Cheap applecare from ebay???

[mrmo123]

Has any1 bought applecare from ebay??....

I'm kinda suspicious cuz it's only $150 from ebay, but $250 from apple.com??
How do the ebay people sell it for so cheap??, and if you have bought it, is it legit? :confused: :confused:

Thx!

[rdowns]

There are many threads on here about this. Buy it form a seller who is well established and has a lot of good feedback. You'll be OK.

[Cheffy Dave]

There are many threads on here about this. Buy it form a seller who is well established and has a lot of good feedback. You'll be OK.

exactly, with rebates mine was $115 and change, logged the numbers into Apple, 4 days later when I checked, I was good to go:D:cool:very:cool:

[SuperSnake2012]

There are many threads on here about this. Buy it form a seller who is well established and has a lot of good feedback. You'll be OK.

+1. I spent around $140 on mine on eBay and it worked perfectly. Gotten many repairs done with it too. I'd recommend buying it on eBay.

[Bengt77]

Add me to the list of people who bought their AppleCare plan from eBay. Got it for $135 from a well respected seller. It's perfectly legit. No shipping, as you only get the activation number by e-mail, but well worth the price. Highly recommended to get it from eBay.

[mcdj]

There are many threads on here about this. Buy it form a seller who is well established and has a lot of good feedback. You'll be OK.

I bought a $150 iTunes "code" from a well established (+1000 feedbacks) seller. That seller has since been kicked off of ebay. My iTunes account is fine and the code worked, but I have heard of others whose accounts were locked after using a code found on the bay.

[shady825]

I have a friend who buys all his Apple Care from eBay and has never been burned. I myself am not sure on the situation but as others suggested find a seller with good feed back.

[TinyHulk]

It's very tempting..

But I got a question! If I buy A MacBook (Normal/Pro/Air) I have 1 year warranty. It is the best to wait 1year and then buy applecare or buy it immediately?

[ntrigue]

I feel that a lot of eBay fear is still around from it's infancy. eBay is a legit place to conduct business for many companies. I buy iTunes Gift Cards frequently and have made five Applecare purchases without incident.

[aawil]

I managed to get mine for $125 off ebay. If it wasn't for that I probably wouldn't have got it at all. $250 is more than I would have been willing to pay.

I'm glad I didnt buy it for my imac it would have been a waste of money. Coming up on 3 years of ownership now. :)

[mynameisraj]

It's very tempting..

But I got a question! If I buy A MacBook (Normal/Pro/Air) I have 1 year warranty. It is the best to wait 1year and then buy applecare or buy it immediately?

Doesn't matter really, but after 90 days your phone support runs out, so then would be a good time.

[ec51]

+1

$145 on the bay.....just got apple care for my iPhone off the bay as well $50.



eR

[Tinknock71]

It's very tempting..

But I got a question! If I buy A MacBook (Normal/Pro/Air) I have 1 year warranty. It is the best to wait 1year and then buy applecare or buy it
immediately?


I would wait till a month before it expires, if you happen to drop or spill something on it you just wasted around 150.00 bucks for nothing, apple don't cover things like that.

[jamin100]

another one for ebay here.
Got applecare for my macbook for £63
no problems whatsoever

[Heimlich]

My question is, how are they able to sell it for that price? Can someone explain?
Im pretty sure they dont buy it of Apple then resell it or the person would be losing money

[Bengt77]

Good question. But... do you really care?

[Heimlich]

Good question. But... do you really care?

Haha. As long as its 100% reliable and Apple treats it like it was bought from their store. Wouldnt want any problems about where i got it when i need their help the most

[VSMacOne]

eBay is where i'm getting mine very soon...

[Joeski]

Yea, you guys kind of influenced me to buy my applecare off ebay. My worry was that I'd buy it and a few months/a year was used up on it already.

[GC GEEK]

The cheap ebay prices are kinda off putting sometimes but ive found that as long as you stick to power sellers you usually are ok! good luck tho!

[edesignuk]

I went the eBay route. Got a serial number only from a US seller (I'm in the UK) for £63 on a Mac Pro. All registered with Apple perfectly OK :)

[Mercellus]

My girlfriend bought me AppleCare for my MacBook Pro off eBay for $195, worked like a charm. As long as you buy from a reputable seller, you'll be OK. :)

[slashjunior]

Looks like I missed out. My iMac is 1 year and 1 month and my MacBook is about 2 years and 3 months and AppleCare is not available on the iPhone in the UK. So I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my iMac or MacBook don't die on me, although I just changed the RAM and HDD on the MacBook so it is kind of like new. :)

[TinyHulk]

If I buy AppleCare from a US seller does it work in The Netherlands? Does it work worldwide?

