eBay laptop purchasing

4W4K3 · 05-30-2005, 07:01 PM

Has anyone personally bought a laptop (used/new/refurb w/e) off of eBay? I am considering buying one once i sell my computers on eBay, and i just want to hear about others experiences.

I've been able to find ~10 laptops all of which retail at well over $1000, with no reserve, starting bid is like $20. This sound skeptical. But then the seller guarantees it will work or he will refund you payment in full. And i went and read all the seller's feedback and it's flawless with 100's (a few over 1000) sells/buys. Some seller's are companies, others are individual sellers.

Do you think i can sucessfully buy a laptop off eBay without getting screwed? My dad seems to think ANYTHING with "no reserve" has problems, but i feel differently after reading feedback and e-mailing the seller a few questions and he e-mailed me back VERY fast with the right answer. He is letting me use his account so i can get the feel of eBay, and then i might get my own.

Thanks

kof2000 · 05-30-2005, 07:15 PM

u selling ur notebook?

Ba_Ba · 05-30-2005, 07:19 PM

I got my computer off ebay and it was like $600 cheaper than the retail and it works fine...the "starting" bid doesnt mean anything....

**magicman** · 05-30-2005, 07:42 PM

Firstly, buying anything electrical is risky, since a defect can be discovered and the seller can deny knowledge and accuse you of causing it. It's happened to me with a digital camcorder, so beware.

Posting an item with no reserve is risky, but can attract more bids, and so can be used as a legitimate selling technique. It almost never means the item is dodgy.

Ebay can be a great tool, but look out for the obvious things like good feedback, high number of transactions, and good communication, then you should be alright. Anyone with an unblemished record would prefer to leave you happy than risk you posting negative feedback.

4W4K3 · 05-30-2005, 07:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kof2000

u selling ur notebook?

no selling desktop SEE HERE: http://www.computerforum.com/showthr...0323#post90323

Quote:

I got my computer off ebay and it was like $600 cheaper than the retail and it works fine...the "starting" bid doesnt mean anything....

Well it doesn't mean much until you get down to the last day and it's still only $50 with no reserve. I'm hoping to run in and make a bid for like $55 in the alast hour or later and be able to get the computer (providing seller doesn't cancel auction.)

**Lax** · 05-30-2005, 10:05 PM

Usually the prices of things like that will shoot up hundreds of dollars in the last few minutes. When I sold my tweeters the price was 100$ for the first 6 days, when it finally ended it had gone up to 400.

4W4K3 · 05-30-2005, 10:12 PM

i'll have to sell alot more stuff then

I would like at least $200 b4 i start placing bids on stuff, that way i can at least compete.

[-0MEGA-] · 05-30-2005, 11:26 PM

I buy alot of stuff and sell alot of stuff on eBay, for instance, im selling a FX5500 video card with only a $0.99 starting bid, at first i was skeptical when i was looking for a watch, but they start off at a low starting price because its cheaper to put it up, and most people sort my lowest first, so theres would come up, plus you would get more bids early on. But about your laptop, i'ev never personally bought one from ebay, but just make sure they have a lot of postitive feedback and a good feedback rating.

**The_Other_One** · 05-31-2005, 01:11 AM

I'm scared to get a laptop off ebay...or a used laptop at that. The hardware in laptops is not made to last nearly as longas desktops. Harddrives tend to fail pretty quick. You got the display that tends to short out on them... And of course, there's always the seller who forgets that one little detail like the crack across the screen or something like that ;P

691175002 · 05-31-2005, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The_Other_One

I'm scared to get a laptop off ebay...or a used laptop at that. The hardware in laptops is not made to last nearly as longas desktops. Harddrives tend to fail pretty quick. You got the display that tends to short out on them... And of course, there's always the seller who forgets that one little detail like the crack across the screen or something like that ;P

He is right that labtops are not as sturdy as normal computers which means expensive shipping. Always watch shipping costs because sometimes they are really big rips and even though the price right now is low you can bet that there are 5-10 people watching the auction very closly and that the price will increase very dramatically in the last hour or so...

