Checking Apple Warranty if Apple TV is truly new & not previously activated?

[timidhermit]

I am purchasing a supposedly Brand New In Box (BNIB) Apple TV 3 on Craigslist.

The seller emailed me the serial number on the box to verify that it is legit.

When I checked the service and support coverage status on the Apple website associated with this serial number, it reported that the Apple TV had a valid purchase date and that technical support and repair coverage had both expired.

I am a bit puzzled over this. This is because if the Apple TV is truly brand new and has never been activated (even if it is an outdated model), I expect that the status will show instead message asking to validate the product's purchase date. Long ago, I read somewhere (as I recall, it was a post about buying vintage Apple product as collector's item and checking if the seller was a scammer who was resealing used Apple products and then reselling them as brand new) that this is a good way to indirectly check if an Apple product has been previously activated when the seller claims it to be new.

Can someone chime in on this?

 

[Glmnet1]

The warranty starts when the item is first purchased, even if it was never used.

So if this seller bought it from Apple 1 year ago and left it in it's box, it is now out of warranty but still new.

 

[timidhermit]

Hmm... My own experience is a bit different.

For example, years ago, I purchased a brand new Apple TV 1, still sealed in plastic, from a neighborhood garage sale which I spotted by chance. Normally, I would have not even consider such an outdated version of Apple TV. But for $20, I decided to just get it and an intention to hack it to play HDTV. Soon after, I checked the serial number on the Apple website. It showed the message asking to validate the product's purchase date, even though the product had been discontinued for almost two years. I later moved onto an Apple TV 2 and forgot about this Apple TV 1. Right now, it is still sitting somewhere in storage in my basement. I just checked the serial number again, and the same message was displayed even though this Apple TV is now about 10 years old.

If the status is solely based on the original purchase date, I would have seen the other messages with my Apple TV 1.

The warranty starts when the item is first purchased, even if it was never used.

So if this seller bought it from Apple 1 year ago and left it in it's box, it is now out of warranty but still new.

 

[Nermal]

It probably depends on where it was bought. If it's from a "generic" retailer then Apple won't have its purchase date.