Soldered RAM hurts resale value.

It does. Not dramatically — but enough that if you care about reselling, you want socketed RAM.

Socketed RAM means a buyer can upgrade later. Soldered means what they buy is stuck forever. That flexibility matters, especially in a laptop market where 16 GB is becoming the new minimum and 32 GB is the sweet spot for power users. When you sell a soldered machine, you’re limiting your pool of buyers to people who are fine with exactly that configuration. That pushes the price down.

Don’t overthink it: in the same laptop model, the soldered version might sell for $50–100 less on the used market, all else equal. If you’re buying for yourself and plan to keep it for years, soldered is fine. But if you flip gear regularly, avoid it.