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Please advice (MBA eBay deal)

mhnajjar

mhnajjar

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 3, 2008
777
0
Hi guys,

I just found an ebay offer for a 1.8 64 SSD MBA for $2100. It is toooo goood to be true for a brand new machine but I might be willing to go for it.

My question is, the seller has %100 but he has around 30 of feedback and all the stuff he ever sold range from $10-$30 :confused:

I am afraid that this is a scam and it seems ebay would only refund up to $200 because the seller has less than 50 of feedback.

Please let me know what protection I am supposed to expect if it turns to be fraud!
 
I say just buy one from Apple store. (if you need to save money,
buy a refurb form apple.com)
I never buy anything from ebay thats over $300,
You never know what's going to happen ...
 
I would be saving over $1000 :eek:

OMG, this is really hard since the PayPal payment protection seems to be unclear!
 
Don't fall for it, it's most likely to be a scam.

I once bought a Powerbook from a seller similar to what you described. She shipped something a lot slower (cpu speed) than advertised. I returned it after initiating a dispute. Then she disappeared, and I never got the full refund (only the $315 that I was protected). I lost ~$800.
 
This is a set up - you will lose all your money.

Think about it - why would they give something away so cheaply when people generally try to get as much as they can? It's not rational - and you are falling for the oldest trick in the book. This person is not a do-gooder: it's a sting operation. Go for a refurb at the Apple store and save your money.
 
jonswan said:
This is a set up - you will lose all your money.

Think about it - why would they give something away so cheaply when people generally try to get as much as they can? It's not rational - and you are falling for the oldest trick in the book. This person is not a do-gooder: it's a sting operation. Go for a refurb at the Apple store and save your money.
Click to expand...

just so you know, a sting operation is an operation designed by law enforcement officials to catch someone committing a crime. i think you meant this is a scam, and i fully agree.
 
I would be very suspicious of ebayer who hasn't sold high priced items before and has less than 50 feedback. I'd think to offer at that price it has to be stolen or something wrong with it.

If you have problems and need to go through eBay/PayPal to resolve, good luck, it's not as straight forward as it seems.

Caveat emptor.
 
There has to be a reason why this item is over $1000 cheaper than the Apple Store. The most likely reason is that the auction is a scam, but it could also be that the MBA is stolen or not working. I'd be very surprised if it's genuine: Why would anyone spend over $3,000 a MacBook Air, not open it (if it's new then I'm guessing it's unopened, or at least unused) and then sell it on Ebay for $1,000 less than they paid for it? It's not an obsolete product, and there's no way any dealer would get enough of a discount to make a profit on that price.
I guess there is a chance that it's a genuine auction for a genuine, legitimate MBA, but personally I wouldn't gamble $2,000 on it...

Do you have a link for the auction?
 
I just want put it out there I have friend who bought a BNIB Macbook Air 1.8/SSD on eBay for $2400 or something like that. It's not always a scam, but hey can't be too careful.
 
Thanks guys :D

I did not fall for it because it turned to be a 100% scam since he did not turn any of my e-mails and all he ever bought/sold were boxers, cheap shoes, cheap shorts .. so it looks that he was buying/selling $10 things just to reach some number of positive feedback and then use it as a bate :eek:

I would still rather pay $1000 more on the Apple store than lose $2100 on eBay :mad:


Thanks for the help ;)
 
glitch44 said:
just so you know, a sting operation is an operation designed by law enforcement officials to catch someone committing a crime. i think you meant this is a scam, and i fully agree.
Click to expand...

Just so that YOU know: The title phrase, The Sting, refers to the moment when a con artist finishes the "play" and takes the mark's money. (Today the name is mostly used in the context of law enforcement sting operations.)

You clearly haven't seen that particular classic film. Well recommended.
 
jonswan said:
Just so that YOU know: The title phrase, The Sting, refers to the moment when a con artist finishes the "play" and takes the mark's money. (Today the name is mostly used in the context of law enforcement sting operations.)

You clearly haven't seen that particular classic film. Well recommended.
Click to expand...

Actually, I have because I went to film school and I work in Hollywood. Yes, it is a great film. Yes, you misused the phrase. "Operation" on the end completely implies law enforcement involvement rather than a simple con. No worries, I was just trying to help you out.

