AppleCare

Todd Helland wrote:
I have purchased a MacBook and am thinking of purchasing the AppleCare from someone on EBay. Do you see any problems with purchasing the AppleCare from someone on EBay? Do I only need a code from the seller of the AppleCare on EBay to the AppleCare activated? Thanks

I would personally never buy anything via eBay. Use oats are cheaper than new oats.

I am not sure it is even legal to resell AppleCare this way, but if AppleCare is important, then get it from Apple directly. eBay is not an authorized Apple reseller.
Read this link:
http://wheretobuy.apple.com/Catalog.html
Note that eBay is NOT listed.

I disagree with nerowolfe. If you know what you are buying and research the seller's feedback you can get some good deals on eBay. You need to make sure the AppleCare has not been activated, that's all. And yes it is legal to sell AppleCare on eBay. Once you have the package with the activation code that is all you'll need.

Based upon your description of the auction I would stay away from this one. $28 savings is no big deal. I have bought Applecare on eBay and saved 1/2-1/3 the cost.

I've purchased Applecare on ebay several times (saving 1/3 to 1/2), but always made sure I purchased it from a seller who sends me the actual unopened factory shrinkwrapped box (if necessary, using the "ask the seller a question" option so I have the facts in writing). I would not trust a seller who emails the code - it's always made me wonder how many people have they emailed the same registration code to previously...

hi barbara,

you'd know if the code was already used as soon as you went to register it as would someone else notice if the same code was sent to them after you had registered it - it just doesn't work the same way as, say, an illegal serial number for pirated software. and in that case, you as a buyer would be 100% protected against fraud.

considering all you're really paying for is the code, it makes little sense to me to waste all that money, gas, packaging for a string of letters and numbers that can be sent to you for free via e-mail. i'm weary of a lot of ebay sellers myself, which is why i don't buy from anyone with less than 99% positive feedback (and that's even pushing it). i saved a lot of $$ buying my applecare on ebay. i also saved the ridiculous shipping charge that most sellers stick you with (especially those international buyers like myself). it was registered without a hitch and i even had apple send me a snail mail copy of the applecare protection plan certificate. if there was a problem with the code, i'm certain apple would have picked up on it right away.

that's just my $0.02 on the subject.

Check out:

www.lacomputercompany.com

Got mine there. They have great prices on applecare and are an Authorized dealer to boot.

JB

I've purchased AppleCare from sellers on Ebay for my Powerbooks several years back and had no problems whatsoever.
Just be sure that the seller's feedback rating is stellar!(99-100%).
The guy who'll email you the AppleCare serial # instead of sending the box that the AppleCare comes in is selling(not auctioning) the Applecare at $204-$210. Apple's price of $349 for the ApplCare is absolutely outrageous.
I'd imagine if he was sending purchasers bogus serial numbers his feedback rating would have plummetted by now and he'd have been banned by Ebay for fraudulent activity.

Yes, I figured that I'd realize it as soon as Apple would reject it; but although I appreciate your opinion, I still would not trust the seller unless I receive an unopened box, especially when I did not get a reply after asking a 100% positive feedback seller "can I be sure that this has never been registered before?" The shipping for that type of item hasn't been more than $7 and I'd rather pay it and I still saved considerably on all 4 Applecare purchases, i.e. 49% for the MBP and 50% for a Mini.

You're all joshing, right? Buying AppleCare from someone other than Apple? Buying from an unknown person off of ebay?

"Psst! Here, inside my coat, I've got a warranty for you."

"What's that?" "Oh, right! I won't be around when you can't register it and can't use and you discover you really don't have AppleCare after all!!" 🙂

If you pay with PayPal you're 100% guaranteed to get your money back if it all goes pear shaped! Don't let Apple rip you off, if you save any money it's better off in your pocket than theirs.

P.S. The 1 year guarantee that comes with new macs isn't Applecare, it's a guarantee from the Apple Store (or at least that's what the Applecare rep told me). I tried to buy a new set of install discs and was told that first I had to extend the warranty to qualify for the privilege of buying new discs.

astromacman,

there is absolutely nothing wrong with purchasing applecare off of ebay. myself and plenty of other people have obviously done it without a single problem. there are policies (not only on ebay but paypal as well) in place that prevents sellers from ripping off buyers. in fact i've purchased a few items on ebay that did not meet the condition of what the seller had described and have received full refunds in every single case. you obviously wouldn't buy applecare (or anything) from a seller with a really low positive feedback %.

i personally saved about $150 off of the retail price, so.... you go ahead and pay full retail price for applecare, i'm not.

Well, Just this morning I purchased Macbook pro Applecare (for$203.95) from a seller on Ebay who emails the AppleCare serial number after purchase. I received the serial number just a few hours after my purchase via email from the seller.
I then registered my Macbook pro Applecare on the Apple website
https://selfsolve.apple.com/RegisterAgreement.do without any problems. I've now got the registration confirmation from Apple.
The whole process, from purchase to registration was a piece of cake!

I live in Germany and bought my MBP also there. Is there a problem buying Apple Care e.g. in the US?