Pros and Cons of Buying Thinkpads on eBay

I'm seeing some excellent deals on eBay for sealed, NIB Thinkpads (lower than Lenovo outlet). Assuming a reliable seller with good feedback, what are the drawbacks or things I might overlook in buying a Thinkpad on eBay? (Also wondering how ebayers can sell at those prices?)

Thanks.

 

Cons
1.- No 100% guarantee that what you're getting is exactly what the seller is advertising. It's much more difficult to dispute discrepancies on eBay than it is to do so with Lenovo.

2.- Warranty technicalities. If you're buying online, make sure the warranty is applicable in the country that you are using your laptop in. Better yet is if the machine has IWS. Other than that, though, warranty coverage is tied to machine, not owner.

3.- You have to do your research. Make sure the seller is 100% legit, the warranty is good for your area, ensure the product has the exact specifications that you were expecting, etc.

Pros
1.- Can be cheaper, especially if you're not paying tax on it

2.- Can find great deals on older models

3.- May ship faster than Lenovo

In short, obviously the more "guaranteed" and safe path is ordering from Lenovo direct, but you can find great deals on eBay every once in a while.

 

Yes, I'd just add be vary of these "great" deals. Before you jump onto it, pause and think - what's the seller's feedback, is it really the way it was described (is there a 'catch'?), are you sure it's not a scam, etc. (usually a pic with the seller nickname (and date) suffices with what (s)he is selling).

On the other hand, if you got something from Lenovo and it's not the way it was described, you can typically dispute it with them and return it for the full refund. Speaking of which, some eBay sellers do not give full refund - make sure you are clear that you're getting all your money back if that's what you think you're getting - without deductions for fees on eBay/PayPal transactions etc. It can easily be significant if you're buying something more expensive (say from few hundred to few 1000 $).

 

I've bought most of my new Thinkpads on ebay because their prices usually blow away Lenovo's especially once you add the tax. The key is to buy from a seller that has good feedback and is a Lenovo Business Partner. Almost all accept returns, some with no restocking fee, some that match Lenovo's 15% penalty. The boxes are sealed from Lenovo, so they can't really tamper with what's inside. I once got the wrong power adapter, and the seller told me to call Lenovo since they control what goes in the box. I did and Lenovo resolved it easily.

The most important point is Midnightsun's on warranty. If you're not in the US and buy from a seller here, the warranty will not transfer to your country unless the machine has IWS.

 

I'd agree the experience on eBay can vary more widely on eBay than buying directly from Lenovo. Your and sellers definition of mint condition or any other term may vary significantly. Pictures can sometimes be misleading too. Lighting can be used to hide flaws.

On the whole I'd say if you're into saving money, eBay is a good option. I've gotten some great deals, but you got to do your homework. That means reading the description carefully and asking about anything your unsure about. Giving the machine a good once over when you get it. Once your past 45 days, the dispute process is closed. If machine is supposed to have warranty I'd verify it. Call sales and ask what your warranty upgrade options are. They'll know if it's refurbed. Sometimes sellers pawn of refurbed as new. If you want to upgrade the warranty if it's refurbed, you can't.

I'd argue the Paypal dispute process is less painless. Paypal almost always errs on the side of the buyer. They don't ask for proof or documentation. All you have to do is say it's not as described and give some legitimate reason, and you're probably good. If you return a laptop to Lenovo you'll be on the hook for a 15% restocking fee plus shipping, which on a $500 notebook is probably $100. If you dispute with Paypal, they refund the whole amount including shipping. You'd only be on the hook for the return shipping, which is probably $10-25 depending on the weight and method shipped.

 

It is important to get the serial number from the seller beforehand. You can check how old the laptop is and also call the customer service to see if anyone had registered the laptop or whether the laptop was shipped as New. It is definitely true that u get cheaper deals and more importantly, good configurations. Lenovo website usually tweaks their listings and i've noticed that after all the so-called 'deals' a decent configuration of a T410 with i5, 4GB and intel HD always ends up costing u $800 + tax.