Glad the OP didn't get scammed. Hopefully you reported the auction to Ebay so others didn't fall for it?
 
glitch44 said:
Actually, I have because I went to film school and I work in Hollywood. Yes, it is a great film. Yes, you misused the phrase. "Operation" on the end completely implies law enforcement involvement rather than a simple con. No worries, I was just trying to help you out.

You went to film school and you work in Hollywood? Well let me just get down on my knees here and try desperately to look impressed .... I think you may find yourself charged with insufferable smugness. Well done, be happy. And no, I didn't misuse the phrase - read it again. An operation could 'imply' that more than one person is involved in this criminal activity. Your answer was wrong because you stated that a sting was pure and simply a police operation. Don't assume that others are somehow lacking intelligence just because this is the internet.
Click to expand...
 
jonswan said:
You went to film school and you work in Hollywood? Well let me just get down on my knees here and try desperately to look impressed .... I think you may find yourself charged with insufferable smugness. Well done, be happy. And no, I didn't misuse the phrase - read it again. An operation could 'imply' that more than one person is involved in this criminal activity. Your answer was wrong because you stated that a sting was pure and simply a police operation. Don't assume that others are somehow lacking intelligence just because this is the internet.
Click to expand...

Wasn't it you who assumed I hadn't seen the movie and was smug about that? I didn't mean to bruise your ego by correcting you, but the common, colloquial, everyday meaning of the phrase "sting operation" implies law enforcement involvement, which by your own admission was not your intention. I merely corrected the error so the OP wouldn't be confused.

It's not important anymore, as he/she has successfully avoided the scam and we can both be happy about that.
 
too good to be true. I got scammed by a seller for 1535 and now I am disputing the charge on my account. The dude took down his ebay id (he no longer exist) and paypal stated that they can't do anything for me but dispute the charge with my CC company. Oh the guy also had 100% feedback.
 
jsupetran said:
too good to be true. I got scammed by a seller for 1535 and now I am disputing the charge on my account. The dude took down his ebay id (he no longer exist) and paypal stated that they can't do anything for me but dispute the charge with my CC company. Oh the guy also had 100% feedback.
Click to expand...

Sorry to hear that, I hope PayPal helps you on this. I got scammed once but for $35 only and PayPal couldn't help due to similar issues as you stated. :mad:
 
$2100 is a sweet deal for nothing!

But seriously, regardless of feedback you must also consider the occurrence of an account hijacking.. if its too good to be true, it is.
 
There are a few explanations. The first one is that the unit was stolen or acquired by some other shady means. In which case you will get the computer and the deal will go down as planned with everyone happy (other than Apple or whoever that was stolen from).

A second possibility is that this laptop was won in a raffle or some other contest and the winner has no need for it and just wants to get rid of it, the faster the better.

The other possibility is it is a scam.
 
Gregintosh said:
There are a few explanations. The first one is that the unit was stolen or acquired by some other shady means. In which case you will get the computer and the deal will go down as planned with everyone happy (other than Apple or whoever that was stolen from).

A second possibility is that this laptop was won in a raffle or some other contest and the winner has no need for it and just wants to get rid of it, the faster the better.

The other possibility is it is a scam.
Click to expand...

You are right, but it turned to be a scam because the seller did not respond to any of my e-mails and messeger.
 
For an SSD model the minimum new price should be around $2700. That price is a little too good to be true.

BTW, I and 20 others got burnt on the 80GB models. I paid with AMEX, so I got the money back, but I reported it to the Feds. Literally a week later, the guy was apologizing and begging not to be put in jail. He borrowed the money from his Grandfather to pay back paypal. Good ending to a bad story, but it does happen.
 
Remember also that a really great feedback score with loads of high-priced items being sold is no guarantee either - you could be dealing with a phished eBay account. My eBay account looks very reputable and has been operating since 1997. I got phished a few years ago however (yes, I know - my fault...) and straight away the password was changed and a nice laptop was on offer. Luckily I got eBay to pull the auction and reinstate my account, but plenty of people were bidding...

HB
 
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