In late 2012, a new Apple seller appeared on eBay, offering Apple-certified refurbished products. The storefront, known simply as Refurbished-Outlet, is believed to be run by Apple itself.
As 9to5Mac pointed out in November, the Refurbished-Outlet seller makes the same promises that Apple does when selling refurbished products on its online Apple Store, with a full one-year warranty and a quality inspection by Apple.
Refurbished-Outlet has quietly sold over 10,000 Apple products, and as of late (via dealnews) the store has been selling products at a steep discount, offering cheaper prices than can be found in Apple's own "Special Deals" refurbished store.
For example, Refurbished-Outlet was previously offering a 13-inch MacBook Air with a 128GB SSD for $899. Apple charges $999 for the same refurbished setup. Currently, Refurbished-Outlet has an 11-inch MacBook Air with a 1.8Ghz processor, 4GB RAM and a 256GB HD for $949, while the same laptop is $1,049 from the Apple Store.
A fourth generation 32GB iPod touch can be purchased from Refurbished-Outlet for $179, which Apple normally charges $209 for. A 32GB Wi-Fi + Cellular third generation retails for $599 in the Apple Store but can be purchased for $549 from the eBay store.
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Though Refurbished-Outlet offers some products at discount, several share price listings with Apple's official refurbished store. For example, the 2.4Ghz 17-inch MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM and a 750GB hard drive is $2,079 on eBay, and $2,079 in the Apple Store.
Prices are unpredictable and inventory changes on a daily basis, but the Refurbished-Outlet does offer significant discounts on Apple-certified refurbished products. Neither Apple nor eBay have confirmed that Apple is running the store directly.
Top Rated Comments
You should check the shipping price before you buy anything online, including from eBay.
Apple offers up huge pallets of refurb things at amazing prices but it is all "as-is". Most of it is working (about 10% not), but you dont really know what you get (I think). So you test it all out and sell what works, and piece together the other things.
because they are authorized repair centers, they can fix it and offer it as refurbished.
1. It's Apple. Strange.
2. It's a dealer who decided you can make money by selling lots of products at low margin with minimal investment, all perfectly legit.
3. It's a dealer doing the same things but taking some shortcuts with taxes etc. which might be possible for a while.
We'll find out eventually.
Almost every state is technically bankrupt. What is your point?
Bought an iPod and an AppleTV from them. They are Apple Refurb boxes. Same box from my "official" Apple TV I bought a few years back.
Also checked the serial numbers they both have full 1 year warranties like an Apple Refurb.