Craigslist help - am I getting a good deal on this retina MBP?

[Brian Y]

So let's get this right. The guy has a laptop which:

- Is over 6 months old
- And has been open
- But has never been used
- Is selling it for less than it's worth

Ask yourself some questions:

- Why would you have a laptop and not use it?
- Why, if you found yourself not using a laptop, would you not just return it?
- When you come to sell it, why would you then sell it cheaper than it's worth?

IMO I'd spend a couple extra hundred bucks and get some sort of guarantees - http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...-25GHz-Quad-core-Intel-i7-with-Retina-Display

 

[eyespii]

Hold down the Option/Alt key on the keyboard during the startup chime. If there is a firmware password, the screen would be the same as the one in the image I attached. If it asks you to type in the EFI password, force the seller to type it in, boot into the Recovery Partition, and from there, navigate to Utilities → Firmware Password Utility and turn it off.

And also make sure that there is no iCloud lock password on it. I've come across some poor chap when the ******* he purchased it from used iCloud to remotely lock the MBP and forced the purchaser to pay up more to get it unlocked.

The easiest way to do this is upon successful startup and login, immediately do a clean install. Make sure the Mac is not connected to the internet at all via wifi or Ethernet. Take it totally off the grid. Use a second Mac to download Yosemite off the Mac App Store. Then, use DiskMaker X to build a bootable Yosemite OS X installer onto an external USB stick. Then, plug the USB stick into the first Mac (the one purchased off CL) and hold down Option upon startup. Select the external USB stick and boot from it.

Then from there, select Disk Utility and erase the internal SSD. After that, install a fresh copy of Yosemite onto it.

Awesome - thank you so much for this! I really appreciate it.

 

[eyespii]

So let's get this right. The guy has a laptop which:

- Is over 6 months old
- And has been open
- But has never been used
- Is selling it for less than it's worth

Ask yourself some questions:

- Why would you have a laptop and not use it?
- Why, if you found yourself not using a laptop, would you not just return it?
- When you come to sell it, why would you then sell it cheaper than it's worth?

IMO I'd spend a couple extra hundred bucks and get some sort of guarantees - http://store.apple.com/us/product/F...-25GHz-Quad-core-Intel-i7-with-Retina-Display

I agree that it's unusual, but there are lots of plausible explanations that answer your questions. Maybe they got it reimbursed by work and the person isn't a geek so didn't really care about using it. Maybe it was a gift from family. Maybe they have more money than time, and bought it intending to use it, but never got around to actually setting it up. Or yes - maybe it's stolen (but with the box?), and he's trying to pull one over on me.

Actually, come to think of it, I myself bought an Xbox one on release day last year (shiny black box and all), but didn't actually open it up until 4-5 months later (when Titanfall). Played titanfall for 2 weeks, and haven't turned on the xbox in over half a year now. Also, the laptop you linked is almost $2300 after tax.

Also, the list price in the ad was over $2k, and the emails/negotiations have been going on for over a week. This actually makes me feel a bit more comfortable with the whole thing. If I was gonna scam someone, I'd take the cash and get the hot property out of my hands ASAP. That's just me though - maybe this guy is truly a convincing professional scammer...

I've asked to see his receipt, and he says he has it, and will send it when he finds it. we'll see...

 

[yjchua95]

I agree that it's unusual, but there are lots of plausible explanations that answer your questions. Maybe they got it reimbursed by work and the person isn't a geek so didn't really care about using it. Maybe it was a gift from family. Maybe they have more money than time, and bought it intending to use it, but never got around to actually setting it up. Or yes - maybe it's stolen (but with the box?), and he's trying to pull one over on me.

Actually, come to think of it, I myself bought an Xbox one on release day last year (shiny black box and all), but didn't actually open it up until 4-5 months later (when Titanfall). Played titanfall for 2 weeks, and haven't turned on the xbox in over half a year now. Also, the laptop you linked is almost $2300 after tax.

Also, the list price in the ad was over $2k, and the emails/negotiations have been going on for over a week. This actually makes me feel a bit more comfortable with the whole thing. If I was gonna scam someone, I'd take the cash and get the hot property out of my hands ASAP. That's just me though - maybe this guy is truly a convincing professional scammer...

I've asked to see his receipt, and he says he has it, and will send it when he finds it. we'll see...

Still a bit fishy. Don't purchase it without the original receipt.

 

[stagmeister]

Holy moly ... If it were me selling a MBP on CL, and any potential buyer asked to see my driver's license, DOB, etc., then I'd refuse. I don't give a lot of that stuff on credit card apps, and certainly don't provide ALL of it, so there is no way I would give it to a stranger that contacted me as a result of an ad I had placed on CL.

All I was saying that you should get a copy of the driver's license. The goal is to discourage anyone who actually has a stolen MBP who is trying to offload it. If it is actually stolen, then the seller probably would be unwilling to do it.

In any case, one way to think about making such a purchase is in the same context as the market for artwork. It happens all the time that people have artwork (in their house, in a museum, etc.) which they purchased but later on it is discovered that the art was stolen (for example by the Nazis in WWII, or from another owner more recently). Museums put a lot of work into researching and documenting the "provenance" of their art collection, basically having documentation to show a "chain of ownership" from the artist to the current owner. That way they know that it was probably not stolen at any point in time before they purchased it because -- just like with a computer! -- if you purchase something and it turns out that it was stolen then you more or less have to give it back.

So if you have the documentation to prove that (a) you purchased the computer from someone [and you know who they are], and (b) that they were the ones who purchased the computer directly from Apple, then you have fairly good proof of the chain of ownership of the computer and you can be assured that the computer is not stolen property.

 

[Spink10]

All I was saying that you should get a copy of the driver's license. The goal is to discourage anyone who actually has a stolen MBP who is trying to offload it. If it is actually stolen, then the seller probably would be unwilling to do it.

In any case, one way to think about making such a purchase is in the same context as the market for artwork. It happens all the time that people have artwork (in their house, in a museum, etc.) which they purchased but later on it is discovered that the art was stolen (for example by the Nazis in WWII, or from another owner more recently). Museums put a lot of work into researching and documenting the "provenance" of their art collection, basically having documentation to show a "chain of ownership" from the artist to the current owner. That way they know that it was probably not stolen at any point in time before they purchased it because -- just like with a computer! -- if you purchase something and it turns out that it was stolen then you more or less have to give it back.

So if you have the documentation to prove that (a) you purchased the computer from someone [and you know who they are], and (b) that they were the ones who purchased the computer directly from Apple, then you have fairly good proof of the chain of ownership of the computer and you can be assured that the computer is not stolen property.

I would never give someone a copy of the DL - this is from a legit CL seller.

 

[stagmeister]

I would never give someone a copy of the DL - this is from a legit CL seller.

Even if you were making a sale worth over $1500?

 

[Spink10]

Even if you were making a sale worth over $1500?

No - I would never give them a copy of my DL - then again I meet them at my work (most often) and give them my business card. So its not like they cant find me. But I never need to proof if I am legit.