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Fake / Prototype Macbook Air
- Thread starter brett33
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hmm... that is odd. The seller can't pull the auction, he just has to let it expire.
eBay might have pulled it due to the traffic/publicity. Who knows.
Not only is the Ebay listing gone BUT, I no longer have any of the sellers items in my list of items being watched. I had been viewing the Ebay ad just last night and added one of the sellers items to watch so I could follow this seller.
All has been removed from my Ebay account. I smell something fishy going on here. Those sneaky little Apple ninja are at work here
This ABSOLUTELY makes this story that much better. Too funny
Not only is the Ebay listing gone BUT, I no longer have any of the sellers items in my list of items being watched. I had been viewing the Ebay ad just last night and added one of the sellers items to watch so I could follow this seller.
All has been removed from my Ebay account. I smell something fishy going on here. Those sneaky little Apple ninja are at work here
This ABSOLUTELY makes this story that much better. Too funny
The story is starting to get better! *gets ready to cook some popcorn*
If ebay finds you selling questionable goods be it an ipod with music on it or something stolen, they'll pull your stuff until they investigate.
I was buying some stuff from a guy that "disappeared" and he was back on a few weeks later. Seems some of the stuff he bought and was reselling was gotten by illegal means and ebay found out. Ebay is cracking down on their site being used as an internet fencing operation.
MY THEORY:
There was a pretty big fire in R&D in August, maybe it got lifted then when there were too many non-apple employees roaming the building. How many real Apple prototypes like this or any other production unit have been discovered in the wild? Apple's super secret ways are legendary and this wasn't just thrown in the trash.
I was buying some stuff from a guy that "disappeared" and he was back on a few weeks later. Seems some of the stuff he bought and was reselling was gotten by illegal means and ebay found out. Ebay is cracking down on their site being used as an internet fencing operation.
MY THEORY:
There was a pretty big fire in R&D in August, maybe it got lifted then when there were too many non-apple employees roaming the building. How many real Apple prototypes like this or any other production unit have been discovered in the wild? Apple's super secret ways are legendary and this wasn't just thrown in the trash.
Be careful
Hi,
It is possible you could be holding stolen goods there - you need to be careful. If I were you I would phone apple, and say something like - hey I bought a laptop on eBay and I'm worried it might be stolen. Given them the serial number - it would be responsible of them to keep a list of serial numbers of computers that have been reported stolen. If they say it is stolen then you need to cooperate 100% with police/eBay/Apple. You may end up getting screwed over here - if you're lucky eBay might be able to get the money back off the guy you bought it from - it would be in their interest for a high profile case like this. If they say it is not reported stolen - then get them to email you a confirmation letter of this. Once you have the letter you're home free - sell it for whatever you can get. Again given that this is now high profile, it may be difficult to sell on ebay without proof that it is not stolen. The worst case is that apple can't tell you or don't know if it is stolen. I think even in that case I would ask for a letter from them acknowledging your query - you never know when a letter like that could help you out if things go bad (unlikely but always good to protect yourself!)
good luck - and thank you for sharing this interesting story.
Hi,
It is possible you could be holding stolen goods there - you need to be careful. If I were you I would phone apple, and say something like - hey I bought a laptop on eBay and I'm worried it might be stolen. Given them the serial number - it would be responsible of them to keep a list of serial numbers of computers that have been reported stolen. If they say it is stolen then you need to cooperate 100% with police/eBay/Apple. You may end up getting screwed over here - if you're lucky eBay might be able to get the money back off the guy you bought it from - it would be in their interest for a high profile case like this. If they say it is not reported stolen - then get them to email you a confirmation letter of this. Once you have the letter you're home free - sell it for whatever you can get. Again given that this is now high profile, it may be difficult to sell on ebay without proof that it is not stolen. The worst case is that apple can't tell you or don't know if it is stolen. I think even in that case I would ask for a letter from them acknowledging your query - you never know when a letter like that could help you out if things go bad (unlikely but always good to protect yourself!)
good luck - and thank you for sharing this interesting story.
Not only is the Ebay listing gone BUT, I no longer have any of the sellers items in my list of items being watched. I had been viewing the Ebay ad just last night and added one of the sellers items to watch so I could follow this seller.
All has been removed from my Ebay account. I smell something fishy going on here. Those sneaky little Apple ninja are at work here
This ABSOLUTELY makes this story that much better. Too funny
I think that he probably just got a bit scared after his item got all of this attention, and canceled his account.
Or it could be the apple ninjas.
They'd show up as "No Longer A Registered User", not just poof disappear like the guy never existed.
Exactly. But ebay will suspend with mystery if something has been sold and confirmed stolen or they suspect illegal doings.
This is on the front page at AppleInsider.
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ells_early_macbook_air_prototype_on_ebay.html
In their article, it gives some details who the real world seller is, the one who listed this on Ebay. Seems there is some "Questions" as to how this repair shop acquired this.
Inquiring minds want to know (the Apple ninja squad).
http://www.appleinsider.com/article...ells_early_macbook_air_prototype_on_ebay.html
In their article, it gives some details who the real world seller is, the one who listed this on Ebay. Seems there is some "Questions" as to how this repair shop acquired this.
Inquiring minds want to know (the Apple ninja squad).
Front page of Digg http://digg.com/apple/Reseller_sells_early_MacBook_Air_prototype_on_eBay
Links to the story on Apple Insider mentioned in the post before me.
Links to the story on Apple Insider mentioned in the post before me.
The article also assumes the bottom is carbon fiber.
You mean where he says "Not to be confused with the reported possibility of a black carbon fiber underside for future MacBook Air units."
Good job there, Waldo. =)
That's what I get for skimming.
My old boss used to schedule meetings the the middle of long, boring emails - just to see if we read the whole thing.
=)
