just bought a new type cover from ebay that does not work!!

[Nuspieds]

Well my experience and the experience of my friends is that buying anything of significant value on eBay is playing Russian Roulette. You are FAR better off on Amazon. As far as "seller reviews" I don't even need to begin to explain to you how easily those can be manipulated.

I mean seriously, why should I give my credit card number to Hong Pong Fu in China when I won't even see the product for 3 weeks just to save a few bucks? I once bought something off eBay before I knew better and within a week someone had tried 3 fake charges on my card. Never again. eBay is the central hub of people selling refurbished items and factory seconds as new. Don't be so naïve. In addition, Amazon's return policy is FANTASTIC. They have a new policy where they will actually credit you for a return BEFORE you ship it back! Does eBay offer that?

Nah, buying off eBay is very risky business if it is anything with working parts. Give that a rest.

** To the OP, as far as I know MS is not discounting new Surface merchandise to sellers. This means that if you got your type keyboard for less than $129 you more than likely got a factory second or refurbish.

I agree wholeheartedly.

I had some old electronics I wanted to get rid of, so I turned to Craigslist. I'll never forget this one guy who kept on sending me emails basically asking me the same thing over and over again: "But how do I know the hard drives work?" Anyway, at one point I got fed up and I wrote to him, "If you are so obsessed and nervous, then Craigslist/the Internet is not the place for you to be shopping."

I buy from Amazon and, yes, I do read the buyer reviews but of course you can't take online reviews as gold! I do my part and also contribute my reviews but at the end of the day, that's the downside of buying online: The reviews are completely anonymous and unverified and you have to be willing to accept that risk. For me, I'd rather take that risk with a reputable online establishment rather than some John Doe.

 

[mitchellvii]

Was just looking at SP Type Covers on eBay. Anything even close to the price you paid was either "used" or "open box". In other words, refurbs. Since this is eBay these aren't high quality factory refurbs. These are crap.

 

[jakebake]

Was just looking at SP Type Covers on eBay. Anything even close to the price you paid was either "used" or "open box". In other words, refurbs. Since this is eBay these aren't high quality factory refurbs. These are crap.

ok.... well it is half the price. People on ebay are not usually companies selling refurbished goods. If it is brand new it is usually something someone bought and never opened or didn't want. I would still rather pay 85 for a refurbished or slightly used type cover than 130 for a new one. If it says used of course it is not a "high quality" refurb. It is just someone's used type cover. How does this make it crap? In most cases (especially if you know how to use the seller ratings) it will be perfectly fine.
Either way Microsoft replaced it for me with a brand new $130 type cover. So yes, I did get a brand new type cover for $85
You can be scared of ebay all you want. Obviously it is more of a risk then walking into best buy or purchasing on amazon. I have purchased thousands of dollars worth of goods on ebay and as a buyer have never had a problem.

 

[jakebake]

I agree wholeheartedly.

I had some old electronics I wanted to get rid of, so I turned to Craigslist. I'll never forget this one guy who kept on sending me emails basically asking me the same thing over and over again: "But how do I know the hard drives work?" Anyway, at one point I got fed up and I wrote to him, "If you are so obsessed and nervous, then Craigslist/the Internet is not the place for you to be shopping."

I buy from Amazon and, yes, I do read the buyer reviews but of course you can't take online reviews as gold! I do my part and also contribute my reviews but at the end of the day, that's the downside of buying online: The reviews are completely anonymous and unverified and you have to be willing to accept that risk. For me, I'd rather take that risk with a reputable online establishment rather than some John Doe.

how is ebay and paypal john doe?

 

[Russ]

Either way Microsoft replaced it for me with a brand new $130 type cover. So yes, I did get a brand new type cover for $85

Jakebake --

That really is good news. As I said earlier, my impressions have been that Microsoft is being very accommodating on warranty issues.

Like you, I have spent thousands of dollars on eBay, and never lost any money. Ebay is pretty stringent on their "new/used" definitions, and you can usually rely on them. I have not had an instance where the product was other than advertised.

However, don't bother trying to explain that in this thread. Your time would be better spent playing with the Tar Baby, or maybe get a copy of Kip Attaway's wonderful song called "Pi$$in' In The Wind" and listen to it a few times. (I keep it handy for times like this, and would link it, except that it would prob'ly just get me in trouble again.)

Take care,
Russ