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Question about AppleCare on eBay. Anyone have luck? Any scams to watch for?

BollywooD said:
Here is a small excerpt of my email from the seller, and I think this sounds completely legitimate:
"Note that Apple has in some cases invalidated AppleCare registrations after the fact on the basis that they were not purchased from an Apple dealer. This is an illegal practice as it is anti-competitive and against consumer interests, and can thus be challenged"

I am prepared to take the gamble, and I honestly believe that what I have purchased is in-fact legitimate, after reading through the post I mentioned earlier. I will report back If I find do find out otherwise....
Click to expand...

If they are not purchased from an Apple dealer, from where are they purchased? I don't think that you can enter an agreement with Apple with you didn't give money to Apple. Honestly, I think (And I may very well be wrong) that one of two things occurs here.
1. The seller will return your Apple care in the time as specified earlier
2. The seller has cracked the algorithm for AppleCare and when Apple catches on that they didn't not receive money from this code they will cancel it.
Ask the seller where he gets it and then maybe I will believe him (not that it's his job to convince me, but I call a foul on this über-Cheap AppleCare).
 
He says he buys computers in bulk directly from Apple, and recieves a bulk buying discount when purchased with AppleCare, and because not all users want to spend the extra for the AppleCare, he then resells the codes separately.

this is all mentioned in that thread.
 
BollywooD said:
I just brought applecare for my almost 1yr old 13" MacBook Pro, last night off of ebay....

and $130 compared to the Apple Store boxed version for $579 is pretty dam good value.... I guess ill find out sometime in the next 2 years if this code is legit or not - but to be honest, I don't really have any doubts about it.
:D
Click to expand...

Where are you? Where I am, AppleCare for a 13-inch MacBook Pro is US$249, not $579...
 
yeah Australia. and if it was actually only $249, I would have bought it from the Apple store last week when I was in there, but $579 is just crazy, considering i bought it brand new last year in Canada for i think around $1400CAD.

I did read through that whole thread I mentioned, and the guy had answers for everything, so my gut feeling is that the purchase is good. but I will be the first to admit if I was wrong. (although fingers crossed)
 
"Here is a small excerpt of my email from the seller, and I think this sounds completely legitimate:
"Note that Apple has in some cases invalidated AppleCare registrations after the fact on the basis that they were not purchased from an Apple dealer. This is an illegal practice as it is anti-competitive and against consumer interests, and can thus be challenged""

What he's telling you is he just "sold" to you something that can be (and often is) COMPLETELY INVALIDATED by Apple.

And you... "bought it".

Yes, you did!

"Challenged"? One can "challenge" anything in this world, so what? That means absolutely nothing.
 
Life is one big gamble, and i am prepared to take a calculated gamble....

Ive been stung before, I actually lost $2100USD, back in 2000, when eBay was just starting up to a dodgy laptop scam, I went to the San Fran police, tried to get some resolution with eBay, but nada..... so I am full aware of the risks.
 
BollywooD said:
Life is one big gamble, and i am prepared to take a calculated gamble....

Ive been stung before, I actually lost $2100USD, back in 2000, when eBay was just starting up to a dodgy laptop scam, I went to the San Fran police, tried to get some resolution with eBay, but nada..... so I am full aware of the risks.
Click to expand...
It really isn't a gamble. It's stupidity. It's like betting for green to show up on a roulette wheel.
 
If theres one thing I've learnt in this world - If you don't play the game, sure you'll never lose, but you'll also never win...
 
I looked through the postings on Ebay. Those with prices less than 70% of retail do not seem to ever include the box. How convenient. This is the main item that, according to the lengthy MacRumors threads, seems to be essential. The ads all go on and on about how they are legitimate and not a scam. If so, it would be a small matter to include the lightweight box.

Conclusion: there is considerable risk in purchasing these deeply discounted "codes".
 
I have had luck with Amazon or buying directly from Apple. I would have loved to save some money but I was more interested in protecting the money I spent on the computer over anything else. Jump on whatever you need to if your year is almost up!
 
BollywooD said:
Here is a small excerpt of my email from the seller, and I think this sounds completely legitimate:
"Note that Apple has in some cases invalidated AppleCare registrations after the fact on the basis that they were not purchased from an Apple dealer. This is an illegal practice as it is anti-competitive and against consumer interests, and can thus be challenged"

I am prepared to take the gamble, and I honestly believe that what I have purchased is in-fact legitimate, after reading through the post I mentioned earlier. I will report back If I find do find out otherwise....
Click to expand...

Yeah, I have noticed that as well. How would you actually challenge it though? My experience with macman812 has not been good. My experience is that his excellent communication ends around 45 days after the auction ends. I posted this on another forum:
http://forums.macresource.com/read.php?1,952993,1023037#msg-1023037
 
****PLEASE READ......YOU MAY LEARN SOMETHING******
I have purchased several Applecare products from ebay. All have registered just fine and I have never needed to use any of them. I also purchased a brand new Macbook Pro that had Applecare included....It was a great deal!!!
Well..... I sold my Macbook Pro and purchased an iMac. I tried to cancel my Applecare from the Macbook Pro. I called Apple and they said no problem,,,, until they looked up my Applecare. It seems my Applecare was purchased from an Apple store 2 months before my Macbook Pro was even manufactured. Apple had no problems refunding my money just not to me. The refund would go to the person (credit card) that purchased the plan from Apple.
Apple asked me for proof of purchase, which I did not have since it was purchased from ebay. I told the rep. that I purchased from ebay and the response was..."ebay is not an authorized Apple reseller". I know that you do not need to be an authorized re-seller to buy or sell Applecare, but it greatly reduces your chances of getting scammed!!
BOTTOM LINE...... ANY APPLECARE PURCHASED FROM EBAY THAT DOES NOT HAVE A BOX WITH SERIAL NUMBER IS NOT VALID.
Macman812 claims he sold over 30,000 Applecare plans (written in an email response to me) and never had a problem with Apple. His rating is the best you could get from ebay. He is very convincing that he is an "honest" seller. There are thousands of "satisfied" customers that will post on the forums on his behalf. There are plenty that post about how they used their Applecare plans purchased from him. Your lucky, Apple hasn't caught you yet and they may never. In my case it appears that the Applecare that was sold to me was probably purchased using a credit card that did not belong to the seller (hint...hint).
Remember Applecare is about protecting your investment and wallet for a definitive piece of time...it is not about passing the registration process and receiving a certificate of insurance and a copy of Tech Tools. At anytime Apple can invalidate your "warranty" if they discover that it was ill-gotten (keygen'd, shoplifted, or fraud credit cards).
:confused:Something to think about......If I were a crackhead and someone was willing to pay me $25 for every Applecare box I can "reallocate" from an Applestore I would be the happiest crackhead in the known crack universe.

To All that are thinking of purchasing an Applecare Protection Plan from ebay OR purchasing a laptop/iMac/iPod/iPhone or iwhatever with Applecare PLEASE READ THIS POST AGIAN!!!
 
It's too bad the other thread, where macman812 actually replied, is closed. It'd be good to see what he'd say.
 
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