I see different prices..

So the cheapest I can find is 140 dollar and 140 dollar is only 100,58 euro!

Guess how much the AppleCare Protection plan is in the netherlands?
















249,00 euro!

If I buy it on Ebay I can get it for 100,58!

If it sounds to good to be true it probably is.. Or not?

[Leeloo the 5th]

I'd like to know too about buying Applecare from an US seller for a European machine. I'm in Belgium and I'm about to buy a MB in a couple of weeks' time, and with the $/€ exchange rate, it would be quite a good deal.

[skwij]

LeeLoo and TinyHulk:

I got mine from the US, and I'm in Canada. edesignuk is in the UK and got his from the US. No problem.


I went the eBay route. Got a serial number only from a US seller (I'm in the UK) for £63 on a Mac Pro. All registered with Apple perfectly OK :)

[johan.k]

Got for my iPod on last week. All seemlessly smooth even eBay had dramas. Make sure you register your Mac/iPod in the country you purchased and keep the proof of purchase (of your Mac/iPod). If you had any problem and want me to help, just PM me.

[n8236]

I got burned from buying AppleCare on eBay once.

The seller says he shipped the item to me, but it never came. When I confronted him about not receiving the item, he was only able to show me a delivery confirmation to my city, but nothing that states my house address. I got my $250 back from Paypal because he did not use delivery confirmation (which is required if your item is $250+). My seller was shady by not sending me the actual code or emailing me any confirmation of my AppleCare, a sign he's a fraud.

[johan.k]

Another thing, buy it from reputable seller. Read their feedback and do research. Lastly, bid with confidence. ;)

[philosopherdog]

Notice that most charge cards increase your basic warranty by a year. So, my MasterCard doubles the basic Apple Warranty to 2 years. It's part of the Card service, and most charge cards do this. In fact my ATM card also has this service built in. So, if you want to save a couple hundred bucks and something goes wrong in the first 2 years, and you bought the machine with a charge card, you might still be covered. Check with your bank.

[TinyHulk]

Notice that most charge cards increase your basic warranty by a year. So, my MasterCard doubles the basic Apple Warranty to 2 years. It's part of the Card service, and most charge cards do this. In fact my ATM card also has this service built in. So, if you want to save a couple hundred bucks and something goes wrong in the first 2 years, and you bought the machine with a charge card, you might still be covered. Check with your bank.

I did not know that.. But yeah I don't own a cc so yeah ;)

[dangy13]

I just finished buying applecare on ebay (as well as a new macbook), and the seller sent me applecare registration number, but I'm new to the whole mac thing so I have no idea how exactly to actually register it. I could use a little help... :confused:

[HLdan]

I just finished buying applecare on ebay (as well as a new macbook), and the seller sent me applecare registration number, but I'm new to the whole mac thing so I have no idea how exactly to actually register it. I could use a little help... :confused:

Here ya go. I don't mean to be harsh but I Googled "Applecare Registration", that's all you had to do. http://www.apple.com/support/applecare/overview/

Edit.

[philbeeney]

Applecare from Canadian Apple Store - $451 (inc taxes) :eek:
Applecare from eBay - $258 :)

Saving of $197 and my parents MBP in the UK is covered for the next two years. :D

Deal with a reputable seller and you can't go wrong.

[eneisch]

I bought Applecare for my 2008 2.4 Ghz Aluminum MacBook from ebay on Sunday. I had the code from the seller within an hour and immediately registered it with Apple via their website. The registration went smoothly and I recieved proof of coverage from Apple that the registration was valid within another half hour.

I paid $130. The lowest I saw was $125, but the seller did not have alot of feedback (positive or negative) so I went with a more "established power seller" which gave me a little greater comfort level.

Overall I think it was worth it for the considerable savings over purchasing from Apple or a normal retailer.

[cam3ron]

Just bought mine yesterday. I was iffy too, but it worked no problem. Go for it and save 50%! All they do is email you the code, and you register online, I had no idea it would be that easy.

[aznguyen316]

I want to do this but I'm in Florida and on amazon it says that AppleCare can only be purchased through apple or apple.com. How can whoever tell the difference if it was purchased elsewhere? I don't really understand it and rather pay half the price than full price for the same exact thing!

