XPS deals on EBay to good to be true?

I’m seeing some really good deals on EBay for brand new Dell XPS systems. What’s the catch?

Some are even showing the 3 year warranty plan included, does this mean Dell will still handle any problems even though you bought from a distributor at EBay?

Some of these systems are $1000.00 off from what the Dell site is asking, how are these guys making any profit off of this?

 

They are...by stealing and then selling, or selling-scamming-not-sending-item. There's a reason so many of them are not getting bids on eBay.

 

Yes, this explains a lot of the sales. But I don't think the major PowerSellers are doing this...what's actually happening is that Dell probably hires contract sellers to buy out surplus stock of XPS systems - probably from their outlet department - in order to sell them at whatever price they see fit. Dell benefits by dumping their product at near market price (when before it wasn't selling at all) and eBay sellers get to make 25-50$ profit on each notebook sold.

 

That was my first thought to but most of them have an excellent rating and look very legit.

These are pretty decked out XPS systems, would they really be from the outlet department?

Does any one here have any experience buying from these distributors and how would Dell’s warranty be handled?

 

Absolutely, they would be decked out (aka - awesome) systems. The reason is because the outlet isn't 'crappy' products...it's made to order systems that were never sent, had minor flaws, or were refurbished. It's people like you and me who order these systems and they never see light of day.

Warranties are full and provided by Dell...even if you go through eBay. Make sure the eBay seller will transfer the warranty over to you upon receipt of item.

 

The XPS’s that I’m looking at are being advertised as being “factory sealed” never opened. Can this claim be trusted?

 

It's really hard to tell, especially on Ebay. Nowadays Ebay has become a haven for thieves, scammers and the like. My only suggestion is to try to get the service tag from the seller and do a little research. Also check the sellers feedback. Lastly, make sure he accepts paypal.. If a seller only accepts wire transfer or cash those are obviously two big red flags.

 

Can you give us a link to check the seller? Recently, a lot of sellers have their accounts stolen, so this may be the case...

 

The XPS listings for $1900, which are all identical (looks like about 30 of them) for M1710's now all say they have been "removed or no longer available". Sounds like a scammer but thats just speculation. I've had great luck buying cheaper stuff off of eBay - but I darn sure wouldn't buy a high-end gaming system from there. Another guy has a 100% rating but shows the same stock photo for everything from Dell projector bulbs thru Precision M90's.

 

How about this distributor -

http://stores.ebay.com/Cooltechstuff4u

Has anyone here dealt with them before?

He’s got the exact laptop I’m looking for at around the same price as I was about to pay for a Clevo with almost the same specs.

 

Check their feedback with a magnifying glass. He's seem legit, I'd buy from him. Even if someone doesn't have a perfect feedback rating, find out why. Sometimes buyers/sellers are jerks and are too quick to leave negative feedback. Ebay is always buy at your own risk but he's got 1700+ positive feedbacks with no negatives so I'd feel pretty safe buying from him.

 

Thanks for the response.

I sent him an email with questions about the options and warranty. With in a half an hour I got a message on my answering machine with a number. He answered all my questions with out any problem.

With this price being very close to a comparable Clevo, plus the fact the Dell has an unlocked Core Duo CPU and the Express Card slot; I am very tempted to grab it.

 

If you buy it, pay via PAYPAL because they DO pay you back the $2000 if he doesn't ship the xps.