I'm considering buying a used gaming PC listed for $550. The system includes a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, Thermalright Assassin 120 SE cooler, ASUS TUF RTX 3060 Ti, MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WiFi motherboard, 32GB of DDR5-6000 RAM, a 1TB M.2 SSD, and a 750W 80+ Gold power supply. The seller may also include a wide 1080p curved monitor. The seller is about an hour and a half away. Does this seem legitimate, and what should I check before making the trip or paying?
4 Answers
Deals like this can occasionally be real when someone urgently needs money, but scams are much more common at this price. The drive may be worthwhile only if you can afford to lose the fuel and time. Make the purchase conditional on inspecting and testing the full system, including storage health and the power supply label.
If you decide to go, meet at a police station or another busy public location with surveillance, bring someone with you, and don’t send a deposit. Confirm the exact hardware in person before paying, and be prepared to leave if the seller changes the meeting place or won’t allow testing.
That price is unusually low, since the processor and graphics card alone represent a large portion of the value. It could be a genuine distressed sale, but treat it as suspicious until proven otherwise. Check how long the seller’s account has existed, look at their ratings and other listings, and ask why they’re selling. A legitimate seller should be willing to answer basic questions.
Only make the trip if the seller will let you see the computer working. Ask to boot it, verify that Windows recognizes all the parts, and run a quick game or benchmark to check temperatures, stability, and graphics performance. Don’t rely only on photos or a prerecorded video.
I’m asking about testing it now. They initially suggested meeting in a public place and have already sent photos and a video.