AppleCare not permitted to be purchased on eBay?

This must be something new, I have never heard of that.

****, I hope that's not the case!!
I need to get imac, display and macbook pro applecare and refuse to pay full price for them, after all the issues I'm having with my mac's.

Not so. All you need is the authorization number. I just activated one last week. I did it online. Nowhere was I asked where I bought the package. Did you get a number via email from the eBay seller or the AppleCare package?

Matthew Burgener wrote:
Does any have documentation that states I am not permitted to purchase it on eBay? Any help would be appreciated. I have bought dozens of Macs from Apple. And I always buy AppleCare. But this is really frustrating as a customer.

There is mention of the original sales receipt. It's rather vague about what the instructions are (says it's in the package) although I suppose it could theoretically require the original receipt from an authorized retailer. If it's resold I'm thinking that it might be helpful to have a copy of the original receipt from the original source.

http://images.apple.com/legal/applecare/docs/AppleCareProtect_Plan_NAen.pdf

I have found the prices here:

http://www.lacomputercompany.com/cgi-bin/rpcart/featured.cgi?group=appcare

Quite competitive, and always reliable. eBay, you can get messed up and not get any product whatsoever. There is nothing protecting you there.

I see boxed AppleCare protection plans for sale on my local Craigslist every day. If a private seller can sell AppleCare, an eBay seller can, too. eBay cannot be an authorized seller because eBay doesn't sell anything. It merely provides a website where sellers and buyers can make deals. If you are unhappy with your purchase, you can dispute the transaction through eBay.

On a slightly different topic, I read recently that it is not safe to buy AppleCare from eBay sellers who do not ship the buyer a physical product. The claim is that these eBay sellers are sending bogus AppleCare authorization codes to buyers. It is said that these codes usually work, but may stop working if Apple happens to sell a real AppleCare package with the same authorization code. Buyer beware!

Did the eBay seller send you a sealed Applecare package? As i stated I have not had an issue. I activated the AppleCare online. It took about 4-5 days and I received notice from Apple that it was activated. I have noticed of late that there are some eBay sellers who email you the activation code rather than send the package. That I believe is dangerous.

y pw the link you provided mentions original receipt needed for transferring Applecare to a new owner of the Mac. Other than that there is no mention of how or where or from whom you are required to purchased AppleCare.

Are you sure it wasn't a scam by the e-bay seller though? Maybe that's why the activation code didn't work, it may have been used by someone else already.

sig wrote:
y pw the link you provided mentions original receipt needed for transferring Applecare to a new owner of the Mac. Other than that there is no mention of how or where or from whom you are required to purchased AppleCare.

+Keep your Plan Confirmation document and the original sales receipt for your Covered Equipment and your Plan. Proof of purchase may be required if there is any question as to your productʼs eligibility for Plan coverage.+

Granted - I've seen listings for items sold on eBay or Craigslist where the seller offered to include the original sales receipt.

I have been purchasing ACare from eBay for years without problems (pretty good suggestions here though).

I always paid with PayPal as you can get your money back if it doesn't work and the seller refuses to refund.

I like the idea of getting a sealed box from now on!!!

Thanks ... Ken

Hi,
How you solve this? I am in the same situation now, waiting for an answer from the eBay seller but...
Thanks!

/D

You wait for a response from the eBay seller. I have always purchased mine through reputable dealers on eBay and it has ALWAYS registered properly through AppleCare registration online.

They will only ask you for a sales receipt if the activation number is bogus or already in use. The person you bought it from needs to resolve this for you, and if they don't then you need to resolve it through Paypal. Apple can do NOTHING to help you with this.

There are numerous ways to check a legitimate listing from a problematic one. Usually, if something goes wrong, a legitimate seller will help you resolve it, not ignore you.

There are many resellers online, and they ARE legit. What they do is buy up large lots of apple care that are not being used by corporations or educational insitutions that have their own inhouse insurance policies. They are unused and should register perfectly. You get them cheaper because they are reselling unregistered corporate lots.

But that doesn't mean that everyone online is honest. Or perhaps the seller made an honest mistake and sent you the same activation code they had already used and not notated. Either way, it's the sellers problem.

By the way -- you can always register online through the support page -- on the right side is a link to Register AppleCare...but if the number is already in use or is incorrect, you will get the same responses from Apple, that it can not be registered and to call them to resolve the problem.

Sorry about your problem.

My guess is the Apple Care box was stolen so the serial for that one was never rung up as being sold. Think about it; anyone can go into an Apple store and steal an Apple Care box and sell it on eBay.

That's why they put the "Gift card has no value until paid for" on gift cards because people were stealing them and reselling them at massive "discounts" to stupid, greedy people.

Also to all the people saying, "I've bought stuff from eBay..."

No, you haven't. You bought stuff ON eBay not FROM eBay so equating a past purchase from one seller with a current purchase from a different seller isn't a valid comparison.

My guess is the Apple Care box was stolen so the serial for that one was never rung up as being sold. Think about it; anyone can go into an Apple store and steal an Apple Care box and sell it on eBay.

Apple does not put the AppleCare plan number on the box, so there's no "ring up as sold" necessary nor possible. But it's entirely possible for someone to open a box, copy/use the plan number, then re-shrinkwrap the box, so even getting a shrinkwrapped box is no guarantee that the AppleCare plan hasn't already been registered by someone.

The only "reputable" dealers on eBay are ones you have personal in person contact with. Not phone, not e-mail, not snail mail, not website. If you can't verify their existence by some actual source, you might as well assume it is a fly by night company. Too many have been defrauded according to Macintouch website:

http://www.macintouch.com/readerreports/consumerissues/topic1939.html

People have been known to go in and give themselves high marks.
People have been known to even make themselves out to be intermediary exchange companies for money, when they are in fact nothing more than a black hole where money goes. If you can imagine a way it can go bad, it probably already has in one way or another. Deal with people in person, at a public place for your own security. If you can't meet with them in person, or know someone who you can meet in person who has had good experience with it, that you trust, don't use them. I've even been messed up by a BBB highly rated company before.