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bought an ipad that said "Demo - not for resale"

Ugh this thread is filled with some HORRIBLE advice from likely 18-year-olds who think they know how the real world works.

DO NOT call Best Buy and tell them "Oh gee I think I have your stolen iPad, I'd love to give it back but I can't, because see, I paid good money for it... Maybe you can sell me a new one at a discount?" LOL I'd love to be a fly on the wall in the room of the Best Buy manager who answers that call. They'd probably send a cop to your house in no time flat. Best Buy is a huge corporation with callous customer service practices, not a mom and pop shop who will barter with you.
 
What part of "not for resale" is difficult to understand?

tkingart said:
I don't trust CL at all, it's full of scams and thieves selling stolen property.
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Any market that involves money would have scams and stolen property. Your examples sound like lack of end user research (aka fool and his money is soon parted).
 
And DO NOT take it into an Apple Store either... For the same reason I stated above... Just like Best Buy, Apple is a corporation who will NOT barter, or reason, with a customer over something like this. At worst they will contact authorities and claim you're in possession of stolen goods, which leaves you with the burden of explaining how you got it. At best, they will simply shrug and say "Nothing we can do! Good luck!"

What you NEED to do is contact the seller. Call his number, email him. Leave him a message on Facebook. Don't be threatening or callous right away - you don't want to alienate somebody who already is a dishonest creep. Be as non-threatening as you can, but be firm in your stance; you will not keep an item that clearly was not meant to be in a customer's hands. You want your money back, you'll hand him his product back, and you'll keep your mouth shut. All you care about is that you get your hard-earned money back, and that's that. Tell him this.

Where did you guys meet? If he came to your house and knows your address, the LAST thing you want is an angry criminal coming back claiming you ratted him out.
 
If you guys met at a public place, or you went to his house, do this: Plead that you get your money back, and that you'll go about your business pretending nothing happened.

Soon as you have the bills back in your hand and he's got his stolen iPad back, place a call to the police. Tell them the whole story, and show them his info. They need to find out why this guy is selling an item that is supposed to be in a Best Buy/Apple Store, tethered to a security cable.
 
If you don't think Apple knows exactly where it is, you're dead wrong, all the demo units I've looked at have MobileMe on them.

Wouldn't go into Best Buy if you paid me to check.
 
sjtnn said:
Hi I need some help, i bought an Ipad from someone off CL. When i looked at it, it was still in mint condition and everything seems fine. It didn't come with a receipt though. When I took it home and fully inspected it, i saw under the 16gb sign that said "Demo, not for resale"


What is going on here? I called apple and they said i have to try and retrieve the receipt.

Should I bring it to the apple store? would they take it away from me because I dont want that to happen since i spent a lot of money on it.

Please give me some advice.

Thank You
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How much did you pay for it? When did you buy it? Did it come with packaging and charger? If no, why not? I'm guessing the answers to these questions will provide more evidence that would suggest a naive purchase.
 
XciteMe said:
They'd probably send a cop to your house in no time flat. Best Buy is a huge corporation with callous customer service practices, not a mom and pop shop who will barter with you.
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Right, because Best Buy has very sophisticated call tracing systems in place for these very situations. Call comes in, GPS tracking goes on, satellite sniper laser fires on your house...*poof* you're toast.

Apple is a far larger corporation, and their customer service is very mom and pop like at times. There are regular stories of them doing the "human" thing in a situation like this.
 
britboyj said:
If you don't think Apple knows exactly where it is, you're dead wrong, all the demo units I've looked at have MobileMe on them.

Wouldn't go into Best Buy if you paid me to check.
Click to expand...

Lol so you can email people from apples mobilemevaccount?? Cool!
 
mcdj said:
Call your nearest local Best Buy. Ask to speak to the Apple kiosk manager. Ask him/her if they are missing any demo iPads. If they say yes, tell them you think you bought a stolen one on CL because of the stamp.

Tell them you feel awful and would like to see the demo unit returned to them, the rightful owner, but that you spent good money on it and can't afford to lose both the iPad and the money you spent. Hedge a "poor student" status if possible.

Tell them you would be happy to come in and return it if they could find a way sell you a fresh one at a discount. If they resist, say thanks anyhow, then it's back to your plan of filing a police report I guess.

If they say yes, bring the iPad (and a friend as a witness) to the Best Buy. If they keep their word and sell you a discounted iPad, take the fresh iPad and sell it on ebay to someone in the UK (with good feedback) quickly for a tidy profit.

