EXPOSING a massive eBay MacBook scam operation...

[@austinevans]

Hold up are we just going to ignore the fact THEY BOUGHT YOUR DOMAIN

[@lukemiani]

I KNOW RIGHT WHY IS NOBODY TALKING ABOUT THIS

[@XeonProductions]

@@lukemiani If you have a lawyer you might be able to send them a legal notice over cybersquatting. They are attempting to profit from your name.

[@OrganicFoxes]

Seriously, thought it couldn’t get any worse.

[@mcbchannel7173]

@@lukemiani if you’re indonesian you can sue them in the court. using a domain based of someone’s name is a crime here as ofc you can easily track down who owns that domain name.

[@anonymous_preferred7737]

You should make a similar video covering this topic to spread the word and take down these sellers.

[@SpartanDiab]

Renaming old listings to use the feedback on another item is an amazon special too, I hate it.

[@AlanKlughammer]

that should be illegal, or at least a breach of sellers terms.

[@spvillano]

@@AlanKlughammer neither company cares, they've made their money from the fraud. Until it costs them money and business, it'll continue and simply get worse.

[@djhaloeight]

i noticed that recently too. always check the reviews to see if they match what you’re buying.

[@Pepesmall]

Oh my God now there's ANOTHER scam I have to look out for.. I hate this planet

[@ajtay9534]

Seriously?? They can do that? That’s messed up. Thought so or least something was up.

[@SalemTechsperts]

Dude, amazing job at calling these scammers out. People like them make us (shops that sell refurbished laptops) all look bad. One thing I do disagree with though, is at 22:49 talking about refurbished units, "I would assume that would come as it would from the factory, not with 3rd party knock-off components installed" As you already know, Apple doesn't sell parts for these machines anymore, nor will they work on them. And the original battery for that thing would've been toast after 4 years anyways. If you're refurbishing the MacBook for sale, you generally want to put in a new battery and a new SSD. Since genuine parts don't exist anymore, every replacement part would technically be considered "A 3rd party knock-off component". The issue is the QUALITY of the component (which I absolutely agree with you this battery looked sketchy as hell). And the problem here is nearly every replacement part for these devices come from the same factory with questionable quality. So as a shop, and a buyer, it's a gamble and sometimes not worth it...Everyone loses. Anyway, keep up the good work, I can only imagine how much time and money this research and video cost you just to spread awareness to your fellow consumers!

[@maureenjohnson1706]

The greatest technician that's ever lived. Has been summoned.

[@joveymcjupi4455]

I wholeheartedly agree. Sometimes I have people come up to me and ask whether or not the replacement batteries for the iPhones I sell are original or not, completely oblivious to the fact that there aren't any original ones out there unless they're yoinked from another device. Sometimes they don't even believe you when you say that and think you're cheaping out on parts, lol.

[@CrazyHoneyful]

@@joveymcjupi4455 I used to be one of those customers. The first Apple product I ever used was an iPhone 5, and I was able to buy genuine replacement battery online for a relatively reasonable price and replaced it myself, and that was an era that things were actually fixable. I later switched to Android devices and carried on with that mentality when one of my friends asked me to help her with a malfuncitoning 2019 Macbook Air. I pinpointed the problem, which was an SSD failure, and as usual I went online and searched for replacement SSD only to find that there were NONE (and I couldn't fix it myself since it was soldered onto the motherboard anyway) and Apple wouldn't replace the SSD but the whole logic board at a ridiculous price. That was when I realized companies like Apple were making some BS changes to their product design and repair policies.

[@syarifsaiya1040]

hey look its the "The greatest technician that's ever lived" guy

[@jpdemer5]

Ethical refurb shops should list the brand and model of any non-original components, and buyers should look for that info when shopping. This would go a long way towards putting these scammers out of business, or at least force them to charge what the machines are really worth (which amounts to the same thing.)

[@yabatopia]

The seller accepted the return and probably sold it to another sucker.

[@Sojourner88]

eBay doesn't care. They get their fees, their cut of the proceeds of the scam.

[@superted1292]

Quite a healthy proceed too of each sale...

[@JayDog416]

Yup. The eBay investors want their money no matter what and eBay rips off the customers to get it.

[@kienhwengtai8113]

What they are doing is legal, legal doesn't mean unethical or scammy.

[@stevenb1465]

Same as Facbook marketplace...

[@jpdemer5]

@@superted1292 eBay makes Amazon look generous.

[@chinaridernc4303]

The scam I always notice is that they post the OS year in the title making people think they’re getting a 2020 machine when it’s just an update package from 2020 on a 2013 machine

[@RyanMercer]

RIP Luke, usedmacmafia is out for you 🤣

[@robertplatt1693]

He already has a headless MacBook.

[@RyanMercer]

@@robertplatt1693 😭💀

[@Allium_369]

Never mess with the eBay gods.😂😂😂 they have already been found guilty of retaliation. I’m serious!! No cap

[@mrfoxesite69420]

happy that he got 160k views. hope he gets 2 million. these people need to face time in prison.

[@Nathanfx2006]

Used mac mafia lol, some balding middle aged guy. Times sure have changed.