[mac&cheesey]

I've purchased my AppleCare through eBay 3 times now: iMac, MBP and MB. The most recent one was yesterday. I paid for MB AppleCare yesterday (buy it now price of $140 US) and received the code about 12 hours later. I registered it right away and within one hour received a confirmation of coverage from Apple. Done!

I've only had to use AppleCare once (for the iMac surprisingly) and it worked out fine. No problems whatsoever.

I will always buy AppleCare from eBay. Check your seller's rating though, as everyone else here advises. Other than that, you should be good to go.

All the best,
m&c

[Eidorian]

There are several dedicated AppleCare sellers that pretty much specialize in only selling AppleCare on eBay. :D

Low prices and you'll get your registration key via e-mail in hours.

[walldawg84]

Notice that most charge cards increase your basic warranty by a year. So, my MasterCard doubles the basic Apple Warranty to 2 years. It's part of the Card service, and most charge cards do this. In fact my ATM card also has this service built in. So, if you want to save a couple hundred bucks and something goes wrong in the first 2 years, and you bought the machine with a charge card, you might still be covered. Check with your bank.

I'm not 100% whether this is right or not ... I bought my MB a year and a half ago with my Apple account, which charges from my Mastercard ... yet 6 months-ish ago I got a phonecall from Applecare telling me that my warranty was nearly up and that I could buy Applecare from them for an (as usual) extorsionate price. I chose to go it alone and hope that I could easily solve any problem that comes along ... fingers are crossed still, although I had to get my palmrest/keyboard/trackpad replaced but they did that for freee 'cos it's a common fault or something, most people get it done outside of warranty.

Would Apple have known about this Mastercard thing and just played me for a chump 'cos I blatantly didn't? Is it because I'm in the UK?

[The SpinDoctor]

My question is, how are they able to sell it for that price? Can someone explain?
Im pretty sure they dont buy it of Apple then resell it or the person would be losing money

Good question.....

Anyone know the answer?

[WindowsTraitor]

I have another question.

It seems that most of the people did not have any problem registering the applecare with the code provided by the e-bay seller.

So what about when you need to fix something. Did anybody use the apple care from Ebay to fix a MBP?. Of course it has to be after the 1 year regular apple warranty.

Ex.

Got the MBP on January 1st. 2008
1 year warranty expired December 31st 2008

Applecare Kicks in Jan 2009.

Computer breaks down on Feb 2009.

Thank you.

I am about to purchase one for mine so but I would like to know if then it is usable or not.


Thank you

[sickmacdoc]

I'm not 100% whether this is right or not ... I bought my MB a year and a half ago with my Apple account, which charges from my Mastercard ... yet 6 months-ish ago I got a phonecall from Applecare telling me that my warranty was nearly up and that I could buy Applecare from them for an (as usual) extorsionate price. I chose to go it alone and hope that I could easily solve any problem that comes along ... fingers are crossed still, although I had to get my palmrest/keyboard/trackpad replaced but they did that for freee 'cos it's a common fault or something, most people get it done outside of warranty.

Would Apple have known about this Mastercard thing and just played me for a chump 'cos I blatantly didn't? Is it because I'm in the UK?

No, Apple did not play you. They have no knowledge of whatever alternate things are offered by your charge card. To them, all they know is that the product they sold was paid for with a valid credit card.

The Apple standard 1 year factory warranty is just that- a warranty with Apple directly. If you want to extend your warranty contract with Apple an additional two years (for a total of three years coverage since manufacture) you do so with Apple via AppleCare in the first year of ownership. Purchasing with a credit card that offers extended coverage for a second year will not extend the time frame in which you must purchase AppleCare if desired.

[arthursiew]

I even saw some people who sell them for $130 with good feedback. Only trust those with good feedback. Don't trust anyone below a score of 95%. If you run into problems, PayPal usually solves my issues in a snap.

[Patriks7]

I even saw some people who sell them for $130 with good feedback. Only trust those with good feedback. Don't trust anyone below a score of 95%. If you run into problems, PayPal usually solves my issues in a snap.

I would kinda disagree with that. With all the hacking and stuff going on on eBay, I would say it's dangerous to buy anything at all.

[SpiceLMF]

I have another question.

It seems that most of the people did not have any problem registering the applecare with the code provided by the e-bay seller.

So what about when you need to fix something. Did anybody use the apple care from Ebay to fix a MBP?. Of course it has to be after the 1 year regular apple warranty.

