This may be more true than you think! Coming from Craigslist, there's a good possibility that it's stolen. Be sure to take at least one or two friends with you, so you don't get robbed. This happens a lot on Craigslist.
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911: How can I tell if a Macbook is REALLY brand "new"? What is apple packaging like?
- Thread starter JCUSN
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You may not be so cool with it if the rightful owner comes with the police and finds you in possession of stolen property. You lose your money and you go to jail!
Yeah and you honestly won't be able to stop the police from repossessing stolen property from you.
If you can look up the serial number on the web, that means it's been sold. If it's been sold, the owner is registered with Apple.
The police nail him for grand theft. This probably isn't the only thing he is fencing. He pees his pants. Makes a list of contacts that he has sold property to. The cops track down those people to recover stolen property. You won't go to jail, but you would loose your money.
If there were no market for stolen goods, then people wouldn't steal. You are the market, therefore you are partly to blame.
Me: dee da dee *walks out of apple store* Man! im so excited to go home and open my new macbook!
man from darkness: hand over that MBP or else!! *gunslap*
Me:ahhhh!!! here!!
please, please, dont go to his house. if he cant meet you at a mcdonalds or starbucks somethings up for sure..
You know everyone always wants to say, "if it's too good to be true."
The truth is many people have MANY reasons for selling something like a new Mac. Perhaps they need cash. They put it on their credit card, then sell it for cash. It happens all of the time. Especially in economic times like these. I once had a friend that needed cash, and asked me if I would do this. I turned him down, but the point is that everything is NOT stolen.
People have different reasons. Often they may have their parents buy them something that their parents approve of to sell it to buy something their parents don't approve of. Doesn't mean it's ethical for them, but that is not your problem.
Often guys sucker their girls (and vice versa) into buying them something like this then change their mind and just want to sell it behind the other's back.
Maybe someone got one as a gift, and could not bare the thought of telling the gift giver they already have one. So, they sell it instead of asking for a receipt.
How about they got it from work, or another source and have their own.
Won it in a raffle? Or work function. Or as some other drawing.
The point is there are MANY reasons why people would want to sell something that is new to them but they would rather have the cash. And, NOT all things are stolen people. I see this all of the time here. If you can see it with your own eyes, put your hands on it, and then pay at a discount, it's NOT always too good to be true. People are down on their luck sometimes, people don't want to return a gift sometimes, or people just need the money sometimes... Don't assume the worst.
Be cautious, but a lot of the time, people are just willing to sell something for less because they need cash NOW.
Do your research, but do not assume everything is stolen. The vast majority of Craig's List scams are sending money and sending the product. That is where the scam is. If someone is willing to meet you and has the box, it's pretty doubtful it's stolen. Now, if someone meets you with NO box, no materials, no power cord, no disk, only a laptop and laptop bag, maybe that is a stolen one.
If someone is down on their luck, they will usually tell you. If someone is selling something stolen, you will usually know.
My two cents.
The truth is many people have MANY reasons for selling something like a new Mac. Perhaps they need cash. They put it on their credit card, then sell it for cash. It happens all of the time. Especially in economic times like these. I once had a friend that needed cash, and asked me if I would do this. I turned him down, but the point is that everything is NOT stolen.
People have different reasons. Often they may have their parents buy them something that their parents approve of to sell it to buy something their parents don't approve of. Doesn't mean it's ethical for them, but that is not your problem.
Often guys sucker their girls (and vice versa) into buying them something like this then change their mind and just want to sell it behind the other's back.
Maybe someone got one as a gift, and could not bare the thought of telling the gift giver they already have one. So, they sell it instead of asking for a receipt.
How about they got it from work, or another source and have their own.
Won it in a raffle? Or work function. Or as some other drawing.
The point is there are MANY reasons why people would want to sell something that is new to them but they would rather have the cash. And, NOT all things are stolen people. I see this all of the time here. If you can see it with your own eyes, put your hands on it, and then pay at a discount, it's NOT always too good to be true. People are down on their luck sometimes, people don't want to return a gift sometimes, or people just need the money sometimes... Don't assume the worst.
Be cautious, but a lot of the time, people are just willing to sell something for less because they need cash NOW.
Do your research, but do not assume everything is stolen. The vast majority of Craig's List scams are sending money and sending the product. That is where the scam is. If someone is willing to meet you and has the box, it's pretty doubtful it's stolen. Now, if someone meets you with NO box, no materials, no power cord, no disk, only a laptop and laptop bag, maybe that is a stolen one.
If someone is down on their luck, they will usually tell you. If someone is selling something stolen, you will usually know.
My two cents.
Around here there have been news stories about people getting mugged as they leave the Apple Store with their new laptop.
I certainly don't wish you any harm but I sincerely hope that you never have something of value stolen from you. It's bad karma to buy stolen things because whether you want to admit it or not it makes a larger market for stolen goods and incentivizes antisocial behaviour.
In many jurisdictions, the buyer has a responsibility to take reasonable steps to determine whether they are buying stolen property. In any case, the police can repossess stolen property without compensation to the buyer, even if the buyer is innocent.
If it's a legit deal (ie he won it, was given it as a gift, etc.) the onus is on him to demonstrate that. Some legit sellers are happy to provide you with their identifying information (not just a name and a cell phone number).
