Applecare on ebay

Dglas · Feb 4, 2009

Are these codes sold on ebay legit? If so is there anything one should be careful about. If it is a code for imac will it work on all imacs (within the one yr warranty) including the latest imacs?

Kash · Feb 4, 2009

Like anything on eBay, make sure you check to see whether it's a reputable seller before bidding on anything.

For Applecare, make sure you're getting a boxed version and not just the code. That way you'll have a physical object along with the hardware test disc.

As for which version, I can't really answer that question as I don't have much experience in that matter. If I had to venture a guess I'd say that AppleCare for any particular model should work on any machine of the same model.

cwa107 · Feb 4, 2009

If it helps, I just bought Apple Care from Apple, after carefully considering my options on eBay. I guess I've hit a point with eBay, that I just don't trust it enough to spend money on a big ticket item (anything over $50). I've just been screwed so many times now, and eBay offers very little protection anymore. Frankly, I'd rather spend the extra $100 and have the peace of mind in knowing that I'm getting the real, legit product. Maybe it's silly, but I've just lost all faith in eBay.

Dglas · Feb 5, 2009

Thanks for the comments.

Kash · Feb 5, 2009

cwa107 said:
If it helps, I just bought Apple Care from Apple, after carefully considering my options on eBay. I guess I've hit a point with eBay, that I just don't trust it enough to spend money on a big ticket item (anything over $50). I've just been screwed so many times now, and eBay offers very little protection anymore. Frankly, I'd rather spend the extra $100 and have the peace of mind in knowing that I'm getting the real, legit product. Maybe it's silly, but I've just lost all faith in eBay.

I've heard a lot of eBay horror stories, but so far I haven't encountered any issues as I try to be very careful in what I bid on (knock on wood)

Mac_OS · Feb 5, 2009

i have never had any problems with ebay, you are always covered via paypal so i dont see what the danger is, i very recently bought my ipod touch 2nd gen 32gb from ebay without a single issue, item was sent first class post and arrived about 8 hours after i had paid for it, im sure you will have no problems with applecare either... just look at the seller and enjoy saving £££s or $$$ if you are in the U.S

Thats, as you americans say, my $0.02

Turk182 · Feb 5, 2009

I would certainly buy one, and have already looked at them. I would just make sure to read the persons auction for any small print and look at their feedback and past sales. This alone will tell you a lot about their validity. with the protection from PayPal and ebay.. I would certainly buy an AC from eBay and likely will when my new MBP gets near the end of its 1 year warranty.

oakie · Feb 5, 2009

cwa107 said:
If it helps, I just bought Apple Care from Apple, after carefully considering my options on eBay. I guess I've hit a point with eBay, that I just don't trust it enough to spend money on a big ticket item (anything over $50). I've just been screwed so many times now, and eBay offers very little protection anymore. Frankly, I'd rather spend the extra $100 and have the peace of mind in knowing that I'm getting the real, legit product. Maybe it's silly, but I've just lost all faith in eBay.

consider amazon.

i bought my mobileme subs and applecare plans on amazon for about the same price as offered on fleabay; $38 per year of mobileme, iphone applecare for $55, and macbook applecare for $150. all of them were boxed and sealed.

jskit · Feb 5, 2009

Mac_OS said:
i have never had any problems with ebay, you are always covered via paypal so i dont see what the danger is

True, i would definitely check on the rating of the seller, plus i always use paypal and pay via credit card debit to cover my end. anything goes wrong that i couldn't resolve it with paypal, i will go to my CC company for a unconditional charge back for sure, eve if i am buying stuff for just $5 bucks.

Cheers

Jaygray · Feb 5, 2009

Check the feedback of the seller. There are sellers which have sold dozens of Applecare packages and have 100% positive feedback. Find one with good feedback and don't hesitate to buy.

As far as getting the right one--Go on the Apple site and add the correct Applecare to your cart. Get the part number from your cart. (Looks something like MB519LL/A or similar.) Copy this number into the search bar in ebay. Search for the part number and you'll get numerous hits. This way you're sure to buy the correct one.

Also, the sellers offer free shipping if they can email you the code instead of mailing the entire box. They email you the code and you register it on the Apple site. With a reputable seller, you should have no problems.

Redbanded · Feb 8, 2009

Jaygray said:
Check the feedback of the seller. There are sellers which have sold dozens of Applecare packages and have 100% positive feedback. Find one with good feedback and don't hesitate to buy.

As far as getting the right one--Go on the Apple site and add the correct Applecare to your cart. Get the part number from your cart. (Looks something like MB519LL/A or similar.) Copy this number into the search bar in ebay. Search for the part number and you'll get numerous hits. This way you're sure to buy the correct one.

Also, the sellers offer free shipping if they can email you the code instead of mailing the entire box. They email you the code and you register it on the Apple site. With a reputable seller, you should have no problems.

I bought mine on ebay as well (for my imac) and then came across one on overstock auctions (for my MB pro - much cheaper than ebay). never had any issues and I even had my notebook repaired once at no cost. Good luck!

PapaNoHair · Feb 9, 2009

I agree with Kash - I have purchased over 50 times from eBay and have gotten taken one time and that was my fault (at the beginning). Now I check the percentage and number of sales very carefully and read ever sentence and word.