Ex.

Got the MBP on January 1st. 2008
1 year warranty expired December 31st 2008

Applecare Kicks in Jan 2009.

Computer breaks down on Feb 2009.

Thank you.

I am about to purchase one for mine so but I would like to know if then it is usable or not.


Thank you

I second this question. I'm about to push the buy button (also debating between paying extra to get the box or just get the code). I've read countless reviews saying they were able to register, but what about actually getting something repaired.

[edesignuk]

If it's registered it's registered. End of story.

You take your Mac in, they pop the serial number in to the warranty status checker, it says it's covered, they try to fix it for you.

[SpiceLMF]

If it's registered it's registered. End of story.

You take your Mac in, they pop the serial number in to the warranty status checker, it says it's covered, they try to fix it for you.

Thanks for the confirmation. Just wasn't sure if there was any occurances of Apple revoking AppleCare after registration. I just don't want to buy and then a year from now when my 1 year is up find that my AppleCare is useless. Thanks that answers my question

[ZMacintosh]

I second this question. I'm about to push the buy button (also debating between paying extra to get the box or just get the code). I've read countless reviews saying they were able to register, but what about actually getting something repaired.

If it's registered it's registered. End of story.

You take your Mac in, they pop the serial number in to the warranty status checker, it says it's covered, they try to fix it for you.

I purchase apple care for 3 items, a MacPro, a Cinema Display and an iPod Touch.

My cinema display is over a year old and after checking:
https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do

it states its valid until 2011. So theyre definitely legit, they cant sell half used "insurance" policies , they just wouldnt take.

Another thing is, if you have applecare and you have a significant amount of time left on it, you can always cash it out too...Im not 100% sure if its available from the eBay sale...as i cashed out from a old iMac that i sold for part and cashed in on the Applecare..but that was purchased via Apple.


I doubt this are stolen either, otherwise Apple would have had an investigation in on this for so many people registering stolen "insurance" policies essentially.

[SpiceLMF]

I purchase apple care for 3 items, a MacPro, a Cinema Display and an iPod Touch.

My cinema display is over a year old and after checking:
https://selfsolve.apple.com/GetWarranty.do

it states its valid until 2011. So theyre definitely legit, they cant sell half used "insurance" policies , they just wouldnt take.

Another thing is, if you have applecare and you have a significant amount of time left on it, you can always cash it out too...Im not 100% sure if its available from the eBay sale...as i cashed out from a old iMac that i sold for part and cashed in on the Applecare..but that was purchased via Apple.


I doubt this are stolen either, otherwise Apple would have had an investigation in on this for so many people registering stolen "insurance" policies essentially.

Yeah I didn't think they would be selling half used policies, as I know the registration would weed out any of codes already used. But at the end of the day essentially it's just a serial key... and it's not out of the norm for people to generate fake keys for software or the like. Wasn't sure if there was any cases of fake codes getting past the registration process but later being denied.

You're right though, if it wasn't legit. I'd suspect Apple or Ebay probably would have confronted this ages ago as there's tons of sellers who have been doing it for years. I haven't read one case of a person getting screwed so I'd say I'm just paranoid. Will be taking the plunge soon and getting my AppleCare on Ebay.

[JoeDRC]

(ii) Damage to the Covered Equipment caused by accident, abuse, neglect, misuse (including
faulty installation, repair, or maintenance by anyone other than Apple or an Apple Authorized
Service Provider), unauthorized modification, extreme environment (including extreme
temperature or humidity), extreme physical or electrical stress or interference, fluctuation or
surges of electrical power, lightning, static electricity, fire, acts of God or other external causes;

favourite part of the Applecare T&C :D

[eneisch]

My feeling is that the vendors on eBay by them in bulk either from Apple or another wholesaler. Sort of like a corporation who uses Macs enterprise wide would do. Since they don't have the overhead of a "brick and mortar" store or a high corporate overhead, they are able to sell it for a much tighter margin. Competition on eBay probably helps keep price even lower as well.

[weckart]

favourite part of the Applecare T&C :D

Acts of God is a standard insurance term covering non-preventable disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, lightning strikes and the like. Not unique to Apple.

[JoeDRC]

Acts of God is a standard insurance term covering non-preventable disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, lightning strikes and the like. Not unique to Apple.