You may be saving a few hundred bucks off the Apple refurb price, but you certainly don't sound like a stand up guy. Enjoy your life. And don't cry if someone steals it from you.
Have you tried Coconut Identity Card?
What makes you sure that your machine is stolen? If it is then I hope you get away with it.
did you ask him for any form of Proof of Purchase?
What store? Online? etc.
There is ALWAYS a record of it even if he claims he doesnt have a receipt.
They email it, they keep it on record, you can call Apple to see where/when it was exactly purchased...not sure if they will tell you Who, but they keep records of this for sure (within a year IIRCC)
What store? Online? etc.
There is ALWAYS a record of it even if he claims he doesnt have a receipt.
They email it, they keep it on record, you can call Apple to see where/when it was exactly purchased...not sure if they will tell you Who, but they keep records of this for sure (within a year IIRCC)
As long as you don't bring cash with you when you meet him, you'll be fine.
Otherwise, under the scenario in which you described, I'd say you should give this a try.
A few months ago, I had to sell my car for $1000 less than I could have got if I had 1 or 2 months to sell it. The car was probably worth $11000, but I sold it for $10000. However, I had to sell it quickly because I had to leave the country and wanted this taken care of quickly rather than take the risk of not selling on time.
There are lots of valid reasons for selling something a bit cheaper than they could get for it. Perhaps he needs cash quickly.
To be honest, I think this machine is probably stolen, which doesn't make this cool at all. Then again, I hate to be a cynic.....
Otherwise, under the scenario in which you described, I'd say you should give this a try.
A few months ago, I had to sell my car for $1000 less than I could have got if I had 1 or 2 months to sell it. The car was probably worth $11000, but I sold it for $10000. However, I had to sell it quickly because I had to leave the country and wanted this taken care of quickly rather than take the risk of not selling on time.
There are lots of valid reasons for selling something a bit cheaper than they could get for it. Perhaps he needs cash quickly.
To be honest, I think this machine is probably stolen, which doesn't make this cool at all. Then again, I hate to be a cynic.....
pretty much everything Apple makes aside from the xserve and the mac pro come in packages sealed by those ~3" round stickers. However, check the bottom of the box too to make sure they didn't try opening it some other way!
I bought a brand new MDD last year, and it was unbelievably still perfectly sealed!
I bought a brand new MDD last year, and it was unbelievably still perfectly sealed!
About this Mac -> More Info... -> Hardware -> Power -> Battery Health -> Cycle Count.
If it looks new, and if you can't tell the difference, then it is new.
Do you really care that much if the plastic shrink wrapping has been taken off the power supply? If there's a smudge on the trackpad? If the box's seal has been broken?
I've bought expensive things through Craigslist before. Never an Apple laptop, but I've gotten great discounts off slightly used stuff. I would be wary and careful, but not inconveniently so.
Do you really care that much if the plastic shrink wrapping has been taken off the power supply? If there's a smudge on the trackpad? If the box's seal has been broken?
I've bought expensive things through Craigslist before. Never an Apple laptop, but I've gotten great discounts off slightly used stuff. I would be wary and careful, but not inconveniently so.
That doesn't necessarily mean it was actually purchased on December 14.
If it was bought through the online store, Apple does record the exact date it was sold in AppleCare. However, if it's shipped to a store to be sold (maybe not the Apple store, see below), Apple will record the date in AppleCare as the date they guess it'll be sold. This is a sliding scale over the lifetime of the line, with new products being a few days after shipping to the store, and older products being up to 2 months from shipping, to give the benefit of the doubt to the customer if they need to file a claim and don't have proof of purchase.
I know this because, years ago, I bought a 1.25GHz G4 Mini "new" from CompUSA for $300. The G4 Mini refresh had already happened, and the old machine had been sitting on a dusty shelf since then, so they discounted it to get rid of it. 11 months later, the motherboard failed. I brought it into an Apple Store, and they told me the warranty was expired. As it turns out, AppleCare had estimated the Mini would have been sold within 2 months, when in reality it was at CompUSA for nearly 4 months. Luckily I still had the receipt, though it took nearly a week to sort the mess out.
(Anyway, I'm wondering if the actual purchase date is updated when you buy at a brick-and-mortar Apple store, since they do scan the serial number in when you buy there. I should plug my iPhone serial in to find out.)
Edit: I just did, and the wording is a bit odd:
That's it. It doesn't mention anything about the actual warranty, just when phone support ends. And that's on a launch-day iPhone 3G (July 11, 2008). Weird.
JCUSN said:
Very smart, I wouldn't have thought of that. I'm about to purchase a MBP from a craigslist seller as well and reading this thread has been invaluable.
NewSc2 said:
I'm with you on this one. If I can buy a month or 2 month old MBP for 300-400 off the original price(+tax) then I'll take the slightly worn keys and track pad, it'll be like that anyway in a month so I don't see the difference. Let them pay the showroom costs. It's the same with cars, as soon as they leave the showroom the value drops 2-3000 bucks.
In the same breath: Buyer Beware! I have done quite a few Craigslist transactions and have run into a few scam artists. You have to go into these things with a clear head.
The guy you're trying to buy from may as well be looking at what's going on in this thread as I type. LOL muahahahhahaha
Also if it boots and goes straight to the "Welcome to Leopard" movie, that's a pretty good indication that it's new. That in addition to all the other recommendations.