1867 MHz



On the bright side...the BOM says it an Enterprise iDRAC was included. (I still want to confirm it though)...
385-BBHO : iDRAC8 Enterprise, integrated Dell Remote Access Controller, Enterprise
Until I can power the unit on and verify the iDRAC is Enterprise (if it even can be removed) it'd at least have an iDRAC Express.

 

[T_Minus]

It really just comes down to your listing is confusing and not clear, I don't care what the BOM says or how you interpret it... I'm telling you it's not clear and confusing to me. If you can re-write \ make the BOM more clear, then do it, why not if it helps you sell? Remove any uncertainty, and if that means removing a copy\paste BOM then do it. You should make the description very to the point. Remove extra images not-needed, remove any extra text not needed, and be cut and dry 100% clear.

• On eBay and selling anything in general I find it best not to assume anything. I don't know about buying Dell buying new (or most any other server company buying enterprise hardware) but I would be interested in used hardware.
• People buying for homelabs may be in school, or new to enterprise. I doubt many are part of the purchasing process and may not see the BOM either, but maybe I'm wrong here just my experience buying\selling hardware to people here and ebay. My opinion.
• The BOM picture would be great but listing factually what it has in bullets is fine too, both would be fine too.
• Provide information required in as little words as possible.
• Don't confuse buyers by listing items not included, or uncertain anything.
• Select your words appropriately. Instead of saying "RAID NOT CONFIGURED" say something like "Configure the raid setup to suite your needs". You don't want to give negative connotation when it's really a positive.
• Your pictures comparing CPUs is confusing to me, I only want to know what's included not what a cpu not included is vs. what you have. (My opinion here, but info that's not needed adds to confusion.)
• Bulleted lists do wonders to clarify what you're selling, what's included, etc.
  
  
  
• If you are going to power it up record how many watts it uses at idle in windows or in linux OS, this is useful to home-lab people.

While I did get some great deals I built (NEW) 64C 2011-v3 (4C) systems, 2 of them, for what you're asking for 1 Dell, and I got hot swap NVME, more 2.5" capacity, and way better PCIE utilization and function. In my experience selling Dell, HP, etc, works for you and against you, it just depends on the market.


EEk sorry for the book. The above are my opinions based on my 30 years of buying\selling\deal making from in-person yard sales, baseball and marvel card events to ebay when it first opened, this has been a part of my life as long as I can remember, sharing above is what's worked, what I've learned, and in general how to help buyers feel confident in what they're buying. If anything I said seems personal it's not, I'm only sharing what I think will help you sell the fastest. Of course you can always list it for sale here on sTH too, but I would drop the price 10-20% vs. what's on ebay.

 

[dwright1542]

As a business buyer, and someone who puts aftermarket servers in all the time as DR or replica servers, the target market for that server is VERY small. Most of my mid size businesses who would be interested in used servers because of budgets wouldn't need a server that CPU powerful, especially considering the licensing and power costs. Most businesses looking for a server like that don't have budget constraints enough to buy ebay servers. I just think it's a hard sell.

 

[T_Minus]

As a business buyer, and someone who puts aftermarket servers in all the time as DR or replica servers, the target market for that server is VERY small. Most of my mid size businesses who would be interested in used servers because of budgets wouldn't need a server that CPU powerful, especially considering the licensing and power costs. Most businesses looking for a server like that don't have budget constraints enough to buy ebay servers. I just think it's a hard sell.

I agree with this, which puts you into home users, labs, users who want 4 cpu because morreee betttaa.... which isn't a $3k+\server club usually, and why they will buy older systems for that tinkering usage. Which goes back to spelling out why they should buy it IMO

 

[TrumanHW]

... I don't care what the BOM says or how you interpret it, it's unclear and confusing.
... Remove any uncertainty (as in, don't just copy & paste the BOM)

You may not care, but the Service Tag SAYS some things ARE included...and unless I include them, I have to clarify.
- Round-trip shipping is ~$400-$500 ... I'd rather not enable someone having a reasonable basis to win a dispute.
- Losing my 100% feedback is also "expensive" to me...


Did you look at the BOMs wording and what it says that Service Tag computer includes..?

• Provide information required in as little words as possible.

• 
  
  You mean, "Articulate only what is included or abets selling as parsimonious as possible." ..?
  Fundamentally I'd agree. But that's already what I've tried to do.
  Any chance you'd be willing to pick a sentence that's poorly worded, ambiguous, etc. & re-word it with greater clarity and concision. ;-)
  (alliteration optional)
  

Don't confuse buyers by listing what's not included, or what you're uncertain about.