[@2wheelsoffroad730]

A scammy company buying your domain and then redirecting to their site is next level diabolical, LOL!

[@HypocritesExposd]

This is like a true crime podcast, only for the tech world. I’m in.

[@rbnmngl]

righttt, so thats why i was so invested lmao

[@bobmiah]

😂😂😂goofy ahh

[@whitecrowuk575]

That’s why I don’t ever buy “refurbished” or simply used hardware from wholesalers like that. They give you generic photo used for multiple quantities and will never provide details on the unit you buy. It’s just waste of time.

[@JackieDElia]

Luke, this is scary. I sold over 13k items on eBay honestly and with 100% positive feedback. I closed the business 15 years ago because selling on eBay was too expensive. Today, I’m just a casual buyer/seller on eBay. It is a risky business these days. Scams are everywhere. Thank you for alerting everyone about this.

[@electrickery]

Yep. All their price rises have done is made ebay a den of scammers. All the good sellers left because it wasn't viable, all that's left are the scam artists and junk shifters.

[@hanspeter24]

ebay was founded in 95. you stated you stopped selling 15 yrs ago, so you sold for 14 years or 780 weeks with 4680 working days excluding holidays. that makes average 2,78 items sold a day. probs!

[@JackieDElia]

@@hanspeter24 I actually did do that. And after that, I moved my business to my own online store for a few years and then finally closed it.

[@M22Research]

Dude, aside from your math being wonky, she didn’t give you enough info to conclude how many years she sold on FleaBay. And who cares how many items she sold per day anyway? Kinda missed her point.

[@JackieDElia]

@@M22Research Thanks for pointing that out. 😊 Actually only sold as a business for six years on eBay and they were very small items and I did sell 13,000 but I agree with you that was not the point of my comment. I was just trying to share that I did have experience to speak from.

[@MrMegaManFan]

I honestly thought the big reveal would be that these two scam sellers were actually ONE company and that's why they were geographically so close to each other.

[@jjptech]

Probably they are the same people,and one of those is a backup company

[@D.von.N]

@@jjptech wouldn't they find it suspicipus one person was buying their two craps?

[@jjptech]

@@D.von.N It's hard to follow every single purchase, and probably Luca didnt use his name

[@BobbyBitcoin]

Its still very possible that the two companies are in kahoots with one another and perhaps share business tactics, like 2 friends or family members running the same scheme out of different states.

[@thatpitter]

The fact they pre-set up the Mac is insane. The first thing I do when I get a used Mac is network recovery, wipe and reset so that I’m not relying on *anything* in the drive. I don’t want to know what kinds of security risks they could decide to put on that device.

[@Jack_Meadows]

My very first thought as well. Who knows who’s been in this thing or what they have may have installed before getting it. Massive security risk for a personal or business machine!

[@bigbaddms]

i would go beyond that and flat out state that it almost for sure is spyware or a trojan. They FORCE you to install 'fan control software' if you create any new accounts? Are you fricken serious? lol

[@D71sj]

oh crap I never even considered this. I gotta go......

[@Odkurzacz69]

@@bigbaddmsMacs can control isn’t a virus is a good software for my 2009 iMac that loud af without it. But I see the problem that they require you to have this or else your warranty will be void. (My iMac wasn’t purchased from filthy scammers like them I installed Mac’s fan control myself)

[@DieselDucy]

I’m surprised people aren’t leaving negative feedback for these sellers.

[@G3rmanhenry]

People do but it gets buried with how much volume the business does and they probably boost w positive reviews w those chargers. Also it is pretty easy to remove negative feedback especially if you accept the return. They are banking on people who are too lazy to follow thru w their return or keeping the MacBook w the “warranty”

[@cmedeir]

I have a suspicious feeling that these are the same people trying to sell me a car warranty.

[@SantiagoCruzCastro-we3px]

No way!

[@Robert.Novack]

Lol

[@jpdemer5]

Same ethics and mindset.

[@cgi2173]

Um...but have you actually stopped what you have been doing and thought about your cars extended warranty? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@cmedeir]

@@cgi2173 valid point 🤔

[@alexcrouse]

Makes sense. I'm trying to sell a 2006 iMac G5 on marketplace, and TON of people keep trying to buy it thinking that because it's a mac, it's a new machine they can daily drive. Mac owners, on average, are completely clueless.

[@MisterDivineAdVenture]

Ah - the motivation for the crime - really stupid shoppers. But why? Parents buying for young students?

[@Zhinix04]

pc owners are often even more clueless.. I see every time I go to the electronics shops here that the staff there often are more clueless than the customers, but they could sell ice to an eskimo. many buy macs because they just work and lasts for a very long time, you turn it on, set it up and it runs for years and years without having to do any reinstalls or anything like that.

[@XycoManiac]

​@@MisterDivineAdVenture I've sold computers to parents and older people and man, so many people think you need something so big and expensive for basic stuff. I guess their minds are stuck in the 80s and 90s when a pc was like $1000.

