Purchasing from Amazon

[WishIWasHere]

Just curious how comfortable people are about purchasing a MacBook from Amazon. Those of you who wouldn't do it, what are your reasons? Thanks.
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Okay, guess I maybe should have posted this in the "Buying Advice" section. Sorry about that.

 

[4sallypat]

Are you looking at new / current MacBook or are you looking at used ?

For new Macs, Amazon has great prices and matches or beats other stores.

The only issue I have is that some of their items come from 3rd party sellers that are either refurbs, old stock or used.
Those lack warranties by Apple.
It's sometimes confusing what you are actually buying.

Using their Visa card, 5% back is definitely a good reason compared to Apple's Apple Card 3%.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

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[WishIWasHere]

Are you looking at new / current MacBook or are you looking at used ?

For new Macs, Amazon has great prices and matches or beats other stores.

The only issue I have is that some of their items come from 3rd party sellers that are either refurbs, old stock or used.
Those lack warranties by Apple.
It's sometimes confusing what you are actually buying.

Using their Visa card, 5% back is definitely a good reason compared to Apple's Apple Card 3%.

This would be for a new Mac, and I would almost certainly get one that was being sold by Amazon, not a 3rd party retailer. I'm just not a frequent purchaser and I don't really keep up with some of these things. I've got a pile of gift card credit on my Amazon account that I've been adding to, and it's getting to the point where I could basically just order a sweet Macbook and pay for it entirely with that credit.
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I wouldn't personally be against it but Amazon is not an option for two specific reasons.

The first is that I only trust refurbished units from Apple. Other retailers may sell product that has gone through their own refurbishment process or open box items. Apple's refurbs incidentally carry the same warranty as the brand new retail units. Apple treats them identically to the brand new units, the only difference is the packaging.

The second is that Amazon doesn't offer Built To Order configurations. They only sell the standard off-the-shelf models.

Whenever I buy a refurb Mac, it's always a non-standard configuration anyhow.

I am happy purchasing Apple peripherals from Amazon.

This would be for a new machine and I have no need for anything built to order. Just wanted some feedback on how comfortable I should be buying something like that from Amazon. I don't think I've ever bought anything that was more than $100 or so from them.

 

[4sallypat]

Well if you have that much gift cards, you should get a new Macbook from Amazon.

I would make sure it's a new one that has a full factory Apple warranty.

Once you get it, you have up to 60 days to get the optional AppleCare + warranty.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

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[WishIWasHere]

Trust is earned. Apparently, you don't enough purchase history and experience to trust Amazon for a larger priced item.

Stick with Apple for the time being since you have no need for a customized unit (not mentioned in your original post).

You can spend your Amazon gift cards on future purchases (that wasn't mention in the original post either). It's not like they expire.

Anyhow, you did ask how other people felt about purchasing from Amazon. I don't know if you were secretly seeking validation from others to use Amazon for a high-ticket purchase.

Ultimately at the end of the day, you need to be able to sleep peacefully. If you don't trust Amazon, you might lose some sleep worrying. Others won't. It's your comfort zone you need to stay in, not someone else's.

Amazon has never given me a reason to distrust them, but there are always those occasional stories that we hear. And obviously I did ask how others felt about purchasing from Amazon, and I appreciate all feedback. I'm not secretly seeking anything. I'm openly seeking opinions from others on whether or not they would be comfortable with this purchase lol. I thought the question was pretty straightforward.

 

[Erehy Dobon]

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[WishIWasHere]

The fact that you have gift cards and you are considering using them is relevant. I wish you had put that in your original post since it would have saved me some time from writing.

There are stories with every single retailer on the planet. No one is perfect. No one can please everyone all the time. Someone can purchase 100 times from Amazon and on the 101st purchase, Amazon screws up. Guess which purchase someone will talk about?

Obviously, there are lots of people purchasing Macs, Rolexes, diapers, whatever from Amazon. It sounds more than ever like you are seeking validation from MR commenters.

This is an anonymous Q&A forum. As a community I don't think we are any more reliable than the Great Unwashed who post reviews to Amazon. At least on Amazon, you can see if someone is a verified purchaser. Here, nada.

Anyhow, best of luck with your purchase decision.

lol Dude, just forget I asked. I appreciate the feedback, but life's too short to get into a ridiculous back and forth over such a simple question.

 

[blatantblue]

Yeah, don't worry about his opinion.. anyway. I purchased my 16" base model on amazon and couldn't be happier.