Fair enough, I'm not that savvy with T&C wording etc.
However iTunes does mention

THE APPLE SOFTWARE IS NOT INTENDED FOR USE IN THE OPERATION OF NUCLEAR FACILITIES

I find that slightly humorous :D

[psxguru]

Can anyone tell me what you actually get in the applecare box?

Some sellers charge quite a bit for postage, if the only thing I need is a serial number then obviously getting the seller to email it is the best bet.

[SpiceLMF]

Can anyone tell me what you actually get in the applecare box?

Some sellers charge quite a bit for postage, if the only thing I need is a serial number then obviously getting the seller to email it is the best bet.

Others can correct me if I'm wrong as the last AppleCare box I bought was 3 yrs ago... but it's pretty much just a box with a piece of paper in it and a cd of TechTools which you can download off of Apple's website anyway.

[crazyxzer0]

i bought applecare off ebay. $125 for the new unibody :D

Seller sent me a code, that I manually entered in the applecare website. It was valid and there is a link to download TechTool Deluxe which is pretty useless since the newest version doesn't work on the unibodies yet. (I have TechTool Pro anyways)

but Ebay ones works. It was a buy it now auction with 1200+ feedback on other applecare auctions.

[piimaPAKK]

The most common eBay scam for super cheap code things is that they are either stolen or bought with stolen credit card. AFAIK Apple keeps track of the numbers and many people have gotten their iTunes account banned because the cheap code they used was bought with stolen cc. It wont happen right away so buyers can leave positive feedback and then get banned and it appears as the seller is all goody two shoes.

[guklein]

The most common eBay scam for super cheap code things is that they are either stolen or bought with stolen credit card. AFAIK Apple keeps track of the numbers and many people have gotten their iTunes account banned because the cheap code they used was bought with stolen cc. It wont happen right away so buyers can leave positive feedback and then get banned and it appears as the seller is all goody two shoes.

I agree it happens with iTunes Gift Card.

But I've never seen any related case with AppleCare.

Has anyone seen it?

[alphaod]

It's really a morality and money issue; if you don't care that someone (not the seller) is losing money, then go ahead and buy it; if you can afford to pay more for it and/or you have morality issues with buying goods paid with stolen credit cards (AKA money laundering), then buy it retail.

[tamito]

if i buy NMB from outside of USA can I buy apple care from usa seller in usa or not?

[Cheffy Dave]

I want to do this but I'm in Florida and on amazon it says that AppleCare can only be purchased through apple or apple.com. How can whoever tell the difference if it was purchased elsewhere? I don't really understand it and rather pay half the price than full price for the same exact thing!

BS, I live in FL, and bought it on e-Bay and it registered just fine. e-Bay is where I will get it for the other BMB's as well:cool:

[ijsbakje]

if i buy NMB from outside of USA can I buy apple care from usa seller in usa or not?

That shouldn't be a problem tamito.

http://buzzptc.nxserve.net/ssl/1.jpg

[richorlin]

If I buy AppleCare from a US seller does it work in The Netherlands? Does it work worldwide?
I see different prices..
So the cheapest I can find is 140 dollar and 140 dollar is only 100,58 euro!
Guess how much the AppleCare Protection plan is in the netherlands?
249,00 euro!
If I buy it on Ebay I can get it for 100,58!
If it sounds to good to be true it probably is.. Or not?

The only Applecare that is valid worldwide is for laptops.
If you buy Aplecare for an iMac or MacPro, it is country specific. Be aware of this fact when you are purchasing Applecare on eBay.

[NC MacGuy]

Having just gone through Applecare phone registration hell, beware if you live in North Carolina.

[edesignuk]

The only Applecare that is valid worldwide is for laptops.
If you buy Aplecare for an iMac or MacPro, it is country specific. Be aware of this fact when you are purchasing Applecare on eBay.Are you sure, can you back this up?

I know the standard warranty is only global on laptops and not for desktops, but I thought extended warranty (namely AppleCare) was global all round.

I bought AppleCare from a US eBay seller and registered my UK purchased Mac Pro with no issue, it's all validated and good to see me through until 2011.

[polska9]

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry9530/4.7.0.76 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/126)

Why not just ask someone for their education discount? Its only 210 Canadian with that discount in Canada. Probably even less in the US.

[guklein]

The only Applecare that is valid worldwide is for laptops.
If you buy Aplecare for an iMac or MacPro, it is country specific. Be aware of this fact when you are purchasing Applecare on eBay.

It is not true...AppleCare is valid worldwide, even iMac.

