Why are there so many deals with T40s on eBay?

[sswany]

I'm looking on eBay and decided to look at T40s. There are a lot of them! Some of them are awesome deals with no reserves and good prices, but I'm wondering why. How can people get away with selling a T40p for like $700?

Thanks.
sswany

 

[OldSpooky]

There's an old saying that if it's too good to be true, it probably is. I would wager that the $700 T40p machines on eBay are sold by scammers and trolls - there is just no way anyone could make a profit selling a T40p so cheaply.

 

[sswany]

What about T40s in general? Is it safe to buy this kind of stuff over eBay? Is there any way to check on the warranty on these things with IBM?

 

[eriqesque]

Originally posted by: sswany
What about T40s in general? Is it safe to buy this kind of stuff over eBay? Is there any way to check on the warranty on these things with IBM?

Ask the seller for the serial number and you can check the warranty that way.

 

[UltraWide]

There are good vendors, but you really just have to be careful with ebay. I did find that the going price from real reputable sellers wasn't that much less than IBM when they have a 20% off sale. IBM gives you the 30 day money back guarantee which is always a plus when dealing with dead-pixels and other annoyances.

If you are not comfortable with ebay, just stay away.

thinkpad depot is also decent with pricing.

 

[Bowkiller]

I bought a T40 on Ebay sat. from IBM credit,did buy it now,got a 1.5,512meg 40gig ect. for 1450.00,got email cnformation same night.Monday I a pdf from IBM credit
with ship number,account rep to contack if any proplem,this a referb. 7 day money back ,1 year warrenty,will be here tomarrow.By the way if you look the $700 may be
the starting bid by the time its over it will be much higher.

 

[sswany]

true, that's what i was thinking about the $700 thing. I like the idea of the IBM credit ones on eBay, but the only thing that bothers me is the 1 year warranty instead of 3.

 

[Bowkiller]

Ya but the same system new on IBM's site came to 2417,so I saved $1000,and I can live with one year,cause I'll probley get a newer better something in a year.

 

[ethebubbeth]

i'm sure many of them are scams...

 

[aux]

$700 can be the price of T40 in 3 years, not now

 

[firtol88]

When Items are hot you will notice them being sold everywhere. That and a lot of things are placed on Ebay with the hopes that someone will get caught in a bidding war and inflate the price.

 

[Wooster]

I just brought T40 laptop off eBay last week. This is my second laptop purchase off eBay. The first one is T30. When you buy laptop off eBay, you have to be careful. I usually brought it off eBay locally, so I can stop by and pick them up.

I saved $1000,and I can live with one year,cause I'll probley get a newer better something in a year.

True, but your resell value also decrease dramaically. I sold my old laptop on eBay and the first thing buyer ask is the serial number for warranty coverage.

 

[AnyMal]

Originally posted by: sswany
true, that's what i was thinking about the $700 thing. I like the idea of the IBM credit ones on eBay, but the only thing that bothers me is the 1 year warranty instead of 3.

That's because those laptops are refurbs.

 

[jimmyl930]

Can anyone give me a link to the official IBM ebay store?

Thanks.

 

[eriqesque]

IBM ebay Store