[@pokiblue5870]

@@XycoManiaci bought a used mac mini m2 pro and im currently trying to find a used 27inch imac 5k lol

[@LucienSabre]

Same thing happened to me with a broken retina 2019 MacBook Air a few years ago: 96-98% of the people who contacted me for it (those on FB marketplace in particular) genuinely believed I was selling a then $700-750 fully-working Mac for $170, and they got “upset” or even offensive when they realized that wasn’t gonna happen.

[@Mamo878]

Seems like eBay needs to change things ASAP so that sellers cannot change the listing to a completely different product. That would easily help things right away.

Completely agree. I can not understand why eBay let that door open. It's obviously a resource to cheat about what are selling.

[@mailjabber]

That was the most surprising reveal in the video! Great job Luke!

[@seth8629]

They KNOW they do this. They look the other way because $$$$$$.

[@budgetkeyboardist]

eBay does't care.

[@jordanreed5866]

Amazon has the exact same issue!

[@perry3770]

That awkward moment you think you are buying a powerful mac with 32GB Ram and 2TB hard drive but get an old vintage Intel mac that can only run High Sierra, no SSD, so it takes 2 minutes to boot up instead of 10 seconds if you just spent $500 for a 2023 Mac Mini instead 😮‍💨

[@UnknownEntity420]

OpenCore Legacy Patcher is great for getting older macs onto newer os versions. My early 2015 13" air is on ventura currently. Sata ssd's are pretty cheap these days too and shouldn't be a difficult upgrade for any somewhat "techy" people. That being said, its pretty dirty what these sellers in the video are doing

[@xluumu]

@Linn-l2kSo you have never used a Mac nor actually compared them to pc’s, but feel like giving advice on them?

[@wildBill83]

$500 is too much, you can buy a new mini PC running Win11 for

[@perry3770]

@@wildBill83 it's a PC, we want to run mac OS Sonoma.

[@wildBill83]

@@perry3770 I can run it virtually or make a hackintosh that runs Sonoma on cheaper hardware. Macs aren't that special or great.

[@calvinficenec7538]

I gave my friend and old Macbook and sent her an eBay link to a charger. Now that listing is for a $2000 iMac. I didn't pay much attention to the seller originally... First Tech Systems. That makes so much sense now, including how there were so many different listings from the one seller for the same charger.

[@mrrobotto3321]

I just started buying and reselling macbooks. I was suprised to find that most customers dont ask for the year, and none of them asked for the specs. Way different than selling windows laptops.

[@OldManPhil]

Please no major price gouging. :( It was hard finding what I wanted in my price range and I don’t even know if it 100% works. I’m sorry but that is my opinion.

[@jasonmays1844]

Hands down the best tech channel on KZbin. You don’t limit yourself to product reviews and leak releases. Content like this brings awareness to your community and also the people don’t bleed specs who need a great computer. Thanks for the awareness.

[@cosettapessa6417]

So true!

[@willm5032]

Luke and Louis Rossmann, also Hugh Jefferis are 3 very good tech youtube channels that tend to be very fair and unbiased and care about the same things I do Re tech

[@jasonmays1844]

@@willm5032 yeah Rossman is in my top 5.

[@Josh-l6t]

The part about how the change the whole listing and keep the ratings is crazy it's like how do you ever trust the rating anymore from ebay and amazon, amazing video, I think there are still lots of good deals on older machines on ebay just have to be careful. Seems like there are some reputable mac specific resellers around too

[@unbelievablegoodio7176]

well, ebay rating is for the doing of the seller or buyer. That comes from the early auction times ... to control freak sellers or buyers. Amazon reviews are totally different. These reviews are product related. Basically what the buyer say about the product. That is much better than ebay. But the Amazon controls relisting a different product with the same stars from another product are indeed sub-zero. On ebay the sellers stars are basically pointless. Large amount sellers have automatically many complaints from the Karens. But you are right, never trust ratings, but read the reviews and make your pitcure. And one more warning. Trustpilot. There is nothing to trust other than they publish only mild critic on their site. If a scammer complains to them that a harsh review is hurting their business then Trustpilot pulls the tail in and your correct review disappears. I have proof of that. Pink biased stars.

[@TechnologyNToys]

Man’s about to have some unmarked black SUVs hanging out on his street lmao

[@perry3770]

They really do trick you into buying an old vintage mac where you can't even update to mac os sonoma anymore, but they do a good job at making it seem like it's a great deal

[@seth8629]

eBay doesn't care. The end.

[@dummycordero6377]

As cold and dismissive as this may come across, it is most likely the truth

[@seth8629]

Yeah don't get me wrong. This is a great video Luke! Unfortunately eBay ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Grant82gc]

Depends what country you're in, in Australia they can't get away with this so they behave a lot better otherwise you can get the ACCC (consumer protection agency) to go after them on your behalf . The easiest option is a bank chargeback for "item not as described", that's super easy and is only a few clicks and text boxes to fill out.

[@macOS-kw8vr]

@@Grant82gc Yeah, but eBay's primary market is the US, and there are laws against it, but they are rarely enforced, so eBay couldn't care less.

[@kingjulien1921]

i think it would be a cool new direction for the channel if you would consider to continue making more of „investigative“ type videos exposing e-scams of all types and categories. would get better ratings too, has great potential to go super viral.