"Global Repair Coverage".

http://www.apple.com/support/products/proplan.html

It is not specified MacBook or MacBook Pro.

Best wishes!

[Bill Gates]

Having just gone through Applecare phone registration hell, beware if you live in North Carolina.
Sorry to bump an old thread, but I'm curious to know what your experience was.

[fedup flyer]

Having just gone through Applecare phone registration hell, beware if you live in North Carolina.

I have bought Applecare for three different products and I have never had a problem. Must be you. :p

[fedup flyer]

So, my MasterCard doubles the basic Apple Warranty to 2 years. .

May want to check the fine print on those terms and conditions. MOST credit cards do not cover laptops.

[SethBoy]

Let's say that I'm a seller of AppleCare. I purchase it at standard retail price of say $300, and I sell it on ebay for $150. The buyer buys the code, registers it and all is okay. What is stopping me from deciding to cancel the AppleCare plan since I do have the original proof of purchase, and getting a refund?

[Alquit]

If it's registered it's registered. End of story.

You take your Mac in, they pop the serial number in to the warranty status checker, it says it's covered, they try to fix it for you.

Plenty of people are saying they have had no problem registering their ebay brought codes but has any one actually had their Mac break down and taken it in and put it to the test?
I can't see one mention of that here or anywhere on the the net.
I've read a few times that you may be asked for a receipt for the Applecare in which case seeing as no actual product is shipped you won't have one so then what?

[Bill Gates]

Plenty of people are saying they have had no problem registering their ebay brought codes but has any one actually had their Mac break down and taken it in and put it to the test?
I can't see one mention of that here or anywhere on the the net.
I've read a few times that you may be asked for a receipt for the Applecare in which case seeing as no actual product is shipped you won't have one so then what?
I took my laptop in several times and had purchased my applecare plan on ebay. In addition, my laptop was replaced under warranty by apple, again on that same plan. (this was after the initial 1-year warranty had lapsed)

[Alquit]

Let's say that I'm a seller of AppleCare. I purchase it at standard retail price of say $300, and I sell it on ebay for $150. The buyer buys the code, registers it and all is okay. What is stopping me from deciding to cancel the AppleCare plan since I do have the original proof of purchase, and getting a refund?

You have a good point.
It seems one can get a full refund within 30 days if you have the original proof of purchase.
Maybe some of these sellers are doing this?

From the Applecare terms and conditions:

5. Cancellation
You may cancel this Plan at any time for any reason. If you decide to cancel either call Apple at the telephone number below, or send or fax written notice with your Plan Agreement Number to AppleCare Administration, P.O. Box 149125, Austin, TX 78714 — 9125, U.S. (fax number 512 — 674 — 8125). A copy of the Plan’s original proof of purchase must accompany your notice. Unless local law provides otherwise, if you cancel within thirty (30) days of your Plan’s purchase, or receipt of these Terms and Conditions, whichever occurs later, you will receive a full refund less the value of any service provided under the Plan. If you cancel more than thirty (30) days after your receipt of this Plan, you will receive a pro rata refund of the original purchase price, based on the percentage of unexpired Coverage Period, less (a) a cancellation fee of twenty-five ($25 USD) dollars or ten percent (10%) of the pro-rata amount, whichever is less, and (b) the value of any service provided to you under the Plan. Unless applicable local law provides otherwise, Apple may cancel this Plan if service parts for the Covered Equipment become unavailable, upon thirty (30) days’ prior written notice. If Apple cancels this Plan, you will receive a pro-rata refund for the Plan’s unexpired term.

[armoguy94]

Sorry for bumping.

I have an iMac and the 1-year support is going to expire in about a month.

If purchasing Applecare from ebay, can I do it at any time? Even after that one month is over? Or does it have to be within the one month time period.

Also can someone recommend me any legit ebay sellers that they've dealt with on behalf of purchasing AppleCare?

Thanks.

[rgarjr]

u have to do it before the year expires.

[applebook]

Another eBay Applecare buyer here. Got it for almost half off retail on an iMac G5 awhile back.

[Cyclo0n]

On ebay i read at almost al the sellers: Applecare will work as long as it is within its 1 year warranty

I have my MacBook for almost a year and i am curious if i can get a code after my first year of waranty??

[caribiner23]

On ebay i read at almost al the sellers: Applecare will work as long as it is within its 1 year warranty

I have my MacBook for almost a year and i am curious if i can get a code after my first year of waranty??

