Like most Mac users, I'm always waiting in anticipation of the latest and greatest piece of electronics from Apple. It could be a new notebook, desktop, iPod or other gadget. The bad part is that it means spending more money. Even worse, you might be wondering where that money will come from if you're a student or someone on a budget. Here is a tip about how to raise enough money to lessen the economic hit.

Luckily for us, Apple makes it easy to resell your Macs if you purchased an AppleCare Protection Plan. These protection plans are fully transferable to the person buying your used equipment. I was very surprised to realize that many Apple users are unaware of this. A fact labeled as item six within the AppleCare Protection Plan terms and conditions. If your equipment is still under warranty, then you can rest assured that with some work on your part (you have to be good salesperson) you'll be able to sell your Mac at a premium price!

I thought about selling my equipment to someone that buys used computers. That was a big waste of my time, in both cases the money offered was below what I was willing to accept. Therefore, I highly recommend you try selling it yourself, you will usually come out ahead.

I've done so myself twice already by reselling my iMac G5 and my Macbook Pro. I managed to sell the former for nearly half of what I paid for it and the latter for not much less than what I bought it for. I've reinvested some of this money into a new iMac and I'm waiting on the next Macbook Pro hardware refresh to reinvest in a new notebook.

So the gist of this tip is to leverage your equipment's condition, value, and the transfer of the AppleCare Protection Plan to get more money for your used Mac. Definitely don't just give it away!

David Martin is a writer and consultant in the Houston Bay Area.