Buying Apple TV on eBay ?

[augustya]

Hi Guys,

On eBay if someone wants to buy not a new Apple TV from the listings mentioned i.e. "Open Box", "Manufacture Refurbished" and "Seller Refurbished" which would be the best option to go for, which is supposedly going to have a good condition and quality and can work out cheap ? I know used is like used but from the above categories what is the best to go for ?

Any suggestions ?

 

[nburwell]

I would take either descriptions with a grain of salt. Unless the device is refurbished directly from Apple, the device is going to probably show some sort of wear (as long as that doesn't bother you).

Granted I have purchased a couple "open box" items from Best Buy, and they were all in excellent condition. Usually in the description you can get a sense of what condition the product is in. That might be your best bet out of the three.

 

[Juicy Box]

If you are in the US (I'm not sure about consumer laws outside of the US), having a seller say "refurbished" doesn't mean anything. There are no consumer laws governing what "refurbished" means.

If I decide to sell an ATV on eBay and list it as refurbished, that could mean that I wiped the ATV with a damp cloth to clean the dust.

Apple on the other hand, clearly lists and defines what their refurbishing process consists of, and I generally trust that they do these things:

Why Refurbished

Save up to 15% and get a one-year warranty with the Apple Refurbished purchasing program. Read more on the Apple Refurbished promise.

www.apple.com

In many cases, buying an Apple Refurbished device is actually better than a new one, due to the extensive testing that is done to it that new products to not get.

There have been some cases reported where Apple was selling refurbished iPhones that had water damaged and repairs that were not as good as new, but I think these cases are rare and always seem to be mobile devices.

I have purchased many Apple Refurbished products over the years, and would always get them over new given the chance, but many times, the configuration of what I am looking for might be rare for the Refurbished store.

Just keep this in mind, a refurbished Apple product is not the same thing as an Apple Refurbished product.

 

[oneMadRssn]

Read the description fully, stay away from sellers outside of the US and sellers that have low feedback or under 95% positive feedback.

An AppleTV is less risky to buy on ebay than an iPhone. It's just a black box that isn't moved or even touched after setup. It's also pretty durable. So even a "used" one is likely to work just fine, even if it does have a few scuffs on it.

For things like AppleTV, I actually prefer to look for ones marked "used" and avoid ones marked "refurbished." The reason is most ebay refurbishers just clean it to call it refurbished, and then use that as an opportunity to charge more for it. If it's dirty, I can clean it myself. I also look for ones that come with the original packaging. It's usually indicative of a more responsible prior owner.