No. If you go past your one-year anniversary of ownership, you can't apply AppleCare to the device. Go through the "check your warranty status" page at support.apple.com to see when your one-year warranty is up.

I've bought AppleCare (on eBay) on the last day of the one-year warranty and applied the code and the device was covered. I'll never buy AppleCare at full retail again.

A note about the coverage provided by credit cards: this is not the same as AppleCare. It's an insurance policy that will reimburse you for any repair costs that you incur if there's a problem with the item you purchased. The difference is that (a) you have to pay for the repairs up front; and (b) you're at the mercy of the coverage provider to agree that whatever problem you fixed was covered under the credit card's policy. And guess who's best interest the insurance provider usually has top of mind? :)

I went the "credit card" coverage route twice: once with American Express and once with a Citibank Visa. These were on electronic items (not Apple products). After months of paperwork, phone calls, and arguing I received only a portion of my outlay for repairs each time. Absolutely, positively not worth it.

I normally don't believe in extended warranties of any kind, but I've always had good luck with AppleCare. When I've needed it, it worked for me.

[Ras-x]

Well I guess the critical issue is from whom you purchase. I have just purchased applecare for my iMac, at a very discounted price ...and it worked. I can recommend macman812. The real problem I had was with the Apple web site - the *^%%$$%!! thing kept endlessly cycling and timing out. Tried connecting (on fast broadband) with my iMac and Macbook Pro using both Safari and Firefox. Kept trying for over 24 hrs, before in frustration I rang my friendly local Apple Store. They gave me a phone number (in Australia it is 1300321456), and registration literally took 3 minutes. Just have your machines seriel number and the applecare number ready.

So YES it can work, work cheaply and work well (just avoid the Apple site :D)

[calderone]

I say don't do it, unless you are getting the box. These codes don't seem to be legit, and it is only a matter of time before Apple catches them all.

[Ras-x]

Sorry, I must disagree. There was NO problem at all when i spoke with Apple Support. If there had been an issue with the number it would have come up immediately. Instead they confirmed the registration had been accepted, and that a confirmation letter was on its way.

Remember, if you purchase on ebay and use Paypal, you are covered against unscrupulous sellers financially. Always check their feedback. My man had sold almost 6,000 items (the majority are applecare warranties), and has a 99.9% favourable response. That gives a lot of confidence. But if you want to spend nearly $100 more for the box - go for it ;)

[calderone]

Sorry, I must disagree. There was NO problem at all when i spoke with Apple Support. If there had been an issue with the number it would have come up immediately. Instead they confirmed the registration had been accepted, and that a confirmation letter was on its way.

Remember, if you purchase on ebay and use Paypal, you are covered against unscrupulous sellers financially. Always check their feedback. My man had sold almost 6,000 items (the majority are applecare warranties), and has a 99.9% favourable response. That gives a lot of confidence. But if you want to spend nearly $100 more for the box - go for it ;)

You aren't covered if your code is revoked and past the one year original warranty and passed the time frame for a dispute. At which point you have left positive feedback and can't change it. And so you know, the problem with the codes are not immediately evident, at least to Apple Support. I do not know where the problems are detected, but I know that it happens months after it is registered. See the threads in the Buying Advice section.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=690859

The positive feedback of these "code" sellers is not in anyway indicative of the long term satisfaction of their buyers. These problems have been happening months after the code was registered. If you are convinced that the feedback of these sellers is an indication of the legitimacy of these codes, your standard for trustworthiness is rather low.

I have no doubt that some make it through the system with their code. But no matter what the percent of successful codes, I don't want to take the chance of being in the percentage of users called out. Because when that happens they demand the serial number from the box, which of course you can't provide. It also leaves you, in most cases, unable to transfer the warranty in the event you sell your mac.

To close, your insinuation that I am somehow foolish for paying "nearly $100 more" for a box copy didn't go unnoticed. If you must know, I have never paid more than $40 over the cheapest "code," and I would much rather pay that than be left with no warranty.

And don't you find the marketing techniques of these sellers strange? They use a picture of 20+ applecare boxes (suggesting they have the boxes), but they only email you the code. And their reasoning for this is to be "green," or "you don't need the box" (which you actually do need). And when you email them to send you one of those 20+ boxes they have in the picture, they don't do it. Usually it is because they throw them out or whatever other excuse they have. Here are some examples from eBay sellers:


Here is costal_computing, a seller who asks you in his listing to send him a message if you need a box. A link to an example:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120463269071&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#ht_1562wt_1167

This is what he replies with when you email him asking for a box copy.

