Buying from eBay...

[yalden]

Hi all,

Having finally had a chance to try a Surface (thanks John Lewis) I'm now convinced that it's definitely the tablet for me.

John Lewis are offering just one deal; 32Gb Surface with black touch cover, £479.00, which is all but identical to the price listed by the MS Store.

However, on eBay there are reputable sellers with great feedback and seemingly plenty of stock selling Surface's at discounted prices. For example, one such seller has a stock of 64Gb models with touch covers, priced at £456.00 delivered. That's cheaper than the 32Gb model from any official retailers.

Any ideas how this is possible? Bulk buying from overseas perhaps? What are the drawbacks of scooping up such a deal? I presume I can take up any faults directly with Microsoft using the warrantee card within the box?

I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Thanks,

Chris

 

[TrentonT]

Read the post about the fellow that bought one in China having language issues with restore. They are very sensitive to channel and where the device was released. Chances are it is from NA and if there are issues you may not be covered for it in Britain,

 

[ZachBui]

I actually bought my surface on ebay. But you usually get what you pay for. If the seller has good ratings and didn't list any defects about the product, it may be safe

 

[yalden]

Zach, is there any way of detecting the tablets origin? As per Trenton's post, my concern would be that in the event of any hardware issues MS refuse to honour any form of guarantee!

 

[ZachBui]

I don't think there is a sure way of telling the origins as far as I know.. Before I bought mine, I contacted the seller about the device and to check if there were problems with it. This way I could either send it back or dispute with paypal/ebay.

Anyway, it was shipped to me restored and I went through the process of choosing the language (gave me three options english, french, italian i think), keyboard, etc.

not sure if this helps you

 

[Lina]

I bought mine from ebay and overall I'm happy with it, although I don't really have anything to compare it to. Browsing the internet does feel a little sluggish (especially facebook chat, they really need a FB and twitter app!), but I think that's a common fault with all of them. I do have a tiny, tiny black dot at the bottom of the screen - is this a dead pixel? It doesn't actually bother me that much but I might try and replace it on warranty while I can.

 

[bosamar]

I think if I didn't have a Microsoft store nearby I'd purchase from the MS Store online. I realize you are in the U.K. but EBay seems kind of risky to me.

 

[Rick Sutliffe]

I've actually had good luck on eBay. You should pay careful attention to the seller's approval rating, of course. Having said that, I think I would feel more comfortable buying locally or if that's not possible, direct from MS.

 

[ArnoldC]

I bought more than a dozen items from eBay mostly watches, while they all eventually came, the experiences are different. I wouldn't buy teh Surface RT from eBay though, that little saving may translate to frustrations.

 

[cali]

I would avoid buying anything as complex as electronic devices from ebay based upon bad experiences I've had with ebay purchases in the past.

 

[yalden]

Thanks for your comments, I ended up buying from John Lewis to take advantage of their 2yr guarantee.

 

[bosamar]

Smart move. Ebay was just too risky...