Is it safe to buy a laptop from Ebay?

Question

And if it is, what should i be looking for in the description etc to make it okay, how much (about) should I expect to pay,and what probelms might I come up against?

I dont think I'll be asking my parent, monica, I'm 24 years old.

Answer 1

Check the seller's ratings, and comments. Make sure that the person you intend to buy from is legitimate. Or try Circuit City or any Computer store instead, at least you will know here you are purchasing from.

Answer 2

Stay away from the negative feedback, especially those who have sold something, and received negative comments, look for feedback that contains comments like, "item arrived next day, item was well packaged, very help full seller, excellent communication" I always look for feedback of this nature, also look for what is offered as a returns policy, what postal insurance is being offered, in case it arrives damaged,you never know with a laptop, if it has an operating system installed on it read the description and make sure it claims to have a genuine copy of XP etc, especially if it is second hand, look for in the description also see if verifies serial numbers on the laptop and documentation that came with it when it was new, good sellers will still have the documentation to prove its serial numbers etc, the age is important, reasons for selling I also look for, price wise, do a little research on similar products, have a price in mind and stick to it, especially if you bid on it, if you are in any doubt ask the seller questions, good sellers will reply. If you are in the UK, do not buy from over seas, look at the item location make sure it states in the UK or where ever you live. Use Pay Pal if it is offered, you have some protection in place if anything goes wrong. Good luck.

Answer 3

Ebay can be a great way to grab a bargain if you know how to. There are also some well dodgy people on Ebay as well. You need to be as sure as possible about the seller. Use the feedback option to check out a sellers rating, If there are lots of issues, such as items not being received, lengthy delays in posting, etc, etc, then avoid, when buying a relatively expensive item from Ebay avoid dealing with sellers that only have a few feedback comments, as you cannot tell how reliable someone is from only a few comments, basically the more positive feedback the better. If they have a rating of less than 95% don't deal with them. If you can pay with a credit card, then at least you have some protection with the transaction. Condider paying through Paypal, as Paypal also offers a level of protection, although it isn't perfect.

If you take these few basic steps to pretect yourself you will be fine and you'll probably grab yourself a bargain.

Answer 4

I'd avoid advising anyone to buy an expensive item like this on ebay, unless they were very expereinced at spotting scams and can smell a rat. There are too many scammers on ebay and hijacked accounts. Paypal may provide some protection, but not a lot. If you really insist on buying from ebay make sure you fund paypal via a credit card that will allow you to make a charge back if needed.

Otherwise I'd say check amazon as their service and regulation of 3rd party sellers is pretty damn hot, and the a-z guarantee means you can get your money back, no matter what goes wrong!
Check out this Aspire AMD 14.1" TFT with 2 x 512MB RAM, 80GB HDD, at an unbelievable £369.99 inc delivery!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000P1OCN0/?tag=astore.blog-21

Answer 5

Like all market place transactions its "Buyer beware" There are many things that you can check with eBay and they do police their customers. However: you are buying a machine that you have not tried out. Despite all descriptions you are never going to be sure what you are going to get. So. Check the buyers rating. If he has more than 2 or 3 negative reports, stay away. If he is a brand new user you have no way of knowing so he's not a good risk. If you have a strong seller with great ratings and a long history of working with eBay you could take a chance. But it is still taking a chance. Good luck with this.

Answer 6

i would not purchase some thing this costly out of the the rustic. I even have bought issues ranging in the two hundred-4 hundred funds on ebay, yet constantly in the U. S.. Ebay and Paypal are enormously stable approximately backing you up while a sale is going undesirable, yet this could be too chancy for me.

Answer 7

It's a lot of dosh to sent to someone you don't know. You need to do a bit of research to make sure the seller is really who and where he says he is. Also only use the ebay approved payment scheme (Paypal).Personally I would be looking at a supplier like Morgan if I wanted a cheap laptop. At least I know about them.

Answer 8

eBay is a faceless home for thieves selling stolen goods. One of my ex-employees, sent £30,000 of kit from my warehouse to his wife, who signed for it. We caught the guy on CCTV and also had the courier manifest which showed the weight of the consignment. The police said this was all circumstantial and that they couldn't do anything, although he was locked up for a couple of nights.

When we asked eBay to stop him selling the goods we got no answer. The police had the same result. eBay encouranges theft and does nothing about it when confronted with the issue. Anyone buying on eBay is supporting the criminal underclass.

Go to one of the comparison sites like www.laptopbuyer.co.uk and buy from a reputable retailer either on line or off line.

Answer 9

I bought a 17" MacBook Pro o ebay with no problems. I checked out the seller, previous buyers, feedback, paid using paypal so I had some security with paypal guarantee.

Answer 10

Make sure the seller has a minimum rating of 95% and read all the comments on the seller and if the seller has a physical address eg, a retail outlet.