I just sold my Switch OLED – so I can tell you not to make this huge mistake

We're now a couple of weeks into the era of the Nintendo Switch 2, which should last for years to come and ensure that Nintendo's domination of the family console market doesn't waver. That also means that it's now the twilight of the original Switch, and its OLED upgrade – they're still fabulous consoles, but they're well and truly obsolete by comparison with the Switch 2.

If you're buying a Switch 2 soon, or you already have one in your hands, then you might be thinking along the same lines as me – selling your Switch OLED or original Switch could be a great way to subsidise what is quite an expensive purchase. You're not wrong, either – while there are many people who prefer to store old consoles for posterity, that requires the luxury of storage space and indeed cash.

Don't make this errror

I just sold my launch Switch and Switch OLED consoles, and I have no regrets at this stage – but I do already have one cautionary tip for anyone considering the same plan. It's a really simple one, too: sell it yourself, rather than trading in.

There could be exceptions to this rule if you see a particularly juicy trade-in offer that nets you a cheaper Switch 2, but I'd be very surprised by that. Basically, the right play currently is to sell your console on a platform like eBay, rather than trading it into a store – you're almost certain to get more money this way.

It's long been true that trade-ins offer more modest rewards than proper sales, not least because they generally require less admin from you. Still, let's get into some figures.

CEX is the UK's most accessible trade-in service; if you sell it a Switch OLED in its box with all the originally included bits and pieces, it'll currently give you £110 as a voucher to spend in-store, or £83 in cash.

That's exactly the condition I sold my Switch OLED in, through an open auction on eBay – and it went for £145.54 exactly. Looking at recently concluded auctions, that's the slightly lower end of the possible spectrum, too.

My launch Switch didn't have the box, meanwhile, so CEX would have given me at most £82 in voucher form, or £62 in cash. On eBay, it fetched £96.43. In both cases, then, I'm quids in by having dodged the high-street trade-in, with the bonus of being able to drop them at the Post Office instead of a specific store (and without needing to wait for CEX to test they worked).

That makes for a simple lesson and an even simpler top tip. So, if you're about to stick your consoles on the market, make sure to do a little legwork yourself – compared to trading them in, it's likely to be free money.