Hi, I send applecare agreement via email with all related information and instruction you would find in retail package. I stand behind everything I sell, guaranteed. One thing you should know is when you dont buy applecare directly from apple or other authorized seller, box or not, you cant transfer plan as easily or return to apple for refund because you didnt buy from an authorized seller. I dont do special requests at this time as with the amount of customers I deal with day in day out, it makes my job un-manageable. So sorry I will not be sending box to you. I hope we can do business, I like to think my feedback speaks for itself. I dont let customers down, period. Thanks, Corey

Here is another, this time ameenterprises.
I do not stock the boxes here... My supplier sends me the codes
then discards the boxes! Let me know! You should have zero
issues! If there are issues, I can refund or help you!

Thanks,

Adam

[Richard1028]

I say don't do it, unless you are getting the box. Fully agree and most importantly - save the freaking box. If a code is stolen from inside the box then put back on a retail rack and passed along to you, it won't show up as a duplicate in Apple's system until somebody legitimately buys that original box.

Or, if there are illegal AppleCare code generators out there, chances are one of the codes they generate will actually be the same as one lurking inside a legitimate box. Again, a conflict won't surface until somebody buys that box.

Either way, your "code only" purchase will be invalidated by anyone holding the original box/receipt for that same code. And this could happen well outside your 1 year original warranty and now you're screwed.

Even the ebay seller will be surprised by this because he buys his codes from what he thinks are legitimate sources. There are no resellers of "codes" sanctioned by Apple to sell them other than Apple themselves. (And if there are, I'd like to see proof).

The bottom line is no matter where you buy it, keep the receipt and most importantly, the box. I don't care what the Apple registration page says about the status for you guys that bought just a code. Maybe 99.9% of you will get lucky and drift through your 2 year extended warranty without a hitch but it's no guarantee - which is what AppleCare is really about.

[Ras-x]

You aren't covered if your code is revoked and past the one year original warranty and passed the time frame for a dispute. At which point you have left positive feedback and can't change it. And so you know, the problem with the codes are not immediately evident, at least to Apple Support. I do not know where the problems are detected, but I know that it happens months after it is registered. See the threads in the Buying Advice section.

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=690859

The positive feedback of these "code" sellers is not in anyway indicative of the long term satisfaction of their buyers. These problems have been happening months after the code was registered. If you are convinced that the feedback of these sellers is an indication of the legitimacy of these codes, your standard for trustworthiness is rather low.

I have no doubt that some make it through the system with their code. But no matter what the percent of successful codes, I don't want to take the chance of being in the percentage of users called out. Because when that happens they demand the serial number from the box, which of course you can't provide. It also leaves you, in most cases, unable to transfer the warranty in the event you sell your mac.

To close, your insinuation that I am somehow foolish for paying "nearly $100 more" for a box copy didn't go unnoticed. If you must know, I have never paid more than $40 over the cheapest "code," and I would much rather pay that than be left with no warranty.

And don't you find the marketing techniques of these sellers strange? They use a picture of 20+ applecare boxes (suggesting they have the boxes), but they only email you the code. And their reasoning for this is to be "green," or "you don't need the box" (which you actually do need). And when you email them to send you one of those 20+ boxes they have in the picture, they don't do it. Usually it is because they throw them out or whatever other excuse they have. Here are some examples from eBay sellers:


Here is costal_computing, a seller who asks you in his listing to send him a message if you need a box. A link to an example:http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120463269071&ssPageName=ADME:X:RTQ:US:1123#ht_1562wt_1167

This is what he replies with when you email him asking for a box copy.



Here is another, this time ameenterprises.


"Hmmmm" Insinuations? Nope, not at all - i thought it was obvious and clear. Look, maybe it's different in your part of the world. I have done this on several occasions (bought without the box), it's never been an issue. I sold a Powerbook with 4 months left on the applecare warranty (bought without the box). The Apple guys said, that it can be transferred - they do NOT need the box, once it is registered it is registered to that machine; therefore it can be transferred - no problem!

Frankly I really don't care, I was just responding to the ? of whether it works or not, and can it be recommended. My opinion is no less/ no more valid than yours. Let the readers decide for themselves, some will go one way and others the other. So be it.:apple:

[budkid]

Exactly...find the one with the kost positive feedback and you shall be fine.