[tears2040]

Is it safe to buy applecare from ebay for my new iMac?

Thanks

[GSixZero]

As with anything on eBay, buying AppleCare is certainly very much Caveat Emptor.

With that said, I've done it more than once and never had any problems. They seller sends a code which you can associate with your serial number on apple.com.

The best bet is to find a seller who has sold a lot of applecare and has good feedback for that kind of sale. It's unlikely that a seller would have a ton of happy customers and the willingly screw you over.

There may be some risk that these AppleCare codes have fallen off the back of the truck somewhere and Apple could figure out that they're not valid, and then deny your applecare coverage sometime in the future. I've never heard of this, but I could potentially see this kind of thing happening. Since you'll have no legit proof of purchase you'll probably be a up a creek.

In my case I decided the substantial saving on applecare was probably worth the risk. I'm sure there are other who feel differently.

[ibook_steve]

Any type of extended warranty, including Applecare, is a waste of money in my book. And I'd be doubly nervous about buying a code for it off of eBay.

Steve

[Waragainstsleep]

Extended warranties are a double edged sword. Many people tend to distrust them due in no small part to the way they are sold. Applecare is no different in many respects, if you need it and you have it, its awesome. If you have it and don't need it, it sucks. If you need it but don't have it, thats the worst of all. I don't agree with Apple's price points on it, especially in the UK. The MacBook Pro is the most expensive, but ultimately its cheaper than a new display or a new logic board (when buying either from Apple).

I bought a used MBP which already had Applecare on it (part of why I bought it), but I would have bought Applecare on eBay otherwise. If Apple are bothered, they can put a stop to it any time they like.

[Thorzdad]

I've twice had to use Applecare after the Macs were off their 1-year warranty. Take that for what it's worth. In general, I'm also against extended warranties, but my experience with my Apple equipment has, so far, proven its worth. YMMV, of course.

The last Applecare I bought was off Ebay and the code was legit. I was nervous about it throughout the purchase, though. That said, I'm pretty gunshy about anything on Ebay anymore. There's just no reliable way to assure the seller is legit.

The Ebay purchase was for my daughter's MacBook, to keep it covered while she is away at college. Already, we've had to resort to warranty repair on it, so I'm pretty glad we have Applecare to cover it for the remainder of her stay.

[bbales]

I have bought applecare off ebay --unopened box. It was for my daughter's iphone and I had no issues whatsoever, and saved about 25 bucks.

As earlier noted, check the seller. If he/she has good stats, chances are you'll be fine.