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Buying Brand New MacBook from Ebay - how to check if it is company registered (has MDM profiles) before opening?

S

SSD-GUY

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 20, 2012
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Hi all

So after buying a used MacBook from eBay, I was pretty surprised when it appeared it still had an MDM / company profile attached to it. It's becoming a bit of a nightmare trying to get it removed due to the differing chains the laptop was sold through, so I've decided to see if I can get a brand new laptop instead.

I've found a brand new MacBook Pro, however is there any way of knowing whether the MacBook has any MDM profiles associated with it before I open it? Furthermore, can a MDM profile be pushed down to it later on?

Thanks!
 
What ever happened to "fool me once, shame on you -- fool me twice, shame on ME" ??

If you want a "brand new" MacBook Pro, BUY IT FROM APPLE.
Or at the very least, buy an Apple-refurbished unit (I've done that, with great results).

If you buy a MBP that has MDM on it (from ebay or other similar source), it's probably stolen property. Do you really want to go through this again?
 
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Fishrrman said:
If you buy a MBP that has MDM on it (from ebay or other similar source), it's probably stolen property. Do you really want to go through this again?
Click to expand...
This really isn't always true. My company regularly recycles MacBooks that end up enrolling back into our MDM because someone along the line recycled a MacBook that didn't get removed from our MDM.
 
iObama said:
This really isn't always true. My company regularly recycles MacBooks that end up enrolling back into our MDM because someone along the line recycled a MacBook that didn't get removed from our MDM.
Click to expand...
But if you're buying a brand new MBP from eBay as the OP intends to do, it's extremely unlikely that the computer would have been recycled.
 
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Ah, yes. Missed the recycled part. I wouldn't buy a new machine from eBay.
 
Or, to phrase it another way: Why not buy a new Apple product from Apple?

If it is discounted, it must be stolen or otherwise somehow not new. There is only about a 10-15% profit margin on new hardware, so nobody can buy new from Apple and sell it for less than Apple...and make any money.
 
If it's from ebay the solution is simple. Send the seller a message through ebay saying your are interested in the macbook but would like to know if it has been enrolled into a MDM. You can then explain to the seller what an MDM is and how it will appear on the laptop. If the seller say's they do not know then that is a red flag do not buy BUT if the seller says it has no MDM but when you get it it turns out it does you can claim it is 'not as described' because the seller lied to you about it's condition. Sellers do not always put info in the sale description thus sometimes questions about the item gets asked via ebay messages. These messages also act as part of the sale and if they lie in the message you can claim it's 'not as described' and claim a refund.
 
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laptech said:
If it's from ebay the solution is simple. Send the seller a message through ebay saying your are interested in the macbook but would like to know if it has been enrolled into a MDM. You can then explain to the seller what an MDM is and how it will appear on the laptop. If the seller say's they do not know then that is a red flag do not buy BUT if the seller says it has no MDM but when you get it it turns out it does you can claim it is 'not as described' because the seller lied to you about it's condition. Sellers do not always put info in the sale description thus sometimes questions about the item gets asked via ebay messages. These messages also act as part of the sale and if they lie in the message you can claim it's 'not as described' and claim a refund.
Click to expand...

Finally the correct response
 
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Thanks all. The seller has said there is no MDM enrolment.

My question still remains though. Can MDM enrolment be pushed down later?
 
SSD-GUY said:
Thanks all. The seller has said there is no MDM enrolment.

My question still remains though. Can MDM enrolment be pushed down later?
Click to expand...
What do you mean by 'push down later'? remember, we all come from different countries.
 
I'd still be very hesitant to buy a brand new computer off eBay. The price would have to be very heavily discounted for me to even consider it.
 
Again, if you're going to "buy brand new", why not buy from Apple, so that you KNOW what you are getting...?
 
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