Buying A Gaming PC On eBay? Here's What You Need To Know First
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In the last few years, there's been a noticeable trend — refurbished PCs sold for $500 or less on sites like eBay or Amazon that are, if not always outright branded as gaming PCs, always use the design language of gaming PCs while being presented as good deals.
The vendor could very well be doing a good job refurbishing the PCs while offering genuine customer support and warranty service. The hardware provided, though, is generally not going to perform at the level of what would be expected of a "gaming PC" with an "i7" processor tricked out with a bunch of RGB lights.
That doesn't mean you can't find entirely above-board, exactly as-advertised gaming PCs on eBay and the like. It just means that you need to do your due diligence to ensure you're not being misled or even outright scammed into buying a barely-modified off-lease office PC from the better part of a decade ago with the expectation of gaming on it.
What do these pseudo 'gaming PCs' look like?
The first sponsored result when searching eBay for "gaming PC" without quotes comes from "Sj Computers LLC," a refurbished HP mini-tower tricked out with RGB lighting. That's exactly what we're talking about, so it makes a good example of what's being sold in this space. The price ranges from $274.99 to $482.99 depending on the configuration, and the vendor includes free shipping, free returns, and a one-year warranty from Allstate (formerly SquareTrade).
The customizable specs are RAM (16GB or 32GB of DDR4), storage (mixed SSD/HDD options or a 1TB SSD), GPU (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti with 4GB RAM or NVIDIA GeForce GT 1030 with 2GB RAM), and optional add-ons of a monitor with no brand listed (22 or 24 inches) and/or an accessory bundle (RGB mouse/keyboard combo, or same plus an unbranded headset). The CPU is a 3.4GHz (4.0GHz turbo boost) sixth-generation Intel Core i7-6700.
If we go for the most RAM, the most storage (1TB SSD plus 2TB HDD), the more powerful graphics card, RGB accessories so everything matches, and no monitor, the configuration is $384.99 plus tax. Not bad for a "gaming PC," right? But if you look deeper in the description, it says that these PCs are best for "Casual Computing, Engineering Coding, Gaming, Graphic Design, Industrial, Office." Why is that?
So, what exactly is the problem here?
Sj Computers' listing is explicit that it's a "renewed" HP ProDesk 600 G3 small form factor business PC. Being that the CPU is a sixth-generation Intel Core processor, that means it's seven model years old since we're now up to Gen 13. That makes sense since the GPU options are also six to seven years old. Sj Computers' listing is fairly honest textually, but the expectations set by the "gaming PC" branding and aesthetics make it so a less-discerning consumer may not bother to research the significance of where the vendor is being honest.
In this case, it's not advertised as "ULTRA FAST" like some of Sj's competitors do with comparable PCs, but that doesn't mean there aren't any problems here.
The listing says nothing about the power supply, but the stock one was just 180 watts (albeit 80 PLUS certified). Using NewEgg's PSU wattage calculator, you can tell it's a problem because the configuration specced out here would need at least a 400-watt PSU. (Probably more since having headroom above the recommended wattage is always advised.)
Reached by SlashGear at its customer service phone number, one of Sj's support reps said that it uses stock power supplies on all of its refurbs. In other words, that's definitely a problem in this case because the configuration is outright untenable. And that illustrates the whole point here quite well.
Where else should caution be used?
A quick caveat before continuing: Refurbishing and reselling off-lease office PCs, especially if the vendor stands behind them with a real customer support team and some kind of real warranty, is a good thing. If you're in the market for a desktop PC and don't intend to use it for gaming, these kinds of refurbs are good deals that should treat you well and help reduce e-waste for a while. But you can probably get better deals on those not jury-rigged into being theoretical gaming PCs.
With that out of the way, the biggest problem with all of these office PCs and other ill-equipped older desktops turned "gaming PCs" is that marketing them that way — either outright or via the chosen aesthetics — sets unrealistic expectations. Unless you're someone who keeps up with CPU and GPU release cycles, you may think that anything "Core i7" is at or near the top of the line or that clock speeds still matter, so all you need is a CPU running at 3.0GHz or more. That goes doubly so for people who had a base understanding of what to look for before architectural and other changes took precedence over CPU clock speeds but are looking into getting into PC gaming now.
Other issues pop up with some specific refurbishers, like sending PCs with different parts from what was listed or listing games in the item description that can't run smoothly on the provided hardware. There are reasons to buy refurbished computers, and there are ways to get a gaming computer on a budget, but this variety of e-cycling projects just isn't it.
What should we actually buy, then?
For starters, plenty of reputable websites and YouTube channels have guides to budget gaming PCs and/or parts lists for budget custom gaming PCs, including right here at SlashGear. The computers in our "Affordable Gaming Desktops Worth Buying" list for 2023 start at $499, right in the magic $500 or less price range. If you want to go the custom route, we can get you started on how to build your own PC. But if you don't want to build the rig yourself, we've you covered with a list ranking the top custom gaming PC builders.
Yes, it's complicated, but if you do your research, you should be okay. There are other resources to tap into, as well. For example, if you're lucky enough to live near one of Micro Center's 26 stores, they have an excellent PC parts section and will also build the PC for you the same day you order, with the labor prices starting at $149.99. Smaller local computer stores may offer similar services, too, but those aren't necessarily easy to find anymore.