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Need to know where iPad came from? Stolen or not?

xxRONNIExx

xxRONNIExx

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 7, 2008
157
2
California
Okay heres my story. I put my used iPad 2 on ebay and sold it to someone in another country for about $800.00. Two weeks later he said once he recieved my package there wasn't a used iPad 2 in there but it was a NEW iPad 1!
I didn't have any idea what he was talking about. I had a iPad 2. Anyway he wanted his money back and I said no. There was no way I would give him his money back and I get a new iPad 1, I have no idea where it came from as well as I would take about a $350 dollar lost.
To make a long story short he and I filed a report to both Paypal , eBay, as well as the post office. They made a decision in favor of the buyer. He has his money and now Im stuck with a iPad 1 and I have no idea where its from.
What I would like to do is sell it and try to get some of my money back but I don't want someone to buy it and when they try to set up a account some type of RED flag pops up saying stolen.
What can I do with this iPad.Can I still sell it? any help on this matter would be appreciated thanks..
 
Sorry about your experience. Frankly, I can see why the dispute was resolved in favor of the buyer. Not doubting your word but I'm sure you can understand why a third party would find it more plausible that you misrepresented the product you were selling (unless you have an extensive history of sales on ebay) than that the buyer or a third party was to blame.

The important lesson here is to ALWAYS document your purchases for later use and to insure anything you're selling when you send the product. Finally, you might ask yourself why you were able to sell a used iPad for its full new retail price.

The old saying that a deal that seems to good to be true may well be is usually applied to buyers. As you've discovered, it applies just as well to sellers. Someone willing to pay you full retail (or more) for a used iPad just may have another agenda.
 
Thanks for the advice. I have been selling things on eBay for over 5 years now and I have over 75 items sold with a 100% rating. I actually started the bid at .99 cents which usually bring a lot of attention and most people get caught up in the bidding war.
Yes I have my receipt from Best Buy and for the smart cover but it didn't help with the decision at all. I figure either he's lying or someone did a which at the post office or customs.
Either way Im going to sell it. Just hope nothing comes back at me. Like I said I have to history on this thing.
 
Wow this story keeps getting better and better. Did a little research and discovered this iPad that was sent back to me is a unlocked iPad basically sold in latin america. I guess it doesn't come with a at&t sims card.
Man I just want to get rid of this thing I don't even want an iPad, I bought a MBA instead.
Can anyone give me some suggestions as to what i should do? I closed my ebay account because of the way i was treated so I can sell it there anymore..
 
Paypal is a joke.

This is why I deal on Craigslist, face to face with the buyer/seller only.

Lesson learned, move on. They won't budge on getting your money back.
 
eBay is a joke now as it's way too easy to get scammed. Sorry this happened. In what country was the buyer located? How much feedback did they have and was it good or bad?

Pretty easy for someone to just trade an iPad 1 for an iPad 2 and get their money back this way.
 
Last edited:
1. Ebay will side with the buyer all the time now, therefore I sell only less precious things there now.

2. If you have your Best Buy invoice, is there the serial number of your iPad2 ? Or do you know it or even better did you copy the part on the box, where it says even the MAC number ? I am wondering whether the current whereabout of your iPad2 can be sniffed on the Internet (similarly like Apple found the stolen iPhone prototype)
 
xxRONNIExx said:
this iPad that was sent back to me is a unlocked iPad basically sold in latin america. I guess it doesn't come with a at&t sims card.
Click to expand...

FYI all iPads are unlocked. However, if this is a S. America version it didn't come w/ and ATT sim, but obviously a U.S. buyer can buy one at any ATT store. I believe they are $15 but have heard instances where the manager will give a replacement for free on request.
 
xxRONNIExx said:
Wow this story keeps getting better and better. Did a little research and discovered this iPad that was sent back to me is a unlocked iPad basically sold in latin america. I guess it doesn't come with a at&t sims card.
Man I just want to get rid of this thing I don't even want an iPad, I bought a MBA instead.
Can anyone give me some suggestions as to what i should do? I closed my ebay account because of the way i was treated so I can sell it there anymore..
Click to expand...