[@Britzie_]

16:42 can literally see the screen hinge is absolute slop

[@Noaddedsalt01]

Those display cases do that. It’s the reason Apple says not to use cases on macs. And the bottom cases can lead to overheating.

[@Britzie_]

@@Noaddedsalt01 yeah they have the tendancy to do that after time, however if the unit was actually referbished, the screen hinge wouldhve been tightened correctly.

[@TheSpotify95]

yeah I noticed, they obviously didn't tighten up the display hinges enough. Over time the looseness of hinges can even cause the hinges to break.

[@o.g.awe3785]

I've noticed this since I first started using eBay in 2002. Many of these scammers use the same photos with different names because they are lazy. I avoid them like the plague. I do my best to find individual sellers but it has become harder to avoid these scammers. Thank you for this video and spreading the word.

[@DesiredKingOfEnder]

Dude, I have bought from bit by bit so many times. I asked them and yes they have multiple stores. And I have seen the charger scam. Im not buying from them again

[@mrmarr8308]

So you've bought a mac for 3x the price? 💀

[@DesiredKingOfEnder]

@@mrmarr8308 I haven’t bought any Mac’s from them. But I buy there chargers and they are gross. WAY worse than what described. But they sell chargers for cheap so thats why I buy them. But no I haven’t bought any laptops/macs. Only chargers

[@DMoneySmooth]

Luke, I’ve had a similar experience, except on the sell side. To make a long story short, I started a small business that purchased used and broken Apple Products from retailers, repaired them (Yeah, I completed the training), the sold them (with warranties and limited returns). Now, I can’t say for sure; however, I believe that one of the competitors would buy my products, hold them, then return them just before the return period ended. At one point, there were eight (8) Macs and an iPad (all working) going through the buy from my store, hold, and return process. Okay, so here is the kicker, all the buyers weren’t from the same address; however, they all were from near by zip codes from the same state. So, effectively, I had no sales, and my small business was kept out of that space. Consequently, I closed the business because this sleazy practice. Crazy, because I had some crazy good product bundles….

[@DMoneySmooth]

Also, a while ago you made a video that asked where had most of the small e-tailer gone from ebay. I think one of your comments was that eBay’s changed criteria for selling wasn’t allowing the small business / individuals to sell broken tech on eBay. Well, my thought is that it was the ‘Sleaz-Squeeze’ that some of the bigger sellers put on the small guys. Time for a new exchange?!?!

[@RichWithTech]

I can’t believe they allow sellers to edit the listing to that extent it’s like Amazon

[@joshnizzle]

We have sold on eBay since 1998, have 20k feedback and are top rated plus sellers, and it has devolved into a cesspool with eBay doing whatever to bring them in the most money with nothing else mattering. A lot of this crap happens because eBay keeps messing up the search results and then constantly encourages sellers to use promoted listings and you end up where the majority of the sale goes to eBay and Pennies to the sellers. Which ends up making bad people do bad things even more often. I know that’s not always the case but eBay is to blame in lots of ways for sure.

[@CoconutPete]

I've been on eBay for 25 years and my latest buyer/return scam was the final straw for me. I'm so fed up I'm going to file a complaint with the FTC and SEC to investigate. I suspect there is a massive scheme with many eBay employees and execs involved for the purposes of inflating their earnings/stock price.

[@olavodias]

The fact that they bought a domain with your name is really creepy. Great video. Knowledge is power, and what you did here was to spread good information for others to be aware when shopping for a used Mac on eBay. I was looking to buy one more and I will be very aware of that now.

[@sasstewart1222]

Brilliant reporting. I've been an ebay seller for 20+ years and get so frustrated by these shady sellers that make it so difficult for us honest sellers.

[@anonymous_preferred7737]

I'm glad this issue is getting large-scale attention. Thank you Luke for exposing these sellers. I only purchase from small eBay sellers that have actual photos of the product I'm going to receive. I do not trust any of these "refurbishers" on eBay.

[@jpdemer5]

There are legit businesses trying to compete with these crooks . . . a bit of homework (as Luke points out) will uncover any scammy activity.

[@DewarenforU]

Yo Luke, you NEED to get a coalition of these other KZbinrs that get scammed on eBay and pressure the company to do better. I see way too many videos of KZbinrs not getting the product they ordered and I keep hearing about organized groups making money off of that. Stand up for us yo!

[@henrycollins2478]

Luke is messing with the MacBook resale mob… If you go missing we’ll know who did it

[@yannisgk]

lol

[@jpdemer5]

Stay away from open windows, Luke!

[@_EyeOfTheTiger]

Yall laugh but they have his address now since he ordered products to his house let that sink in

[@yannisgk]

@@_EyeOfTheTiger "easy boy"...lol

[@_EyeOfTheTiger]

@@Dan-TechAndMusic let’s hope

[@analogdistortion]

So a browser extension that displays the revision history next to the item description would come in handy for everyone.

[@sn0wman308-jt4tj]

As soon as you read that part from the warranty about installing Macs fan control, and then confirmed that the software was running based on the GPU temperature... Oh my God. That's so incredibly f**ked. I can't even believe that.