With any luck, the profit plus the discount you got from Best Buy will be equal or near the price of another iPad...voila, you get a legitimate iPad, with little to no extra money spent, and the demo iPad is returned to its owner.
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Worst advice ever. I mean really...

Best Buy already has a demo unit stolen, and now you are advising him to commit extortion? Wow.
 
mcdj said:
Right, because Best Buy has very sophisticated call tracing systems in place for these very situations. Call comes in, GPS tracking goes on, satellite sniper laser fires on your house...*poof* you're toast.

Apple is a far larger corporation, and their customer service is very mom and pop like at times. There are regular stories of them doing the "human" thing in a situation like this.
Click to expand...

If a business needs to, You can look up an address using only a phone number. Or do you live in a third world country where such a thing is unheard of??? :confused:

Nowhere in there did I mention anything about GPS or lasers. :eek:
 
Best thread ever.

Every page is like another "very special episode" of Blossom. Bad advice from Tony and Six. Sage wisdom from Nick. Blossom learns a valuable life lesson.

I can't wait for the thrilling conclusion. Keep us posted.

---

Posted with my legally obtained and owned 64GB iPad by the way! :p
 
ddarko said:
Not correct (I am a lawyer in real life). Buying goods that you knew or had reasonable cause to know were stolen is a crime. Unwittingly buying stolen goods is NOT a crime because the buyer lacks what's called scienter, a fancy legal word for intent or knowledge that your conduct is wrong (which doesn't mean you get to keep the stolen goods that you bought in good faith, it still rightfully belongs to its original owner). As long as the OP didn't buy the iPad for $25, a price so low that it should have raised suspicions that something funny was going on, he's not violated any law.
Click to expand...

I should have put reasonably knew (bad wording on my part) but this case that's exactly what has occurred. This thread shows this "it seems like it was stolen".

So it fits for him. Nothing has changed that. And I say that knowing he could say "I didn't know at the time of purchase". But him asking about it instead of returning the thing right away means he has stolen merchandise and knows he does now.

He can't hold it for 3 days and say "sorry I wanted to ask the Mac community first". ;).
 
fail thread. reload the OS and use your ipad.

Demo units are typically are provided to resellers are a reduced cost or for free. In such cases, they are marked 'not for resale' so the reseller doesn't buy 100 'demo' units at 1/2 their normal cost. This way, the manufacturer guarantees a 'hands on' unit and the reseller doesn't have to open up a full cost unit and lose money on the sale later.

There is nothing 'illegal' by selling a unit marked as such. The reseller can lose their pricing level privileges or the ability to sell that manufacturer's product all together, but it certainly isn't illegal.

Now if someone ripped it off from a store, that's another story, however unless you knew about this in advance and paid an unreasonable price, there is nothing to worry about.

The last thing you want to do is start calling stores and Apple. Just use it and forget about the marking. In 10 years, it'll be a neat thing to have as it is less common.
 
How much did you pay?

…sell it on Ebay internationally to someone in the Uk or France for 10X what you paid…:eek:;):eek:;)

Just joking, do not really do that.;)

Do not deal with the seller, likely a thug thief, only will bring you some extended headache.

Craigslist blows, nothing but trouble. If you know what you are doing Ebay is far easier, safer, and trouble free--I happen to be a power seller there.

There might be a small chance the unit was from an early developer, or some factory worker in China...really many scenarios besides stolen from BB or Apple are possible, which would allow you some room to sell this thing on Ebay if you are upfront about what you have and provide pictures in your listing.
 
take him to Judge Judy. Just be sure to tell Judge Judy a clear concise story of your side and watch him stutter around telling Judge Judy lie after lie which annoys Judy more than anything. She'll give him a stern lecturing, give you your money back, and return the iPad to wherever it came from. Problem solved!
 
I love how everyone assumes the unit was stolen. This could VERY well be an early developers unit, and if that's the case, it's quite legal to sell it privately if it was legally obtained, and the original owner didn't sign any contracts binding him to the unit. "Not for re-sale" is for businesses like Best Buy. Once you own it, you can do what ever you please and sell it to who ever you wish. Through the serial number, Apple may be able to trace back the owner if there is such a contract with them, and hold them responsible. I HIGHLY doubt they will take your iPad away.

It's the same thing as a key with "Do not duplicate" stamped on it. I got news for you... It can LEGALLY still be duplicated if you're the owner.

Here's some advice for you... Enjoy your iPad!
 
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