I recently got a very good deal on ebay for a Thinkpad (i5, 4GB, intel HD) for under $700. Im told that the laptop is New, unopened and sealed. But the problem was that the laptop is almost 6 months old. I've noticed this with most ebay sellers that the laptop is pretty old. I just had to take the risk and buy it just because i was promised that the machine is still in the sealed box. I'll only know when the shipment arrives. Is there any way to duplicate the stickers/seals and especially reconfigure the lenovo startup to make it seem like new?

 

What matters in this case is the warranty. If you bought it from a Lenovo Business Partner they should be able to get the warranty adjusted to reflect when you purchased the machine.

 

Some eBay sellers won't give the serial number out because it may then be reported as stolen, which makes it tough to get support down the road.

 

Man you guys are scaring me away from buying a Thinkpad from Ebay...

 

No guts no glory. Like I said I think the return process via Paypal is relatively painless, but make sure you take all the necessary steps to ensure you got what you paid for.

 

I've had 27 transactions on Ebay, the last one was terrible, took me 6 weeks and fighting seller over PayPal but finally got my money back. And he looked like a decent seller too, 100% feedback.

 

I bought T410 for £600 here on ebay UK. Brand new laptop, with no box unfortunately bad it WAS brand new

I bought it just before christmas 2010, and according to serial number and sticker on the bottom of the laptop, it was manufactured in September 2010 which is quite nice.

For that price, and condition I could not find anything better than this.

The only thing which went wrong with that purchase was that DVD multirecorder advertised in the listing, wasn't shipped with the laptop, I got DVD rom instead. It was seller mistake and he refunded me £50 for that (he offered sending the laptop back as well for replacement). I dont use optical drive at all (I've got ultrabay sata hdd in there) so that wasn't an issue. Multirecorders are available on ebay for 50 quid anyway.

BTW, all my current thinkpads and previous ones were coming from ebay. No hassle at all, always best prices and top quality.

 

I bought a R60e on eBay in December because I was going to do the UXGA mod on it. When I got it, it was running particularly slow. I ran the Lenovo diagnostic and the hard drive failed. I emailed the seller who didn't seem interested in helping me. I disputed it as not as described via Paypal. All I said was the hard drive failed the diagnostic and the item description said it worked. The next day Paypal informed me that the seller had declined a refund. I escalated the dispute via Paypal. Three or four days later Paypal informed me I won the dispute and I needed to ship the item back with a tracking number. I used Parcel Post because it's usually the cheapest, though a bit slower. About a week later, a day or two after it was returned, Paypal refunded my money. I was only out the $12 to ship it back, but that's better than being stuck with a broken notebook.

 

hard drive is not a problem, you can always replace it cheap. I don't think I would bother returning the laptop for that.

 

I've bought my single notebook from ebay because the final Lenovo date was three months away. I love the T61p I finally got.

"Warranty technicalities. If you're buying online, make sure the warranty is applicable in the country that you are using your laptop in. Better yet is if the machine has IWS. Other than that, though, warranty coverage is tied to machine, not owner"

I must agree with this. I'm someone who beleives in maximzing warranty and I only got 2 years of warranty in addition to the base year.

Renee

 

I would stick to Lenovo Official Resellers on eBay. Look at their feedback and see if they have positive feedback from other Lenovo sales.

I'm likely going to purchase my next thinkpad off eBay. My main con is you can't customize the build. But if you're willing to sacrifice a little bit, you can get a solid deal compared to buying off lenovo.com.

 

i got my t410 from ebay for 650 without any problems

 

Intel213, if it was in UK, it could have been the same seller

 

Why should I have to spend money when something's is supposed to work?

 

Exactly. Do not tolerate false advertisement and incompetence to send exactly what it was supposed to be sold. If the hard drive was damaged, who knows what else is not like it was supposed to be. But don't go all out trashing the seller immediately; if you can check other components and are willing to put your own HD, try to haggle a partial refund. If that's what you want to settle on that is.

 

Thanks for all the personal experiences with eBay. Sounds largely positive; can someone 'splain, though, how DO they keep their prices so much lower than at Lenovo?