[@jpdemer5]

The fact that they didn't install if for all users is especially egregious. They're obviously doing everything they can to avoid warranty service of any kind.

[@jolo3118]

A true crime sub-genre that I never knew I needed. I have no idea how your channel made it into my recos but im glad it did! Subbed!

[@HelloSwiftful]

I was expecting the line: "Illinois huh?! Let's pay them a visit shall we?" (puts on fake mustache) "Hi guys, Mike Luani here!" 😄

[@DavidParke84]

🤝100% thought luke was taking this on the road. Still, WILD wild stuff here

[@Jack_Meadows]

😂

[@clubsnapperuk]

exposing a scam and selling/promoting a scam ( CCTV cameras)all in one video, its the gift that keeps on giving.

[@unbelievablegoodio7176]

make video about scam products ... here is one: LED headlight bulbs with Halogen bulb mounting. Like H4 or H7. I go not in details, tons of them on Amazon and ebay. Selling not even legal because of faked CE marking. Plus, in UK are such bulbs a MOT failure, hence anyone having such LED bulbs in the car instead or original halogen bulbs drives around without MOT ... great market, nobody cares, but the government amended the MOT test regulations, so they know ... Now look up Amazon listing. Not one mentions that these bulbs are not for road use, and that the CE accessment is a fake, ignoring health and safety of the people in the country ... I can give you more things, you have not enought to watch all such videos

[@FDNY8231]

Thank You Luke. I found the video very helpful to me. Using your past advice I've made 2 very good purchases on eBay of Apple MacBooks. I also sell on eBay and it just amazes me the lengths that some sellers will go just to make the sale. I investigate EVERY listing completely PRIOR to making any purchase, and if I'm not sure of what I'm buying then I don't buy it. Your channel has been invaluable to me over the years. Well done brother.

[@Mattschindig]

Big props for the ending speech. It is their business to run it how they want. Even though it is legal, it is a very slimy thing to do to people. Kudos for making a video and hopefully saving someone a huge heartache down the road. Good Karma Granted Luke!

[@panagiotispappas1001]

I hope this video does well and shines more light on this whole scammy situation! Hopefully after this more people will stop buying from these companies and these companies will refrain from all these scams that ruin shopping on eBay! (Which by how weirdly well their tactics seem to work, I doubt that’ll happen) Thanks for your service Luke, keep being amazing! ❤

[@l.m.892]

I was impressed at the level of research put into this production. Kudos!

[@DesiredKingOfEnder]

Yeah, I hate scammers on eBay. At least its covered by a money back guarantee

[@BSingh-on4qr]

Still, often not too easy or quick to get it back. I got scammed on gumtree recently despite a super credible profile

[@rccola362]

It’s not. I used to think the same thing until I was scammed by a guy selling a Dji drone. All the seller has to do is ship any random package to any random address in your area and eBay won’t hold up their guarantee if the package tracking says “delivered”. I fought with them for MONTHS and finally resorted to using my credit card company to refund me as a fraudulent charge. eBay customer service is horrendous and I hardly shop with them at all anymore and only as a last resort.

[@DengueBurger]

TLDR don’t trust companies in the midwest

[@DesiredKingOfEnder]

@@rccola362 yeah, that can happen too.

[@lukemiani]

Problem is the money back guarantee doesn’t protect you from overpaying for a computer with a fake warranty that won’t help you in 2-3 months when the computer starts falling apart or the Temu battery dies

[@carsandkicks]

Hey Luke honestly I’m glad to see your channel has reached new heights ! I started watching because of your OG Mac mini series. Looks like you’ve found your groove to the top 👍👍

[@chrisfuller1223]

I fear that as important as this is, it could get lost in the massive void of KZbin, it would be nice if we can continue this on Reddit or someplace where others can post their experiences, along with a list of companies to avoid. You've done so much research, I think it's a critical topic for discussion to prevent others from getting scammed.

[@jpdemer5]

Luke's half a million subscribers are hardly a "massive void" ... that's ten thousand times the number of people who'll read a Reddit post!

[@ernieoporto1111]

@@jpdemer5I disagree. Significantly more people could see this on Reddit. This is the kind of post that could hit the Front Page of Reddit where millions and millions of people could see. Don’t twist this negatively, but Luke’s half a million subscribers is a very, very, VERY tiny fraction of viewership on KZbin. It’s not nothing, but this is absolutely the kind of video that could very easily go unnoticed by viewers on KZbin and become lost. Not to mention, there is literally no reason this shouldn’t be shared everywhere. This would do well on Reddit, for sure. You’re underestimating exactly how many people use Reddit for their content and information. “Ten thousand times the number of people who’ll read a Reddit post” is just plain false.

[@jpdemer5]

@@ernieoporto1111 KZbin has 16x the number of visitors that Reddit has. Nothing "goes viral" on Reddit. It has to be picked up by Facebook or Xitter accounts with large followings.

[@1Eagler]

It costs more for 3 years because the malfunctions in the third year go exponentially: First Year: 1-2 minor issues. Second Year: 3-5 minor to moderate issues. Third Year: 6-10 moderate to major issues.

[@daleraydeforest]

This is probably the most helpful video for any potential used mac shopper.

