Everyone has their own opinion about how to set a fair used price for a device, so I thought a thread on the topic might be of use. 
And sometimes a device which has been discontinued by the manufacturer will suddenly shoot up in Price because it has a particular feature that a particular group of customers might want. In a smartthings context we saw that with the first generation sensor which could plug-in as well as use batteries, and with the ThingShield.
But in general, once a mains powered device has been wired in, even if it was only used once or twice, the value will fall significantly.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, my own rule of thumb is a pretty simple formula:
- look up the item on the camel Camel Camel price checker site (ignore the “used” prices on this site, they are always flaky. But the “new at Amazon” and “new at other third parties” are helpful benchmarks.)
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check the “new at third party” price if it is lower than the Amazon price. Note that this is the price someone would pay to get a brand new item unopened in the box, covered by the warranty. So you probably cannot charge that price. Most warranties don’t transfer from the original buyer, so you are selling an item without a warranty even if it’s still an unopened box.
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now you have a benchmark to start from. Me, personally, if the item I was selling was still in very good condition, still well within the warranty period ( even though the warranty wouldn’t transfer), and hadn’t had customization or cosmetic changes made to it, I would probably start with a price of half of camel Camel Camel’s “third party new” price and then go down from there if I thought it was appropriate.
If the item has a rechargeable battery and it is near the end of that battery life and that battery is not replaceable (like almost all first generation mini Motes are at this point), I might bring my price down to much lower, maybe even 10% of the camel Camel Camel third-party new. Someone might be willing to take it apart and try to add a new power source, but it’s clearly not the same value as a new item.
similarly, a pico which is eight years old obviously has somewhat less value than a new one since they have a replaceable 10 year battery. That’s less critical than something with a non-replaceable battery, but it still is a reduction in value. (updated to correct the replaceability of the battery as @ogiewon notes below. )
But if I had an extra switch I just never got around to installing and then decided that I wasn’t going to use, half of the “third-party new” Price seems fair to me. Or at least a good starting point.
Well, that’s just my method. I especially like it because it’s really easy to explain to potential buyers where I got the price from. Also, I hate haggling, and the camel Camel Camel method is a good way to avoid that. 
I know people use all kinds of other methods, including the most recent selling price on eBay, just their own guess as to what it’s worth, etc. but it is important to note that the warrantees don’t usually transfer, and I do think a fair price should take that into account.
So what pricing method do you use? Or do you just treat every transaction as a new event and go by feel, so it’s more like a poker game?
There’s no one right pricing method, I just thought people might find discussion of some of the options interesting, particularly because so many of us do change over as new features become available, so there can be quite a bit of used equipment available for sale.
For sale threads
If you are getting ready to sell some of your own stuff, post your threads in the “deals” category of this forum. There’s already a members thread if you want to use that one, but it’s OK if you want to start your own.
WTB= Want to Buy
WTT= Want to Trade
FT= For Trade
FS=For Sale
https://community.smartthings.com/t/community-member-fs-wtb-wtt-thread/52279/265
