A storefront on eBay, known only as Refurbished-Outlet, offers great deals on refurbished Apple products. On some cases, the store, believed to be run by Apple itself, offers better prices on the refurbished items than Apple’s own online Apple 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.
Refurbished-Outlet quietly appeared on eBay in late 2012, offering Apple-certified refurbished products. The seller make the same promises that Apple does when selling refurbished products on its own online store. All items have a full one-year warranty, and a quality inspection by Apple.
Other bargains included a fourth-generation iPod touch which could be had for $179, an item Apple normally charges $209 for in its refurb aisle. A 32GB Wi-Fi + Cellular iPad goes for $599 in the Apple refurb store, but can be had for $549 in the eBay store.
Not all items differ in price between the two outlets, as a 2.4Ghz 17-inch MacBook Pro with 4GB RAM and a 750GB hard drive is available for $2,079 in both the eBay and Apple stores.
Prices and available inventory change daily in both stores, so be sure to check both if you’re looking for a deal. A few things to keep in mind are that eBay adds sales tax for only a few states on purchases, and also allows payment with PayPal and BillMeLater.
Neither Apple nor eBay have confirmed or denied that Apple is running the eBay store.
