Okay, what am I missing here (too good to be true eBay listing)?

[Carnos Jax]

This is purported to be the latest high end MacBook Air (the one that goes for $1800 at the Apple store):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=320457192460 $1450

In the listing the seller says it's new, sealed in the box, and comes with Snow Leopard (though at one point in the details he mentions 10.5). His whole listing is copy and paste. Flags go up, but PayPal covers anything that might go amiss, right? I see where seller's got negative feedback from not delivering on a similar item (he's mostly sold movies, etc. recently)...but PayPal should cover it, right? Granted, it may be a PITA to go through the dispute process.

[$tevie]

Too late.

[Carnos Jax]

Still, I'd be curious to know in case the next time this seller has got something similarly priced...

[$tevie]

I hope someone else answers you, because I'm useless. I wouldn't buy a computer on eBay unless it was a buck-three-eighty and even then I wouldn't hold my breath that it would show up.

[decay]

check his feedback & read the negative...

[Carnos Jax]

Yeah, I read that. Most of his feedback seems to be on selling movies and stuff. His negative appears to be a similar situation to the one I posted (i.e. an Apple laptop). He sold 5 in that listing, with the one guy complaing. Doesn't bode well.

But I'm curious, if he doesn't deliver on the goods (or the goods aren't what he advertised), wouldn't PayPal cover it?

Not asking for trouble here, for I believe in defensive driving on the Internet. But still, I'm curious, other than the hassle, what might the financial risk be if PayPal covers the full purchase price of this item (as PayPal states in the listing)?

[decay]

I wouldn't bite unless he could provide non-stock photos.

AND his feedback for high priced items (Macbooks) is at 50% - one good, one bad.

not worth the risk/hassle.

[$tevie]

Generally speaking, if a seller was specializing in one item and suddenly switches to computers, that's a red flag that the account has been hijacked.

[Grateful11]

Well I'm always scared of sellers that give absolutely no description except to copy text
somewhere and paste it. There's no sales conditions, shipping notes, nothing.

[Carnos Jax]

I wonder how easy the PayPal dispute would be in a case like this? Assuming the seller has no further communication (as the one guy who posted negative feedback says) and the item doesn't show...is it a slam dunk case?

I would presume the buyer has to wait the prescribed delivery period (6-11 days), and then initiate communications w/the seller. If there's no response, then I'd guess the buyer would initiate a dispute.

Have any of y'all been through such a dispute? I'm asking because I wonder if there are any loopholes the seller is trying to take advantage of during the dispute process that would enable him to get away with it (and thus motivate him to do this scam...if he's truly trying to scam).

As an aside, assuming the listing's legitimate, I wonder why someone would sell this stuff for so cheap? College student trying to 'liquidate' loans/grants? Hot merchandise (in which case one could dispute it)? Surely in this case it's not ignorance of their value?