Tips on selling a Mac Pro (ebay)

[tom.]

Hi all,
I am currently preparing my mac for sale (here in the UK) and it seems ebay is going to be my only option to get a decent price on it.

Can anybody offer any tips to avoid getting burned here?

I am going to have to offer paypal as i beleive it is now in the ebay T&C's but this worries me due to chargebacks etc. Paypals seller protection scheme seems very vague and unreliable. What really worries me is the buyer has so much power on ebay these days, that it only takes 1 piece of negative feedback and a loss in dispute and i have lost the whole lot.

I will be shipping fully insured via UPS (Apple's courier of choice here, with £2500 cover) and offering collection. The auction will not be open internationally, must have CC or at least 5 positive feedback.

 

[Fomaphone]

sounds good... just be quick and communicative and you won't get bad feedback. make paypal your only option other than cash upon collection.

post a lot of pictures... detail any dents or deep scratches and that way nobody will be surprised if the unit is damaged. if it's in good shape, just trust that anybody spending that much money on an ebay purchase probably isn't going to be overwhelmingly picky (otherwise they'd make the purchase in a store.)

also, link in your description to sites with used MP's with similar specifications for sale-- their prices are usually high

it can't hurt to do a little bit of selling... "Snow Leopard ready!" and then some info about how sweet snow leopard will be for the machine when it comes out. people also like to know if they're getting a computer from a smoke free environment... and it would definitely not hurt to clean the tower before you photograph it.

 

[Chaos123x]

I would not sell on ebay, I only sell local on craigslist, cash only in hand no returns.

 

[tom.]

Yeah, I am UK - no craigslist

Will be sent in original box which is shipped with UPS via Apple, so should be safe. Covered for £2500 damages too.

Cheers

 

[Fomaphone]

He is in the UK.

OP: Be sure to package it as though it were glass because if you ship and its damaged then I think you'll run into issues.

i learned after having FedEx damage my last PPC that they only will pay insurance claims if you package it according to their specifications... at least six inches of packing material around the computer inside a box, and then 4 inches of packing materials around that box inside another.

 

[tom.]

i learned after having FedEx damage my last PPC that they only will pay insurance claims if you package it according to their specifications... at least six inches of packing material around the computer inside a box, and then 4 inches of packing materials around that box inside another.

I think jessica deleted her post - ?

UPS should cover this, I'm assuming they cover Apple when it is sent in that box. It is pretty heavily packaged as most people here will tell you.

Also - no-one here will ship an item that big, it would be insane to pack this box inside another box with 4 inches packing? have you seen the size of them?! hehe!

 

[rylin]

Hi all,
I am currently preparing my mac for sale (here in the UK) and it seems ebay is going to be my only option to get a decent price on it.

I assume it's the one in your sig?
How much do you want for it?

 

[Sdashiki]

i learned after having FedEx damage my last PPC that they only will pay insurance claims if you package it according to their specifications... at least six inches of packing material around the computer inside a box, and then 4 inches of packing materials around that box inside another.

When you value it over $500 they MUST check your packaging. Always have whenever Ive shipped a computer.

If it doesnt pass their standards, they wont ship it. Which makes sense, why would they insure something that is more likely to break because of poor packaging?

When using the original Apple box and materials, they always approve it. They have to. It was shipped to me as such BY FedEx originally!

 

[Fomaphone]

When you value it over $500 they MUST check your packaging. Always have whenever Ive shipped a computer.

If it doesnt pass their standards, they wont ship it. Which makes sense, why would they insure something that is more likely to break because of poor packaging?

When using the original Apple box and materials, they always approve it. They have to. It was shipped to me as such BY FedEx originally!

well, the guy taking care of me at fedex in n. Chicago just complained the whole time about being hung over and he couldn't wait to be done with me-- i don't think he was paying too close attention to the guidelines... which is why my computer looked like it had been pushed off of a moving truck and then hit by another.

when i told the insurance agent on the phone that fedex didn't have big enough boxes for me to pack it like she was suggesting, she said i was S.O.L.

 

[TrapOx]

Also - no-one here will ship an item that big, it would be insane to pack this box inside another box with 4 inches packing? have you seen the size of them?! hehe!

Right, look at what Apple ships their computers in.

 

[POLOgt]

For secure shipping with eBay:

Do you have a UPS Store or equivalent in the UK?

When I sold used Mac Pros, I always dropped them off at the UPS Store and have them package the tower.
If you let them do it, it is guaranteed to arrive in perfect order and they are held liable if not.
http://theupsstore.com/psp/index.html

 

[tom.]

For secure shipping with eBay:

Do you have a UPS Store or equivalent in the UK?

When I sold used Mac Pros, I always dropped them off at the UPS Store and have them package the tower.
If you let them do it, it is guaranteed to arrive in perfect order and they are held liable if not.
http://theupsstore.com/psp/index.html

No, nothing as far as I am aware. I have emailed UPS to ensure they will cover it in original shipping box, as that's what they do for Apple in the UK.

 

[peejack]

have you checked how much it will cost u to send insured via ups?

 

[tom.]

have you checked how much it will cost u to send insured via ups?

£65 - Which i don't think is unreasonable, much better than ParcelForce (£110)

I am offering to drive it within 50m at 50p per mile and collection so I think there is enough choice there.

 

[MonoSeed]

i learned after having FedEx damage my last PPC that they only will pay insurance claims if you package it according to their specifications... at least six inches of packing material around the computer inside a box, and then 4 inches of packing materials around that box inside another.

YES! Make sure you have UPS or FedEx package it and get it insured. They will be liable if they are the ones packaging it. They damaged my dual G5 when I sold it on ebay.