Buying a Macbook from another country off Ebay

What about import tax, don't know how much it is in Kiwi land but I guess it's not 0%.

100% positive feedback so that is OK, think the shipping is a bit steep though.

Don't they charge import tax there?

Edit: I myself would never buy an expensive item like that on Ebay

Vettori13 said:

Hey everyone,

So I live in New Zealand. And where I live, Apple products are very expensive (even more so than normal).

I looked on Ebay and found many brand new 13' rMBP's for about $400NZD less than on the NZ Apple store, even after $100 shipping.

I was wondering if there would be any major problems with purchasing something like this from a location in the US. I assume there might be an issue regarding warranties but I am not sure.

Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks.

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When buying from a foreign country, you need to consider that if there are any problems, and the seller is in any way dodgy, you will have a hard time getting things sorted out. I'd only buy from a foreign country if they have a known good reputation, or if the item is cheap enough so that you can risk losing all your money. So buying a MBP from an unknown seller in a foreign country is something that I wouldn't do.

justperry said:

Edit: I myself would never buy an expensive item like that on Ebay

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Even in your own country. Buying from a foreign country just makes the risk so much bigger. On the other hand, I wouldn't ship to a foreign country either; the seller can expect exactly the same problems.

gnasher729 said:

When buying from a foreign country, you need to consider that if there are any problems, and the seller is in any way dodgy, you will have a hard time getting things sorted out. I'd only buy from a foreign country if they have a known good reputation, or if the item is cheap enough so that you can risk losing all your money. So buying a MBP from an unknown seller in a foreign country is something that I wouldn't do.




Even in your own country. Buying from a foreign country just makes the risk so much bigger. On the other hand, I wouldn't ship to a foreign country either; the seller can expect exactly the same problems.

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Only if purchase receipts are included and has a 100% positive feedback.
But the place I am originally from is small, most of the country can be reached within a 1-2 hour drive.

justperry said:

100% positive feedback so that is OK, think the shipping is a bit steep though.

Don't they charge import tax there?

Edit: I myself would never buy an expensive item like that on Ebay

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The last sentence is my opinion, too; personally, I'd never buy anything that expensive from e-Bay. In your position, I would grit my teeth, and would pay the full price, knowing that the warranty is sound, and the purchase is perfectly legitimate. In other words, you are paying for peace of mind......

justperry said:

Only if purchase receipts are included and has a 100% positive feedback.
But the place I am originally from is small, most of the country can be reached within a 1-2 hour drive.

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Ok, if you live say in Luxembourg then Belgium or Netherlands doesn't quite count as "foreign country".

One thing I did not see mentioned is the power adapter you may need to purchase a local version to power/recharge the machine. All depends on the plug standard used in your home country vs the country you are buying from as most chargers will automatically handle the difference in the voltages around the world, plug on the end of that adapter different story.

You really need to check the situation with import duty and taxes in New Zealand. Don't imagine for one minute your MBP may slip through the net, it won't!

Other than this I agree with the sentiment of most who have posted above. It's an expensive item and a substantial risk. I wouldn't do it.

gnasher729 said:

Ok, if you live say in Luxembourg then Belgium or Netherlands doesn't quite count as "foreign country".

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One of those BeNeLux countries is where I was born, more than 10 million people live close enough to me to just pick up an item instead of buying it on Ebay, if it's an expensive article like the one above I wouldn't hesitate to just go there and check it out myself.
I bought plenty of things on Ebay, as far away as China and the US, most of them just a couple of $, most expensive was a phone from the US which was around $50, if something happened I would loose little, never happened though.
I choose 100% positive feedback and sellers which have sold 1000s of articles.

Have you thought of going to Australia or getting it from Australia I don't know if that would be cheaper or same price as New Zealand?

Vettori13 said:

I'm thinking it would be cheaper but I would likely have to pay import tax when I come back into NZ.

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What about a refurb MBA from the apple online store. Sometimes they have good deals. If any are available though.

Vettori13 said:

I think that might be my main option at this stage. There is a refurb rMBP 13" for a good price in there at the moment but I am thinking about holding off for the Haswell retina laptops. But getting a Haswell refurbished 13" rMBP will be very difficult.

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Oh okay. Whats your MBA going to be used for mainly if you dont mind me asking. I am not sure on the difference between processors like Haswell etc. However sometimes even the current new and current refurb MBA's might suit your needs.