Is it a good idea to buy a comp on Ebay or is it better to but new if you can?

Answer 1

I would recommend a cheap new computer over one off eBay.

Answer 2

Either way. Ebay is an awesome resource for low price goods, even computers. Just when purchasing off Ebay, read the auction carefully, maybe even printing the ausction details and be sure you know what you are getting if you win the auction. Second, check sellers shipping procedures. The further away an item is, the higher the shipping. Try to get something in the same country as you, naturally, to avoid international shipping costs.

Last, check the sellers ratings and feedback. If you see a lot of negative feedback, then find another seller. Read the responses to the feedback as this will usually tell you what kind of person you are dealing with. If I see a lot of rudeness from the seller in response to negative feedback, I don't buy from that seller.

Check for warranties and such on everything. Use your smarts. Compare prices and save, but remember, you get what you pay for. If you buy a $400 computer, don't expect it to do what a $4,000 computer can do as a lot of people do!

Good luck!

Answer 3

It's definitely better to buy a new system and/or parts from somewhere other than eBay. I know because last year, for whatever reason, the monitor I had just stopped working one day. My best friend from high school worked in a computer store, and for whatever reason, he wasn't available to help. So I found a monitor on eBay that was inexpensive and looked like it would work. I bought it, super-cheap, for $30 (99 cents for the monitor itself, and the other $29.99 were for shipping and handling via FedEx).

When it arrived, it worked okay for about a month, and then one day without any warning, the screen started getting staticky, like the picture from a TV station that's not quite tuned in, or what you see on a screen if you run a vacuum cleaner. The effect persisted, got worse, and finally the screen went blank. It looked an acted like a power surge, for no particular reason (there were no severe thunderstorms where I lived that night and all my system components are surge protected).

Not only that, but my hard drive was malfunctioning. I don't remember why anymore, but when I finally brought it into a shop for service, there was something inside the tower that was preventing Windows from loading correctly. But they wound up upgrading my memory and backing everything up that was on my hard drive. I haven't had a problem with my system since then; that's how well they fixed it up. So my answer to your question is: it really does pay to buy new.

Answer 4

Buy it NEW... the best thing you get with your computer is the warrenty... in my opinion its worth more then the computer.... If I was you, I'd buy a cheap computer from a store with a good long warrenty. Manufactorers use a system of production where a very small portion of their products are defective (maybe 1/1000) this seems very insignifigant until you realize that a computer has thousands of parts all manufactored. This meens something is probably going to go wrong with it in the first few years. When you buy on e-bay, once it goes wrong you have to fix it out of pocket... this can often cost more then the computer is worth... If you get a warranty they do it for you.

I Bought a $1200 toshiba laptop from circuit city. I got a 5 year warrenty for $400... Since this point i have had the screen replaced, 2 batteries, 4 power cords and a new motherboard installed... I cant even imagine the thousands of dollars it would cost to fix this out of my pocket. $1800 is a lot of money but it literaly guarantees your computer for 5 years when the average life span is 2-3 years

Answer 5

It all depends on how careful you are. Ebay can be secure. I am a Ebay shopper. Although in all my experience i have gotten ripped off once before.

You do get deals on Ebay dont get me wrong but in the case of buying a computer you need to look at options.
~What if you get a computer without necessary programs that it needs to run? That alone should make you wonder. Buying a computer from places such as Best Buy. Yes your paying more but you get all that you need.
Replacing pieces to a computer will get expensive.

I reccommend Ebay for many things but not computers. There is just too much risk of not getting all that you need. Plus if you buy from a store you can buy a warranty.

Hope that information helps you on your selection. Good Luck.

Answer 6

Some off the top of my head thoughts.

It depends what you want and how knowledgeable you are.

A used computer could be a lot cheaper than a new one, but I'd probably buy one locally thru craigslist rather than on ebay.

Computers are so cheap nowadays, that you can get really good deals on new ones.

But if you want really really cheap, and don't need the latest and the greatest, then you might get super deals on a used computer

For example almost two years ago I bought a fairly good desktop for $150 just to use to backup my data on. I didn't need a really fancy computer and a 40 gb hard drive was enough. So for my purposes an older model used desktop was ideal. But your needs might be different.

One problem with a used computer is that the hard drive will go faster than with a new since its already been used.

it will be a lot less hassle and work buying a new one,

Answer 7

people say dont use ebay but infact places like dell or pcworld will see inexperienced pc userc coming a mile off and sell you all the bits you don't really need.

If you buy from the right people with good feedback and payment protection etc and you know wjhat you want then you can save a LOT on a pc - probaly around £200 - £300 on a new high spec system.

Even better if you have some knowledge you can do what i did and build my own - that way i get EXACTLY what i wanted with no useless things i will never use.
i now have a powerful top of the range pc that cost me around £600 less than i would expect to have paid at a major store

For example, dell will charge you just over £70 to upgrade from 256mb of ram to 1gb of ram - an increase of 768mb and in todays computing 1gb of ram is pretty much essential.
If i was to perform this upgrade on my own pc it would cost me around £30. They similarly charge £58 to remove a dvd rom drive and replace with a dvd writer. i could do the same for around £15.

Answer 8

I personally got a pretty good deal. I got a laptop for around $100 and I haven't had any issues with it. Just make sure you read someone's reputation points first before you buy and read carefully everything they say about the item being sold. Sometimes they like to splip stuff in there along with the regular advertisement copy knowing that most people just gloss over it.

As far a regular PC, You can get a much better deal building it yourself. If you don't have any expertise there are lots of companies that do it for you. If you want more information about it feel free to e-mail me. Tell me what you are looking for in performance and I can give you an idea of what to get and how much it will cost.

Answer 9

New over Ebay any day as, one on ebay could have any sort of problem as well as the simple fact in this tech age, that a computer off the shelf is almost obsolete as soon as you by it unless you put some work into it that is. Custom built are ussually better but sometimes you can have accidental compatability issues. So I would say just by a cheapo from wal*mart and jazz it up a bit.

Answer 10

It is better to buy a new comp for several reasons. One, if the computer starts acting funny, you can usually bring it back to the store. Two, no matter how good it is, old comps break down. If you buy new, you can get more usage. And three, if you buy from some companies, you can customize.

Answer 11

Most people sell computers on eBay because they're old and want to get rid of them. Even though the price might be cheap, you'll probably spend a fair amount of money and time upgrading the thing so it'll be able to run today's(and tomorrow's) software and internet applications smoothly. People who don't know how to upgrade computers themselves usually sell their computers online so they can go get a newer computer which cost less than their old one from the money you handed over to them.

My advice: either build one yourself(if you know how) or get a brand new one.

If you plan on building one yourself it'll cost you a lot less than getting one new, and all you need is a flat-head screwdriver and some technical know-how.

If you plan on buying one, get it direct from a mail-order store(Gateway, Dell, etc.) instead of through a retail store(Circuit City, Best Buy, CompUSA, etc.). This way, you can customize the computer's parts to your exact specifications instead of having to pick from a bunch of pre-built computers that have features you might not ever use(but will still pay for). Plus you don't have to deal with pushy salespeople. I used to work at Circuit City, but that's another story.

Whichever avenue you decide on, have someone with you who knows about computers so you don't make an uninformed slap-your-forehead decision. Hope this helped. Good luck with your computer search.