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Scam or Legit?

F

findwaldonow

macrumors member
Original poster
Jun 3, 2009
65
5
I've been reading the forums like a crazy person since the unibodies were released because I want to throw this Gateway...and Windows...out a window. I've been looking at getting a shiny new MacBook Pro. I just recently got the money together and had decided to wait for WWDC when I found this on ebay. I found an underpriced Wii once and simply asked the guy why he was selling it for so low. He explained that he had one, won another one at work, and wanted to unload it quickly. That worked out fine but I'm way more leery about a $2500 item than a $200 one.

Anyway, I have a few other buying options in mind should there be a speed bump.
1. Refurb prices get driven down a bit or stay the same.
2. 1999.95 for the 2.53 on http://www.springboardstore.com
3. Friend at an Apple store letting me use his 15% Friend discount.
4. Education discount and sell the iPod Touch since I already have the 32 Gig

Any other suggestions on buying options or reasons to jump on the 2.66 on eBay? What do you guys think is best value for the lowest money?
 
Looks very suspicious:

1.) Previous items are too old to see but seem to be smaller items (rings?). No visible history of selling computers before.
2.) Member name says member in UK, but item location is U.S.?
3.) Price is way too low to be legit. No reseller is making $800 profit on a MBP ($2500 - $1700). This has to be a scam or a stolen machine.
 
I hate that the better the price the more you have to chill out and assume the worst. That being said, if I were to pull the trigger and get ripped off, to what extent does eBay, or more likely PayPal have my back? I don't know if it's stolen or doesn't exist but for a price like that and the promise of my money back if the thing never shows up I might be willing to roll the dice.
 
findwaldonow said:
I hate that the better the price the more you have to chill out and assume the worst. That being said, if I were to pull the trigger and get ripped off, to what extent does eBay, or more likely PayPal have my back? I don't know if it's stolen or doesn't exist but for a price like that and the promise of my money back if the thing never shows up I might be willing to roll the dice.
Click to expand...

As long as you pay with pay pal you're completely safe and your money is protected. I ran into something similar myself while looking for a UMP. Found a 17" 2.93 for $1200. Obvious scam but I contacted the seller to see what was the deal. Told me I had to use Western Union if I wanted to buy. LOL. That's the biggest red flag one can get. ahaha.

Anyways I would say it's most likely scam but if you can use pay pal then maybe not. Still though, very suspicious.
 
UniPro said:
As long as you pay with pay pal you're completely safe and your money is protected. I ran into something similar myself while looking for a UMP. Found a 17" 2.93 for $1200. Obvious scam but I contacted the seller to see what was the deal. Told me I had to use Western Union if I wanted to buy. LOL. That's the biggest red flag one can get. ahaha.

Anyways I would say it's most likely scam but if you can use pay pal then maybe not. Still though, very suspicious.
Click to expand...

This is what keeps drawing me to it. The seller will ONLY accept PayPal and PayPal has a little thing on the side saying that the entire purchase price is protected. If that's the case, why not take a stab at it? Is there any reason not to I'm not thinking of? The way I see it, if I don't receive a 2.66 uMBP sealed in the box then PayPal has me covered and I'm good.

Also, does anyone know if there is a claim filed over a scam how long it would take PayPal to fix it? I mean if it'll be 5 years before I see money back I might rethink it but otherwise why not?
 
findwaldonow said:
This is what keeps drawing me to it. The seller will ONLY accept PayPal and PayPal has a little thing on the side saying that the entire purchase price is protected. If that's the case, why not take a stab at it? Is there any reason not to I'm not thinking of? The way I see it, if I don't receive a 2.66 uMBP sealed in the box then PayPal has me covered and I'm good.

Also, does anyone know if there is a claim filed over a scam how long it would take PayPal to fix it? I mean if it'll be 5 years before I see money back I might rethink it but otherwise why not?
Click to expand...

If you want to risk being short $2000 for a month or two and being w/o a macbook pro until late summer, then take the risk.

Otherwise spend the extra $200 or $300 and buy from Apple.
 
if you do buy and want to know to what extent you're covered under paypal, read the fine print for yourself. Ask around sure, but do not base your decision on whether or not you're covered until you've read it for yourself. Just my two cents.
 