You'll be fine.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

Me personally have gotten less comfortable buying something well over $500 on Amazon unless it's a simple product that's less likely to malfunction like speakers. More expensive stuff like a TV or A/V receiver, certain computers I'm more inclined to want to buy from Brick and MOrtar for a host of reasons. Reliable trusted source, cost is no longer a huge factor, ease of returns. As for Apple products. I'd rather purchase Direct from Apple as others have mentioned I prefer to configure it in a way I want. Not what's only available at the store. Unless it's just an accessory or something. Same with phones. I've heard too many stories of people getting ripped off by 3rd party sellers. So I"m less inclined to buy an Apple product from Amazon.

 

[WishIWasHere]

Me personally have gotten less comfortable buying something well over $500 on Amazon unless it's a simple product that's less likely to malfunction like speakers. More expensive stuff like a TV or A/V receiver, certain computers I'm more inclined to want to buy from Brick and MOrtar for a host of reasons. Reliable trusted source, cost is no longer a huge factor, ease of returns. As for Apple products. I'd rather purchase Direct from Apple as others have mentioned I prefer to configure it in a way I want. Not what's only available at the store. Unless it's just an accessory or something. Same with phones. I've heard too many stories of people getting ripped off by 3rd party sellers. So I"m less inclined to buy an Apple product from Amazon.

Would you be more comfortable buying if it was from Amazon and not a 3rd party seller? It's very very unlikely I would buy from a 3rd party.

 

[jerryk]

I have bought a number of Apple products from Amazon including MacBook Pros. They have always arrived in new condition and quickly.

And no need to deal with the crowds at the Apple stores.

 

[BurgDog]

Amazon may charge a 15% restocking fee for computers in their 30day return window if they find nothing wrong with the used unit you returned. Apple takes back stuff no questions asked and no restocking fee in their 14 day return window.

 

[MacDaddyPanda]

Sure If it was directly from Amazon I might trust it more. Since you just want an off the shelf config it probably won't be an issue.

 

[jerryk]

Amazon may charge a 15% restocking fee for computers in their 30day return window if they find nothing wrong with the used unit you returned. Apple takes back stuff no questions asked and no restocking fee in their 14 day return window.

Never had Amazon do that and I buy over $15K worth of stuff a year. They pretty much have a 30 day no questions asked policy. While they may have different policies on electronics, factually they don't treat computers any different than a table or a gnome figurine.

And Apple surely doesn't care. Sales through channels are lower cost than selling through stores.

 

[Appledoesnotlisten]

Never had Amazon do that and I buy over $15K worth of stuff a year. They pretty much have a 30 day no questions asked policy. While they may have different policies on electronics, factually they don't treat computers any different than a table or a gnome figurine.

And Apple surely doesn't care. Sales through channels are lower cost than selling through stores.

I have been shopping on AMZN a lot too.
But if I think I might return an item, I usually buy somewhere else because Amazon can easily ban you forever for excessive returns. They do that.

 

[Sanpete]

Amazon excludes computers from its usual 30-day return policy. They officially only allow returns without a fee for DOA or when unopened, no try it and return it if you don't like it. But I don't know how strict they are about that in practice. If there's a problem with it, the usual Apple warranty applies of course.

When you buy from Amazon's website, you're told who the seller is, Amazon or someone else. You can review feedback for third-party sellers.

As I understand it, used ones still carry the remainder of their warranty, as long as they're properly acquired.

 

[Fishrrman]

Post a link to the specific model you're interested in.
It should tell you whether it's "sold by amazon", or by someone else.

 

[Smoothie]

I've been buying products from Amazon since they just sold books, and I've probably paid for at least one of Jeff Bezos' homes. I've purchased TVs and monitors, expensive home theater receivers and other audio equipment, and cameras and lenses on one end of the spectrum and coffee filters and protein powder on the other end. For expensive stuff, I always make sure it's sold by Amazon and not a third party so there's no issue about manufacturer's warranty coverage. (Some manufacturers will not extend a warranty to third party sellers.)

What irks me with Amazon is that sometimes they put coffee filters in a shipping box with air pillows but toss a camera in the shipping box with no protection at all. I even had one camera lens left on my doorstep with no shipping box at all -- just a shipping label slapped on the side of the lens box. I exchanged that one.

If it were me, I'd buy a new MBP directly from Apple. If you have a problem, like back light bleed or a stuck pixel or even something that's really annoying to you but might not be to others, Apple will always take it back within the return period. If it's a model that they stock, you can buy another from Apple and start a new return window. It makes even more sense if you live near an Apple store.