05-30-2005, 07:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
4W4K3 VIP Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Lewisville, TX Age: 20 Posts: 6,875	eBay laptop purchasing Has anyone personally bought a laptop (used/new/refurb w/e) off of eBay? I am considering buying one once i sell my computers on eBay, and i just want to hear about others experiences. I've been able to find ~10 laptops all of which retail at well over $1000, with no reserve, starting bid is like $20. This sound skeptical. But then the seller guarantees it will work or he will refund you payment in full. And i went and read all the seller's feedback and it's flawless with 100's (a few over 1000) sells/buys. Some seller's are companies, others are individual sellers. Do you think i can sucessfully buy a laptop off eBay without getting screwed? My dad seems to think ANYTHING with "no reserve" has problems, but i feel differently after reading feedback and e-mailing the seller a few questions and he e-mailed me back VERY fast with the right answer. He is letting me use his account so i can get the feel of eBay, and then i might get my own. Thanks __________________ My Computer I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe. Can I eat your brain? FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND :F@H Team 44358

05-30-2005, 07:15 PM	#2 (permalink)
kof2000 Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Oahu Age: 27 Posts: 6,273	u selling ur notebook? __________________ QX9650@4.2 swiftech \|9600@3.0 9700 nt 780i \| 790fx 8gb ddr1200 \| 8gb ddr1200 2x150gb 3x1tb \|2x250gb 3x8800gtx \|3x2900xt 1gb 2x20xdvdrw \|2x20xdvdrw 15in1 card reader \|15in1 card reader ng15/g9 \|ng15/g9 1200w psu \|1200w psu 2x28" LCD \|2x28" LCD

05-30-2005, 07:42 PM	#4 (permalink)
magicman Moderator - F@H Guru Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Surrey, UK Posts: 3,063	Firstly, buying anything electrical is risky, since a defect can be discovered and the seller can deny knowledge and accuse you of causing it. It's happened to me with a digital camcorder, so beware. Posting an item with no reserve is risky, but can attract more bids, and so can be used as a legitimate selling technique. It almost never means the item is dodgy. Ebay can be a great tool, but look out for the obvious things like good feedback, high number of transactions, and good communication, then you should be alright. Anyone with an unblemished record would prefer to leave you happy than risk you posting negative feedback. __________________ FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND :F@H Team 44358

05-30-2005, 10:05 PM	#6 (permalink)
Lax Moderator Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Snow country Age: 21 Posts: 2,278	Usually the prices of things like that will shoot up hundreds of dollars in the last few minutes. When I sold my tweeters the price was 100$ for the first 6 days, when it finally ended it had gone up to 400. __________________ He who controls the present controls the past. He who controls the past, controls the future.

05-30-2005, 10:12 PM	#7 (permalink)
4W4K3 VIP Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Lewisville, TX Age: 20 Posts: 6,875	i'll have to sell alot more stuff then I would like at least $200 b4 i start placing bids on stuff, that way i can at least compete. __________________ My Computer I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe. Can I eat your brain? FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND :F@H Team 44358

05-30-2005, 07:19 PM	#3 (permalink)
Ba_Ba Gold Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 266	I got my computer off ebay and it was like $600 cheaper than the retail and it works fine...the "starting" bid doesnt mean anything....

05-30-2005, 11:26 PM	#8 (permalink)
[-0MEGA-] Diamond Member Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Concord, NH Age: 20 Posts: 27,082	I buy alot of stuff and sell alot of stuff on eBay, for instance, im selling a FX5500 video card with only a $0.99 starting bid, at first i was skeptical when i was looking for a watch, but they start off at a low starting price because its cheaper to put it up, and most people sort my lowest first, so theres would come up, plus you would get more bids early on. But about your laptop, i'ev never personally bought one from ebay, but just make sure they have a lot of postitive feedback and a good feedback rating. __________________ Desktop // Laptop Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 4.0GHz // Core 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz Asus Rampage Formula X48 // Intel PM45 ATI 4870X2 2GB GDDR5 // 512MB GDDR3 9800M GTS 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR2 940 // 4GB DDR3 800 750GB SATAII w/32MB // 200GB SATAII 7200RPM Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty SilverStone 750W +12V@60A 3DMark06: 21391 // 9179

05-31-2005, 01:11 AM	#9 (permalink)
The_Other_One Super Moderator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Lexington, NC Age: 23 Posts: 12,368	I'm scared to get a laptop off ebay...or a used laptop at that. The hardware in laptops is not made to last nearly as longas desktops. Harddrives tend to fail pretty quick. You got the display that tends to short out on them... And of course, there's always the seller who forgets that one little detail like the crack across the screen or something like that ;P __________________ Desktop * Athlon X2 4200 \| 2G RAM \| 160G HD \| 7600GT Laptop1 * C2D T5550 \| 3G RAM \| 120G HD \| Intel x3100 Laptop2 * C2D T5250 \| 2G RAM \| 160G HD \| Intel x3100

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