It would be convenient for us to argue that selling to a buyback service gets you the most money. It does not, usually, and pretending otherwise would be exactly the kind of thing the rest of this site claims we do not do.
So here is the actual comparison, including the parts that do not flatter us.
What a private sale really gets you
On a mainstream console in working condition, a patient private seller who prices realistically will usually beat a buyback offer by somewhere between ten and thirty percent. On a mainstream console that is real money and it should not be dismissed.
The word doing the work in that sentence is patient. The figure assumes you price it correctly rather than optimistically, respond to messages promptly, and are available when someone wants to collect.
What it costs to get that
Some of these are obvious and some are not.
- Time. Photographing, listing, answering the same three questions repeatedly, and arranging a meeting. Two to six hours is typical.
- Chancers. A meaningful share of replies will be lowball offers, swap proposals, or people who simply stop responding.
- Payment risk. Fake proof of payment and reversed instant EFTs are the two most common console scams in South Africa, and both are designed to work at exactly the moment you are handing over the console.
- Personal risk. Meeting a stranger to exchange an expensive item for cash. Most of the time it is fine. The tail risk is not zero, and it is the reason a lot of people stop doing this.
- The no-show. Rearranging around someone who does not arrive, twice, is the single most common private-sale experience.
Where private selling is clearly the better choice
If your console is in excellent condition, fully boxed, with extra controllers and desirable games, and you are in no hurry at all, sell it privately. Complete, immaculate setups are where the private premium is largest, because you are selling to an enthusiast rather than to a business that has to resell it.
If you are comfortable managing the payment risk and you have the time, the extra money is genuinely yours to take.
Where it is clearly not
If the console is faulty, private selling gets significantly harder, because private buyers overwhelmingly want something that works. A dead console on a marketplace attracts parts hunters offering very little.
If it is an unusual machine, like a Steam Deck, a ROG Ally or a Legion Go, the local buyer pool is small and technical, and listings sit for weeks.
And if you need the money by a specific date, a private sale is not a plan, it is a hope.
The third option most people forget
If the reason you are selling is to fund something else, a trade-in voucher closes most of the gap on its own. Ours adds twelve percent, which on a mainstream console is a large chunk of the private-sale premium, without any of the meetings.
Consignment is the other middle path: we list and sell it, you get ten percent above the instant offer once it sells, and you never meet anybody. It takes about thirteen days on average, which is roughly what a private sale takes anyway, minus the effort.
The short version
A private sale usually gets you ten to thirty percent more, at the cost of several hours, some risk and a real chance of it falling through. If your console is immaculate and complete, sell it privately. If it is faulty, unusual, or you want it done this week, do not. And if you are selling to fund an upgrade, a trade-in voucher closes most of the gap by itself.