Would you buy a laptop on Ebay?

[bcarson]

I am looking at new ones, that still have the warranties. I am just afraid of not having a physical store to return to. But they ahve some good deals. I of course would look at the persons feedback ect....

 

[sorul82?]

Please, for the love of Pete, don't do this! My brother ordered a refurb which my DH checked out and determined there was nothing that could be done to save the failing hard drive. So my brother called Ebay (as they ask that you don't contact the seller) and another one was to be sent next day. This was 6 days ago and still no replacement. He ended up going to Best Buy to buy a new one and is going through heck trying to get the other resolved. He did buy the warranty as well.

 

[Whitty]

Nope....I like to be able to touch it and really look at it before I buy anything that costs that much...plus, if something is wrong with it I can exchange it....for that much money, it's better to be safe than sorry and save a few bucks...

 

[gacompguy]

As an IT person, I actually thought I would be able to get a good deal on an "off lease" laptop from eBay. I purchased a brand and model that was a business grade laptop and known to be reliable. I also made sure to use a seller with a very high rating. When I got the laptop, it had all sorts of problems. First off, the pictures in the auction were clearly not what I was sold. There were a number of obvious scratches and cracks. The built-in SD card reader (something I really wanted) had been removed. So, the short version is that you're probably not going to get a deal.

Personally, I would check somewhere like CheapStingyBargains and be on the lookout for something in your price range. Any new laptop today is going to blow away anything that is 2+ years old that you'll see on eBay. You also know that you're going to get something that hasn't been destroyed, spilled on, smoked around, etc. You'll also get a warranty... something you won't get with something used.

 

[clh2]

My sister bought a used computer on Craigslist - and it had all prated software on it.

Nope - I wouldn't do it!

 

[bcarson]

I am not talking used. I am talking new. I realize that's probably not a guarantee. Oh well.

 

[DisneyAndRedSox]

Nephew just bought one on ebay, never shipped. Paypal refunded his $800 and his parents to him to Best Buy for one!

 

[hsmamato2]

I bought a used mac on ebay a few months ago- power seller, bought a one year warranty- 100% positive on 1000's of feedbacks- it's a great little refurb machine- I could tell by the descriptions,warranty policy,etc that this isn't a scam.
Came with all proper software installed- we could see aftermarket keyboard,etc installed(ds knows these things) but it works just like it should,and seller has a 30 return policy if it isn;t operational.
less than 300.00 and I'd do it again. But this is the only buyer I'd buy from, I don;t usually buy stuff like that from ebay-

 

[bcarson]

Well this guy has like 2000 feedback only two negative in the last year. But now he is telling me if I want to wait. He can even have it custom made from Dell? I emailed about 5 people that have bought the same computer from him. Some as far back as Oct. I want to see if they had trouble getting there warranties, still like the computer ect... I know a lot of people don't like Dell anymore. But I have two desktops and like them. His prices are just much better then the Dell site.

 

[msmayor]

Not a laptop...but I bought a brand new HP desktop last year from a power seller with a brick-and-mortar store somewhere out in Ohio. GREAT deal, and a great machine.

He had provided a phone number on his info page and I called beforehand to ask lots of questions about the item and get as much information as I could. Used my AmEx card for extra protection on the purchase.

Computer was delivered in two days as promised and has worked flawlessly.

 

[SarahandPaul]

One word....NO

Two words...HELL NO

 

[sorul82?]

One word....NO

Two words...HELL NO

My DH has three words.

 

[gacompguy]

If he's offering to build one for you to spec, you can probably still get it cheaper from Dell directly. Odds are, he's going to mark it up... you're better off going to Dell.com and requesting a catalog. You'll end up getting better deals in the mail and via e-mail. Plus, you're not going through a third party you don't know.