Btw, the chance of this site being legit is VERY LOW. I already tipped off the mods about brand new users suddenly promoting the site in the last week in their first and only posts on MR.

Don't risk it, it's not worth it.
 
If you would like to take a stab at it, you should go ahead and do it. Otherwise you will regret it and always wonder what "could have happened". Just make sure you are protected. Even when using paypal, purchase with a credit card, just in case this turns out to be a scam. The credit card companies will generally have your back and if something does happen, they will give your money back as a conditional credit while they investigate what's happening.
 
Aboo said:
If you would like to take a stab at it, you should go ahead and do it. Otherwise you will regret it and always wonder what "could have happened". Just make sure you are protected. Even when using paypal, purchase with a credit card, just in case this turns out to be a scam. The credit card companies will generally have your back and if something does happen, they will give your money back as a conditional credit while they investigate what's happening.
Click to expand...

No offense, but that's not very good advice. It's going to take weeks or months to get his money back, and he won't have his beloved MBP until sometime in late July or August.

The refurb 2.53 Ghz is the same price at Apple. Why the hell would anyone take such a huge risk for basically no benefit?

To the OP, just buy this one!

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB471?mco=MjQyMDkxNQ
 
you would only get your money back if paypal can get it out of the sellers account. if he is doing a scam that will never happen.
 
Unprocessed1 said:
No offense, but that's not very good advice. It's going to take weeks or months to get his money back, and he won't have his beloved MBP until sometime in late July or August.

The refurb 2.53 Ghz is the same price at Apple. Why the hell would anyone take such a huge risk for basically no benefit?

To the OP, just buy this one!

http://store.apple.com/us/product/FB471?mco=MjQyMDkxNQ
Click to expand...

There is no reason that it would take months to get his money back - if he pays with a credit card, and it turns out to be a scam, most credit card companies will give you your money back right away. The only reason I advised this is because he seems insistent on following through with the purchase. Also, I believe the unit he linked to was a 2.66 MBP not a 2.53. Yes minor processor upgrade, but also up until this point, the 2.66 MBP supports 8GB of RAM unlike the 2.53 variant. I wouldn't go as far as saying this is bad advise.
 
Aboo said:
There is no reason that it would take months to get his money back - if he pays with a credit card, and it turns out to be a scam, most credit card companies will give you your money back right away. The only reason I advised this is because he seems insistent on following through with the purchase. Also, I believe the unit he linked to was a 2.66 MBP not a 2.53. Yes minor processor upgrade, but also up until this point, the 2.66 MBP supports 8GB of RAM unlike the 2.53 variant. I wouldn't go as far as saying this is bad advise.
Click to expand...

Yeah because as soon as he pays the credit card company knows it's a scam, right? :rolleyes:

I reference you all to this thread. You'll see getting scammed like this isn't all that pleasant and easy to fix...

Again, spend the extra money and buy somewhere else. I think ebay is actually a much safer alternative because of the added paypal protection of ebay, and you can actually see a legit history of the sellers.
 
alphaod said:
Actually you bogus site you mention is ebay and it's 2.66GHz model, not a 2.53GHz refurb.
Click to expand...

No... the OP referenced the 2.53 Ghz model being sold by the website mentioned, which I was comparing it to. Read the options he listed.

In reference to the ebay link the OP posted, there's cleary something f'ed up about the price. And the seller's feedback is also sketchy. I wasn't telling the OP to get the (linked) ebay MBP over the website, both are risky at the very best.
 
Unprocessed1 said:
Yeah because as soon as he pays the credit card company knows it's a scam, right? :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Obviously, thats not what I meant :rolleyes: As soon as the credit card holder discovers its a scam (i.e. within 10 days of purchase), a call to most credit card companies regarding the situation will result in an immediate processing of a temporary credit for the purchase amount. A simultaneous paypal claim + CC investigation will eventually recover the money, but in the mean time, the OP hasn't lost out and isn't paying financing charges on his credit card. Its one of the main benefits/perks that credit card companies offer their card holders. I am sure that Visa, Master Card, and American Express all do this.

