Buying a MBP on ebay. tips? precautions?

[greeneggs28]

I've recently ditched the idea of buy a MBP from "Ecomelectronics" and started looking to e-bay for a purchase (which might be no different than purchasing from "Ecom"). I've found some sellers with almost perfect feedback (98% range and up) that I would like to purchase from. From what I understand that faking feedback on ebay is more difficult to do than other online stores. Any tips and precautions I should consider when buying a $2500+ mac from ebay? Does using "Paypal" protect me from the purchase being a scam? I just can't get the feeling out of me that these deals are "too good to be true". Any feedback or stories of previous experiences with shoping on ebay would be helpful.

Thanks

The MPB that I want is a "new" 17" 2.6GHZ, 7200 rpm HD, high rez. Shopping on ebay would save me about $400 to $600.

 

[UnclePaulie]

Oddly enough I just sold my MBP on eBay. To share with you my personal experience, I normally buy my computers from retail stores and then sell them on eBay when I want to change. I have become well versed in eBay/PayPal policies since I was scammed out of $900 for an old MacBook I sold. (I shipped the laptop, buyer kept the laptop, called PayPal and got his payment reversed claiming he never received it - therefore I lost the laptop and had to pay the money back as well).
In addition to looking for sellers with high feedback ratings, you should only make a transaction through PayPal. They have something called "Buyer Potection Policy" which should show up as "Eligible" on the item listing. In order for this to work, both you and the seller have to be verified PayPal users. Avoid using other auction payment sites. Keep in mind that the protection policy only protects you up to $2,000. So if you're spending $2500 on a laptop, you could still theoretically lose $500. From what I have experienced, PayPal is much more lenient with refunding the buyer's money and very stringent about protecting the sellers, which works to your benefit this time. Hope that info helps.

 

[topgunn]

I bought my 2.2GHz 15" MBP w/ full warranty on eBay for $1,699. I was a bit hesitant but I saw that the seller had sold a number of MBPs to other eBay users and had positive feedback from them as well. Since I was paying with PayPal (which is notorius for siding with the buyer in most all disputes) which then charged my AMEX (which is also very apt to siding with the card holder), I felt that even if something did go wrong with the transaction, I had multiple levels of protection to get my money back.

At the end of the day, it was all moot. I got a wonderful new and sealed MBP with 51 weeks of warranty remaining for $150 less than it would have cost me to get the same computer refurbished from Apple.

 

[firstrest]

UnclePaulie, just wondering, what's to stop that happening to you again? Excuse me, but I'm not that up to speed with ebay.

 

[Dainas]

The problem with buying almost any mac on Ebay(or any 'mac specialist') is; the prices from a legit seller just beg the question why not buy new or refurb from apple? The ending bids always get into just buy it somewhere else territory. Even getting that $150 is rare rare , and I lurk ebay allot.

 

[Hankster]

The problem is items on ebay that seem "too good to be true" usually are. If the price is too good then there's a reason. Also, it's VERY DIFFICULT to get your money back if you get something you didn't want, not to mention the major headache.