[Maflynn]

I'm more or less in the market for a new laptop and I've been searching ebay, and craigslist from time to time, as I'm looking, I see NIB never been used computers for sale. I wonder about these, are they legit or what are the odds that the computer was stolen? Why sell an unopened never been used computer on ebay or craigslist when you could potentially return it to the store for a full refund.

Am I being paranoid and/or missing something, or could these sales be legit. I'm not accusing anyone specifically, Its more out of a general sense of curiosity.

[Gankdawg]

I have no proof because I've never tried to buy them, but I've always considered them a scam or stolen. I'm sure there are stores who flat out won't return things or charge a huge restocking fee so it would be cheaper to just sell, but I'm wary of those ads.

[Maflynn]

I take these sales with a grain of salt myself and I generally stay away from them. Its really out of curiosity then a desire to buy one of these NIB computers.

[torsoboy]

A lot of people that sell on eBay are actually resellers, and that is why their products are NIB.

[64stang06]

I bought my current iMac off eBay, NIB. Can't remember the reseller but had 0 issues with the purchase.

[olePigeon]

Dang it if I can't remember the name, but there's a nifty application that'll let you enter a Mac or iPod serial number and it'll tell you when it was manufactured, where it was manufactured, and it can query a database to determine if it's been reported stolen.

Before you purchase one, you can ask for the SN of the Mac and check it.

Edit: Here it is. coconutIdentityCard