[@AlbertTheLaine]

What a fraud! - Planned obsolescence (with selling spare parts, mind you) - deceptive feeling of safety with practically no warranty (unless paid generously) - untruthful marketing tactics (changing the listed product information, misleading specs etc.) - a cartel, or a monopoly working in concert (tromping over the individuals buying or selling) Textbook capitalism :( You're really on their radar, with them snagging your domain name and all! A well informed and concise video! Kudos, Luke!

[@risley.ogembo]

19:00. Never heard Luke curse before. That's how you know the severity of the situation. Wish eBay could catch on to the similarities in these listings (Thumbnails, no serial number, etc.)

[@OfficialXymbiot]

Wild? The amount of commercials you put on your vids, thats WILD

[@asdoesstuff]

Feel like this should have been a 60 minutes segment, awesome video Luke! Surface these scummy sellers

[@clicks59]

Excellent video. Thanks for educating us on this subject. I recently purchased two MacBook Pro’s off eBay. Both were listed for parts. One was listed as working with a cracked display. The other was listed as non-functional with a good display. I figured that I could build one good one. I was really fortunate that the one listed with a cracked display was actually a display cable issue and is a fully functional machine. It’s in good physical condition as well. It’s a 2015 i7/16/256 retina dual graphics. It was well worth the $100 (shipped for free) that I spent on it. I wasn’t as lucky on the 2013. The display is good and it turns on but the machine doesn’t recognize the SSD. It gets hot fast and is also pretty hammered. So I ate my lunch on that one for $65+$20 shipping. Maybe I’ll find the same machine with a bad display sometime down the road. Can’t win them all. I’m thankful to be more educated. Thanks Luke.

[@Mamo878]

Friends don't let friends buy an Intel Mac.

[@Tr4ns1st0r]

Real. Even their M1 counterparts are super cheap now.

[@DengueBurger]

2012 MacBook Pro is ok for daily use if it’s under $100 and includes SSD

[@PhamGiaBao-zu3gz]

⁠m1’s not cheap in 3rd world countries 😅

[@formerlycringe]

@@DengueBurger i JUST got one for $50 in OK condition, a few dings and dirt here and there but wasn't bad. 4gb RAM, 500GB HDD, dual-core mobile i5, 1200x800 screen. for $50 more I could get some new RAM and possibly a 500GB SSD.

[@Wickery.]

I have a 2020 intel to this day and other then getting hot af it works fine. I don’t see a reason to upgrade for awhile. But definitely not worth getting one now

[@Lleanlleawrg]

These tricks have been in use for a long, long time, but it's nice to see it get some more exposure. It's not just macbooks and not just ebay that has this issue. But man, registering your name as a domain name and redirecting to their site, that one takes the biscuit haha.

[@MACBoricua]

Can you sue them? Next stop: your attorney!! Let’s go, Luke!

[@Gheofoil-3]

geezus you yanks love stereotypes, throw a 100K on a pointless legal battle against a group of computer reseller rippers

[@chrismay2298]

LOL. No, he knowingly bought into a scam, recorded it and showed it to everyone...

[@zephyrp8836]

@@Gheofoil-3 alright redcoat simmer down

[@dawidaleksanderwitkowski7455]

@@chrismay2298I don’t think that matters, scam is a scam. Regardless if he suspected it or not.

[@tomleykisfan7280]

justice.gov The Antitrust Laws 4-5 minutes The Antitrust Laws The Antitrust Division enforces federal antitrust and competition laws. These laws prohibit anticompetitive conduct and mergers that deprive American consumers, taxpayers, and workers of the benefits of competition. The Sherman Antitrust Act This law prohibits conspiracies that unreasonably restrain trade. Under the Sherman Act, agreements among competitors to fix prices or wages, rig bids, or allocate customers, workers, or markets, are criminal violations. Other agreements such as exclusive contracts that reduce competition may also violate the Sherman Antitrust Act and are subject to civil enforcement. The Sherman Act also makes it illegal to monopolize, conspire to monopolize, or attempt to monopolize a market for products or services. An unlawful monopoly exists when one firm has market power for a product or service, and it has obtained or maintained that market power, not through competition on the merits, but because the firm has suppressed competition by engaging in anticompetitive conduct. Monopolization offenses may be prosecuted criminally or civilly. The Clayton Act This law aims to promote fair competition and prevent unfair business practices that could harm consumers. It prohibits certain actions that might restrict competition, like tying agreements, predatory pricing, and mergers that could lessen competition. An illegal merger occurs when two companies join together in a way that may substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly in a relevant market. This reduction in competition can harm consumers by potentially leading to higher prices or fewer choices for products or services. It can also harm workers by potentially leading to lower wages or fewer choices for employment. An illegal tying agreement happens when a company forces customers to buy one product (the tying product) in order to purchase another product (the tied product). The two products are bundled or “tied” together, which gives the tying agreement its name. This practice restricts a customer’s choice and can limit competition. In a fair marketplace, business compete on price and on how good their products are. If an illegal tying arrangement is in place, a seller can use its strong market power on a popular product to force customers to buy a second, lesser product. Predatory pricing is when a company sets its prices very low, often below cost, to drive competitors out of business. Once the competition is gone, the company can raise prices because it has less or no competition left. This practice harms competition and, in the long run, it can result in higher prices for consumers and lower wages for workers. The Clayton Act also prohibits an individual from sitting on boards of competing corporations. This illegal practice can lessen the competitive vigor that would otherwise exist between truly independent rivals. By sharing a board member, the two companies might synchronize pricing changes, labor negotiations, and more. The goal of the Clayton Act is to maintain a fair marketplace where various companies can compete, giving consumers more options and better prices, and giving workers a fair market for their labor. This law also protects individuals and small business from being unfairly treated by larger companies. Overall, it works to keep markets competitive and ensure that businesses play fair. Related Offenses The Antitrust Division also enforces other federal laws to fight illegal activities that arise from anticompetitive conduct, which includes offenses that impact the integrity of an antitrust or related investigation. Examples include: conspiracies to defraud the United States, mail and wire fraud, money laundering, kickbacks, false statements to Federal agents, perjury, and obstruction of justice, and bribery, among other crimes. Read more about the activities of the Antitrust Division: Price Fixing, Bid Rigging and Market Allocation Schemes: What They Are and What to Look For