If the OP wasn't willing to take the risk, he wouldn't have posted as he did in post #6.
 
Unprocessed1 said:
No... the OP referenced the 2.53 Ghz model being sold by the website mentioned, which I was comparing it to. Read the options he listed.

In reference to the ebay link the OP posted, there's cleary something f'ed up about the price. And the seller's feedback is also sketchy. I wasn't telling the OP to get the (linked) ebay MBP over the website, both are risky at the very best.
Click to expand...

Well you only quoted the ebay part, so I assumed that's what you were referring to.
 
findwaldonow said:
This is what keeps drawing me to it. The seller will ONLY accept PayPal and PayPal has a little thing on the side saying that the entire purchase price is protected. If that's the case, why not take a stab at it? Is there any reason not to I'm not thinking of? The way I see it, if I don't receive a 2.66 uMBP sealed in the box then PayPal has me covered and I'm good.

Also, does anyone know if there is a claim filed over a scam how long it would take PayPal to fix it? I mean if it'll be 5 years before I see money back I might rethink it but otherwise why not?
Click to expand...

I had a refund for 4 about $300 before. Took paypal about 2 1/2 weeks for a refund back to me.
 
Aboo said:
Obviously, thats not what I meant :rolleyes: As soon as the credit card holder discovers its a scam (i.e. within 10 days of purchase), a call to most credit card companies regarding the situation will result in an immediate processing of a temporary credit for the purchase amount. A simultaneous paypal claim + CC investigation will eventually recover the money, but in the mean time, the OP hasn't lost out and isn't paying financing charges on his credit card. Its one of the main benefits/perks that credit card companies offer their card holders. I am sure that Visa, Master Card, and American Express all do this.

If the OP wasn't willing to take the risk, he wouldn't have posted as he did in post #6.
Click to expand...

The main point is why possibly go through this hassle to save a few bucks? It would take at least 2-3 weeks to get it all sorted out, and longer to actually get the money back. Where is the MBP in the meantime?

Buying off of ebay is a lot more safe than buying from a possibly fradulent online retailer. The paypal protections ARE NOT the same. The buyer has far more protection thru ebay + paypal, plus buying a MBP from a highly reputable seller that has sold the machines before is very low-risk.

You should buy either from a LEGIT macbook seller on ebay or get an Apple refurb.

alphaod said:
Well you only quoted the ebay part, so I assumed that's what you were referring to.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it was my bad.
 
From Apple... Online Apple Authorised Resellers
Please be aware that if you purchase a product over the Internet or through a Catalog from a Reseller who is not on the list, you are not buying from a reseller authorized by Apple to make Internet or catalog sales.

Reseller Phone Number
ABT ELECTRONICS (888) 228-5800
AMAZON.COM (800) 201-7575
CDW COMPUTER CENTERS (888) 239-7220
CLUB MAC (800) 258-2622
J & R COMPUTERWORLD (800) 221-8180
MAC ZONE (800) 248-0800
MACCONNECTION (800) 800-2222
MACMALL (800) 222-2808
MICRO CENTER (800) 634-3478
TARGET.COM * (800) 440-0680 ipods only
 
bcaslis said:
Looks very suspicious:

1.) Previous items are too old to see but seem to be smaller items (rings?). No visible history of selling computers before.
2.) Member name says member in UK, but item location is U.S.?
3.) Price is way too low to be legit. No reseller is making $800 profit on a MBP ($2500 - $1700). This has to be a scam or a stolen machine.
Click to expand...

Ive heard of a ton of ebay scams that come out of the UK.
 
if its on ebay and the seller is using paypal as the payment method then your good. Go for it. I got one of my 17 unis from ebay for 2300 with overnight shipping. So its not far fetched to see them cheap on ebay. Hey thats why its ebay great deals on there. I love how the fanboys always tell people "just buy it from apple" and spend $500 more. Buying from apple has no benefit. You just pay a hell of alot more money. You still have the apple warrenty and you can still buy apple care.(wich i also buy on ebay for $125)
 
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