Buying a Macbook on ebay--bad idea??

I am looking to replace my dead 14" G4 with either a Macbook or the Macbook Pro. I was going to go for the 13-inch Macbook but I think the small screen size will be a shocker for me. A little shopping on Apple.com revealed a $700+ price difference just to go up to the 15".

I just hit up ebay to check out some prices and if I had the courage to go that route I could get a "new in box" or "Like new" 15" Macbook pro for around the same price as I could get the $899 white 13.3-inch Macbook. I have to say I am tempted...is my ebay idea a BAD one??

Not really. Check the sellers feedback rating. If they have sold a lot of items, and have a 100% rank then you are pretty safe. You can read peoples comments to be re-assured too.
Pay with a credit card via Paypal and you have a fair bit of protection too.
Many of the sellers on there are reputable shops that are minimising their overheads by selling on Ebay.
Well worth a look, and if you have links to particular deals, I'm happy to look at them (as will others be I'm sure).

What about individual sellers??

Great! I will def. post a listing link when I have narrowed it down.

I would be more comfortable purchasing from a company who has sold a lot of computers on ebay with a great feedback rating...but, what do you think about individual sellers (provided they have great feedback and are long-time ebay sellers)??

Not usually a problem either to be honest. If they have good regular feedback, they should be fine.
The same applies to payment, so you are covered to an extent.

Have you checked out the refurbs on the apple site ? Great prices and no risk !

Hope this helps
Clay

Clarity said:

I just hit up ebay to check out some prices and if I had the courage to go that route I could get a "new in box" or "Like new" 15" Macbook pro for around the same price as I could get the $899 white 13.3-inch Macbook.

Click to expand...

Be careful with this terminology ("new in box" or "Like new")...some sellers on e-Bay can REALLY stretch the truth!

"New in Box"...should just be that...New in Box...a Sealed-unopened box! If the box is opened...then you have no idea if the computer has actually been used or not.

"Like New"...is basically the same thing as saying USED!

That being said...I have no problems buying off of e-Bay. You just have to do your homework, ask questions, and if a deal seems too good to be true...it probably is!

HTH,

- Nick

I bought our MacBook from a private seller on eBay about a year ago. The seller had 100% positive feedback on about 75 transactions. I scanned through the feedback responses and they were about equal sales Vs purchases. I e-mailed the seller with a couple of basic questions to which she responded right away (another good sign). After the sale I immediately asked for the serial number to register it w/Apple on my account to be sure it was legit (it was). Everything went perfectly fine and it wasn't the cheapest listed, but certainly a good deal at the time.

Outside of Buy.com's eBay offering I've had better luck buying from private parties than "companies" (some of which just want to move boxes through their garage-front business). Plus I think most folks that buy Mac's are a cut above the norm and tend to take good care of their computers. So as others have said, excellent feedback and having the eBay/PayPal guarantee is usually going to net you a good deal.

I own a Macbook Pro as well as an iMac, the iMac I bought off ebay over a year ago. What an excellent purchase it was. The Mac in question even had some Applecare left on it which he transferred to my name. I was a bit paranoid for a few weeks, and anything that happened with my Mac would scare me that I'd bought a donkey. But as it turns out it was excellent and still is.

So I think, as others have said here, got for it, but of course approach with caution, ask questions check feedback and I think you'll be fine.

Just with anything you purchase online, you need to be aware of who you are buying from. Because of a few horror stories about eBay from users doesn't necessarily mean that eBay is an unreliable source.

Be smart about your purchase and do your research before hand. Ask questions and ask for pictures of said item and try to collect as much information as you can.

I found a deal on my late 2008 unibody 13" MacBook on Craigslist. It was $400 below retail, brand new in the box, and I didn't have to pay taxes or anything. I asked a friend to come with me (He's in law enforcement and was armed) and he waited in the car while I did the transaction in a highly populated Starbucks.

I opened it up in front of him to see if it started up and spent about 10-15 minutes while he was there to make sure everything was as it said it was. I called Apple up and made sure that the serial number was valid, registered my MacBook while I was on the phone with them, and have been enjoying it ever since.

That is a good call to ask for the serial number!

I am def. going to do my research. Thanks for all the great replies. I'm going to run some listings by some of you guys when I get it narrowed down!

Clarity said:

That is a good call to ask for the serial number!

Click to expand...

I don't know that they would give you the serial number before making a purchase (I don't think I would), but I told them I wanted to buy an AppleCare plan for it (which I never did BTW) and needed the serial number. I was more interested in making sure it wasn't "hot"...not that I thought it might be, but just playing it safe.

Good luck and happy shopping!

i avoid any computer that does not have original packaging and original supplied discs and seller is the first owner - better chance of getting a cared for unit.
Ex lease ones should be avoided IMHO.

People that love their Macs will really take care of them. I know i have treated mine like babies. lol