[@simonh7954]

You are a lifesaver! I have a friend who is about to buy two MacBooks on eBay. I sent her this video. Yeah it was one of these scummy sellers she decided to not buy today! I’m really glad I saw your video. I can’t stand deceptive scamming sellers, that should be illegal. So basically they have nothing value so they try to disguise it. Will definitely help you get the word out.

[@MrDawidson818]

When a normal KZbinr become a real investigate Journalist....Thank you for this!

[@MGC-1977]

27:41 "What are you even paying for here? You're giving them [the insurance company] money to do basically nothing!" I see you're new to insurance companies 🤣

[@unbelievablegoodio7176]

he just showed the procedure and what comes out

[@MGC-1977]

@@unbelievablegoodio7176 go to bed.

[@gerald1964]

There are also businesses who sell a certain type of product but will have multiple websites that sell these products where these websites each have a different name . The purpose is to artificially reduce competition in part by having these websites show up first when someone performs a search.

[@leakyabstraction]

It's incredibly irresponsible from eBay and Amazon that they aren't developing heuristics that identify these fraudulent activities. Even just from a lay person's perspective it's obvious how easy would it be to detect if most details of a listing have been changed. Probably these companies should be receiving hefty penalties for the customer damage they contribute to with their negligence, and then they'd start to care about it.

[@Piipperi800]

Maybe I missed something, but I hope Luke and any US viewers are at the very least reporting these companies to FTC.

[@evlqueen777]

wait a sec, you knowingly gave them your money? that's wild.

[@eugeneweston3891]

Luke, great video. FYI, I have purchased a MB Air for my daughter from Roscoe & purchased a 2019 MB Pro for myself from Simply Macs in March this year. After a couple of months, the battery on the MB Pro stopped charging at 80%. I contacted Simply Macs and the were very responsive; ultimately replacing the machine at no cost to me within 7 days.I'm neither defending nor advocating here; just sharing my experience. I spent quite a bit of time price shopping for the units I bought and researching the units themselves. Never looked into the companies themselves, but had my suspicions about look-alike eBay adds. Thanks for a great channel. Happy to be a subscriber.

[@practicaldesign4100]

I'm pretty sure the off pixels you were seeing on screen is GPU artifacting, especially if that was the laptop with the AMD GPU. I've experienced the same glitch with numerous AMD GPU's of this vintage. I've had times where switching back to Windows 7 and old drivers eliminated the issue completely, but often that wouldn't work and the card was just failing.

[@EnOrangeSoffa]

I wonder how many of these Macbooks are embedded in Louis Rossmans drywall

[@yannisgk]

lol

[@TheMrDrMs]

Not to mention it's shady they call themselves SimplyMacs where Simply Mac is an Apple Premier Partner. As someone who worked for Apple as a 'Genius' in the 00's and at Auth Service Providers, then Premium Service Providers then managed a multi-location Premier Partner it's not easy at all to get that title from Apple, just to have some shady ebay clowns ruin your reputation.

[@Zhinix04]

no legit Apple authorised reseller will use eBay. it's against apple's T&C and will cost them the AARS certification when they get caught. (AARS certification is very difficult, time consuming and expensive to get).

[@TheMrDrMs]

Right, just the fact that one of those is using an aasp/var/psp name is shady. Plus, what layman would know Apple's extensive, convoluted agreements for Apple Auth'd anything.

[@Zhinix04]

@@TheMrDrMs the AASP/AARP is incredibly difficult to get for a reason. apple wants to protect their reputation for making computers that are high quality and tough to kill, and AARP/AASP's want to protect their brand reputation as an official apple partner. I've seen that process, it takes months to get, Apple vets everything, including the store's entire supplychain (not just for Apple products) to make sure it fits with Apple's environmental policies. but once they get that certification, it's worth it, it means they also get business directly from apple (AARS referrals from tech support). those can be very good for business, especially in areas outside cities with low competition.