No you didn't. It doesn't make any sense to close your account because of one issue out of 75 sales.
 
bossxii said:
Paypal is a joke.

This is why I deal on Craigslist, face to face with the buyer/seller only.

Lesson learned, move on. They won't budge on getting your money back.
Click to expand...

This can also dangerous, there have been several reports of guys waiting and robbing you of cash or electronics, but I agree there are just too many scams on eBay.
 
Is it possible to report the serial number to Apple as stolen ? Your iPad 2 was stolen from you, but in a foreign country, might be hard to do anything about it.
 
bossxii said:
Paypal is a joke.

This is why I deal on Craigslist, face to face with the buyer/seller only.

Lesson learned, move on. They won't budge on getting your money back.
Click to expand...

Yes I did learn my lesson. I live in the bay area and there also a lot of people who have reported being robbed when they show up to buy/sell iPads or even cars. But I have used them in the past

miamialley said:
eBay is a joke now as it's way too easy to get scammed. Sorry this happened. In what country was the buyer located? How much feedback did they have and was it good or bad?

Pretty easy for someone to just trade an iPad 1 for an iPad 2 and get their money back this way.
Click to expand...

Thats the funny thing he had a one negative feedback. He was from Russia.

Daud said:
1. Ebay will side with the buyer all the time now, therefore I sell only less precious things there now.

2. If you have your Best Buy invoice, is there the serial number of your iPad2 ? Or do you know it or even better did you copy the part on the box, where it says even the MAC number ? I am wondering whether the current whereabout of your iPad2 can be sniffed on the Internet (similarly like Apple found the stolen iPhone prototype)
Click to expand...

Thats exactly what Im trying to figure out now. I still have my receipt, bank statement when I bought it, and receipt for the smart cover.

Chupa Chupa said:
FYI all iPads are unlocked. However, if this is a S. America version it didn't come w/ and ATT sim, but obviously a U.S. buyer can buy one at any ATT store. I believe they are $15 but have heard instances where the manager will give a replacement for free on request.
Click to expand...

Thank you for the information ATT said they will sell me one for $25. Amazon has them for $6.

MultiMediaWill said:
No you didn't. It doesn't make any sense to close your account because of one issue out of 75 sales.
Click to expand...

YES I DID....Ive ben a loyal customer to ebay over the years even with all the price hikes. But Im done I feel I was treated unfairly and honestly from the beginning I felt they weren't going side in my favor.
 
Ecoh said:
Is it possible to report the serial number to Apple as stolen ? Your iPad 2 was stolen from you, but in a foreign country, might be hard to do anything about it.
Click to expand...

Yes called apple and its nothing they can do but report it to the police. Which makes no sense because my city police can do nothing about it.
 
xxRONNIExx said:
Yes called apple and its nothing they can do but report it to the police. Which makes no sense because my city police can do nothing about it.
Click to expand...

What an awful system! Nobody can do anything to help someone who had a $600 item stolen!

So, theoretically, what can an eBay seller do to ensure this doesn't happen? What is the MOST a seller can do to cover his a*!?
 
xxRONNIExx said:
Yes called apple and its nothing they can do but report it to the police. Which makes no sense because my city police can do nothing about it.
Click to expand...

Email Steve Jobs.
Also ask on Macintouch, there are helpful people there.
 
Wow... that is awful. I'll keep this story in mind the next time I am considering selling something on ebay.
 
JWalker1995 said:
You mean you posted it to Russia to a guy with a negative feedback.
FAIL!!
Don't tell me it was for his son but he was on holiday so he was accepting it
Click to expand...

He had one negative feedback the rest were positive. Ive also never had a problem sending packages to other countries. I usually do Paypal only so I get the payment first.
Just so happens theres a new trick out there now I guess.
 
Ouch, I feel for you. That really has to suck. I just recently went through an issue on eBay too (though luckily I won my case as the seller). I don't mean to rub it in or anything, but you have to admit that the buyer had a pretty good idea. I guess I can use this as a learning experience for future transactions on eBay. As for the Craigslist thing; you always meet in a very public place to make your sale so that you can't get your item stolen as easily.

To OP: I wish you luck in figuring out what to do with your newly acquired (albeit unwanted) iPad.
 
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