 

I guess if they order bulk or are "distributors", they get their products much cheaper. If they then sell directly to the end user via eBay, they don't charge / don't need to charge the same amount as a retailer would charge. In essence, there is one element missing from the supply chain. Instead of

manufacturer --> distributor --> reseller/retailer --> customer

you only get

manufacturer --> distributor --> customer.

Thus why they can sell you cheaper. Also selling on eBay, they do not have to maintain a storefront, no web page, etc, so they do not need so much coverage on the product.

My friend bought his Dell (factory sealed) from eBay. Even with shipping charges and VAT + customs, it became cheaper than buying it here in Finland. I might consider doing the same with my next ThinkPad. Not that I want to buy a new one in the near future.

As MidnightSun pointed out, always check the warranty, so it would be applicable in the country where you will have it shipped. International warranty is the best.

You will probably have to buy a cord for the power adapter to match your country also. Might be a small thing, but something that should not be forgot Otherwise you could get your new toy, and have to way of charging it

 

How can these sellers sell them cheaper than Lenovo/Outlet?

 

Also some ppl would have got these laptops as gifts, but they dont actually need it...so they sell it for whatever they can get. If indeed true, this scenario is probably the best one for buying. I've come across a few...there was one i5, 4GB and Optimus graphics T410 from a guy who was selling it and he had got it as a gift....it was only $750, but i, for some reason, hesitated to pull the trigger. Anyway there is some leap of faith required when buying from ebay.

 

No, there wasn't for me.

Renee

 

I recently bought my T400 on eBay. The thread below describes my initial experience.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/lenovo-ibm/551016-odds-ends.html

I was amazed to discover I still have almost three years of warranty and also that the warranty follows the machine, not the original purchaser. Just another good reason for going with Lenovo.

I did what research I could - watched them sell for a while before I started bidding. I was pretty careful but it's always a bit of a crapshoot. I've been buying on eBay for over ten years and have had very little in the way of negative experiences. The minor ones I've had have been covered by the Paypal refund.

I'm so glad now that I went with a real notebook instead of the G560 that first caught my eye at Office Depot. I stopped in the other day to take another look at it and it's missing almost everything that I've gotten used to with this T400. It's not in the same league at all. Now I know the difference and am very fortunate to have gone with a used quality machine instead of a new POC. The G560 was on sale for $399 plus tax whereas I got the T400, just coincidentally, for $399 including shipping, no tax. So cheaper and much, much better.

 

I just got a x61 tablet on ebay for $370. Faster than any net netbook/thin and light laptop under $500. Plus it's a tablet!

I think there's some awesome deals to be had for older model thinkpads. Especially because thinkpads have better build quality, even used ones are still pretty solid.

 

Ive thinking about getting some bargain 2nd hand ThinkPad off ebay as well, but Im looking for something really cheap, as in, dirt cheap
Perhaps some older 600mhz machine to use instead of netbook or T4x/T6x as desktop machine

 

veer- not worth buying such an old thinkpads unless you are going to leave it on the shelf for permanent display

 

Either, its always better to invest money in current laptop instead of getting another one.

 

I guess the eBay sellers buy from Lenovo Outlet when they are on exceptional deals like during this weekend when they are offering 20% off? I've seen such deals before in Outlets, and that easily knocks off more than $200 from each laptop. I dunno, just a possibility.

Plus, during such deals, the stock # goes from 600 products to under 100 in matter of hours.

 

Or they may get off lease laptops directly from companies. If they buy the off lease stuff in bulk, it could end up a lot cheaper than lenovo outlet, which is still kind of like retail.

 

I've picked up a few off lease Thinkpads from eBay in the past, including the X41 I'm typing on right now. My simple recommendation is, go with a reputable seller, and don't spend more than you are willing to loose. My X41 cost me 400 bucks, and the fact that it came to me BNIB (the seller didn't advertise as such) was just icing on the cake.

If you want the real guarantee and peace of mind, and you can afford to wait for it, I'd pick up a deal from the outlet or Lenovo direct. Aside from that, as long as you aren't taking too much of a gamble, I'd find an eBay deal and go for it.