Not to be redundant ... but only to reply to the variations by which you've mentioned it:
The SERVICE TAG is compulsory to include when selling a Dell Server...
The Service Tag's original build indicates that RAM & HDs are included ...

I either have to limit my liability of excusing a return for "item not as described" ... or, as mentioned above your post...

I'm thinking about upgrading...

• 8x 8GB DDR4 ECC modules (2 per CPU)
• 4x 900GB SAS drives
• 24x 2.5" HD trays.
  
  
  

  [*]Instead of saying "RAID NOT CONFIGURED" say something like "Configure the RAID to your preferences".
  Reframe words or concepts which could have a negative connotation in to a more positive description.

  Not to be redundant ... but, this is the service tag's writing:
  
  
  
  

  [*]Bulleted lists do wonders to clarify what you're selling, what's included, etc.

  VERY good reminder / suggestion:
  Totally agree & if eBay's WYSIWYG editor spazes out I'll insert them manually • ...
  I'll also try [copying & pasting] in a 'tab' to get perfected spacing.
  
  
  

  [*]If you power it on, indicate the watts at idle, in windows or in Linux. (This is useful to home-lab buyers).

  Interesting suggestion; I'd have to look up how to do that, but I'll def. do that.
  Though, I'll be very surprised if a home-lab buyer buys this; my presumptive buyer is a small-biz owner who can't afford retail gear...
  BUT, they want hardware tested to work under certain scenarios...

If anything I said seems personal it's not,

Nothing was in the least personal. Some didn't go through the 'checksum' of asking yourself why someone might've made certain choices, but for free advice..? That'd be expecting too much anyway. I appreciate everyone's suggestions; even if I disagreed or thought it was wrong...
Doesn't matter. It's free advice that I ASKED for. The only thing to do is appreciate it. If there were only 1 thing learned it'd be my fault for not gleaming more out of the advice ... or maybe my ego, or whatever.

But, as I mentioned earlier... there is one thing I'd really really appreciate.

IF I can put you out for just a little more info ... I'd really appreciate
• an example auction (which you think is "cleaner & or clearer" -- even if it's only available a la carte ...as in, even if no one auction does both.
--and--
• would appreciate you reword any of the statements you found particularly ambiguous, needlessly loquacious or lacked parsimony.

(I forgot about that stupid CPU picture, I'll delete that).

 

[TrumanHW]

The target market for is VERY small; mid size (budget-constrained) businesses don't need the power
Those that do need the horsepower aren't budget-constrained such that they'd shop eBay

Exactly. And I'm competing with business that specialize in PowerEdge servers, requiring better prices to lure buyers.
(normally, mine is the best priced R930, but I adjust the price regularly (though keep a pretty low 'auto-accept offer $$) to try to create urgency).

Which is (again) why I was thinking of adding:

• 8x 8GB DDR4 ECC modules (2 per CPU)
• 4-8x 900GB 10k or 15k SFF SAS drives
• and of course, the 24x 2.5" HD trays...
• I may also add a pair of SD cards (for boot) ... or an SSD

As a business buyer, and someone who puts aftermarket servers in all the time as DR or replica servers...

May I ask what you mean by DR..? Data Recovery..? If so, what kind of DR do you use..?
(I obviously do DR also, if that's what you mean, and not data replication, or something)...

 

[T_Minus]

• There's no rule you have to include the BOM at all, or a "word for word" from the BOM label\sheet.
• If you MUST include BOM for C.Y.A reasons then put it in an image, or better yet include the service tag, and URL for a buyer to "look it up". Then you in the description word things as simple and clearly as possible.
• There's also no rule you have to include the service tag.
• You're not selling something new, list what it includes, give out the service tag if you want (with mention of what's different).
• List items in a positive light not negative. IE: Unconfigured RAID CARD to me is a put-off where-as Configure the raid card yourself for 1-24 drives in raid1,2,etc... sounds better, and makes me think of what I can do with the setup vs. oh man, I have to set it up.

To summarize.
Bulleted list of what it has.
BOM in picture if needed, no copy\paste of BOM in description.
Service tag with URL to look up in description with mention (list) of items on tag not currently included OR what's additional.

Don't make the description huge, just cut and dry and to the point.

This is all preference to how we each like to sell and list items, but this is how I'd run the auction myself.

Pictures of the setup from all angles\sides, inside, inside with fan \ ram \ etc whatever removed to see as much as you can. What PCIE slots, what height brackets fit, etc, etc...