alt Hacker NewsI think the reason is that, on laptops, the cosmetic has such a high correlation with what you can expect wrong with the device - people don't take their laptops in for "body work".
Also these devices in the second-hand market are probably 80+% < $1,000 and let's be real - getting a bad $400 computer is kinda whatever in the dramas of life. Just get another.
(I've sold about 5k things on ebay btw).
This is true for normal business and consumer laptops, but rugged machines (eg Panasonic Toughbooks) often go to the surplus market after living very hard lives. There is a thriving “refurbishment” industry putting lipstick on these pigs.
If you see a Toughbook on eBay that has been painted black, for example, that was done to hide the battle damage.