[@PaigeEscapes]

I’d never ever consider buying a max off eBay anyway… but thank you for exposing these dodgy businesses. I can’t believe even the website domain name !? 😂

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

I buy Macs off eBay often, but not from these companies. The most expensive one was the 2018 Mac mini I bought recently. It was $300 for a 6 core i7, 16GB of ram, and 256gb of storage. I bought it for installing the Sequoia Beta.

[@stroobie]

Great video. I buy a lot of vintage Mac and I stay away from this kind of stuff. I've been lucky enough to have local recycle centers with store fronts and knowing the good ones on ebay to use. I still can't believe they bought your name as a domain to peddle their crap.

[@sydguitar99]

Honestly at this point eBay is just a fancier version of craigslist😂

[@josemedeiros007]

Great video, investigation and information Luke. I was given a 2006 Mac Book Pro with a black screen and no battery or charger in 2013 by one of the members of the Silicon Valley Mac User Group. I took out the logic board, and reflowed the GPU in the oven and got it to work again for about 6 months, and bought a no brand Mag Safe Charger and Battery on Amazon, both with 1 year warranties, and both failed with in six months, I was able to get my money back on the Mag Safe Charger, but on the battery they would not send me a replacement, and told me they no longer carried them and offered a 50 percent refund which I though was not reasonable, after several emails back in forth they finally agreed to a 80 percent refund which I finally agreed too. On my 2013 Mac Book Pro my battery failed at close to 1000 cycles, and I bought a OWC Newer Tech NuPower battery, and it's been fine for the last 2 years.

[@nolanthomas2081]

There's the Intel 13th gen and 14th gen wildness going on and now this. Boy what a time to be a consumer :)

[@Stevecool1967-lo2gq]

great job,thanks for educating us on theses scams.we need more people like you to help out the consumer.

[@yourneighborhood]

I would never by Apple, let alone used apple. But you did a good job exposing eBay and the fraud on their platform.

[@itzjosh4923]

I was literally going to buy MacBook Air on eBay 2 min ago. No more!! Thanks to you I am sticking with Apple Store. Thank you

[@ronlevin2339]

next time buy only from private sellers, that only sale their own MacBook's

[@DJDarren80]

Yeah. Last time I bought a used MacBook from eBay I glossed over all the listings that had pro looking photos. I'd far rather deal with a regular person just trying to sell on their used but cared-for machine.

[@ronlevin2339]

@@DJDarren80 or just don't buy MacBooks, stick with Windows laptops, apple are trash

[@xluumu]

@@ronlevin2339So, you’ve never tried one?

[@unbelievablegoodio7176]

lol. Ho do you know who is genuine private? Here in UK is on gumtree a ton of sellers of used cars, private. I was just wondering why all these "individual private sellers" had the same phone number ... ab bit searching ... oh, a shop selling crap cars, such idiots. A short notice to the Inland Revenue to maybe check the tax payments behind all these "private cars" ... Well, the listings changed for a while to a lot less private ...

[@unbelievablegoodio7176]

@@ronlevin2339 and put Linux on it.

[@onlinedelusion]

This is so crazy, because i literally was thinking of buying a 16 Inch Macbook Pro... I bought it in another place which was the best decision, but I cannot believe this. Thank you!

[@jackburrows5850]

Elgin, IL is pronounced "L-GIN" (gin and tonic) - someone who used to live in the Chicago suburbs

[@skyshabatura7876]

totally facepalmed when he pronounced that

[@jackburrows5850]

@@skyshabatura7876 same man

[@cmedeir]

That’s okay , I was surprised when he pronounced Illinois wrong. Should be “ILL-UH-NOISE”.

[@jackburrows5850]

@@cmedeir 😱😱😱

[@cmedeir]

@@jackburrows5850 😁

[@ianrusso8790]

Thanks for the warranty schooling, I really enjoyed that and learned a lot....love the elevator music in the end...btw great job!

[@bartonlynch]

Exactly 2 years ago I sold my 2012 13" unibody pre-retina MBP for 800$ in absolute mint cosmetic condition in original box with two OWC 480GB SSDs (one in the optical bay using OWC's caddy) + 16GB of OWC RAM and a brand new newertech (also from OWC) battery installed. Included a new charger and a Moshi Palm Rest cover. Before selling it I took care of three issues it had due to use and wear: the trackpad, the battery and the bass speaker, all replaced using new original parts I ordered and installed myself. The trackpad was not clicking well, the speaker was broken and the battery was not holding charge. I could not sell it like that so I acted. The keyboard did not have worn "shinny" keys due to an iSkin cover I used since day one, the MacBook could pass as new under magnified glass inspection, no bumps, scratches nor any sign of cosmetic use/wear. Was it a good deal or did I "scam" my friend? (today he's still loving that Mac which I loved for 10 years).

[@Matthew28845]

Even 2 years ago you could get an M1 MBA used for $800… I mean as long as he enjoys it I guess

[@bartonlynch]

@@Matthew28845 Yeah, it makes me feel a little guilty, but he agreed and saw the condition of the fully renewed machine with the latest macOS via OCLP and the extra amenities. Plus, where I live, outside the US, we cannot get new Macs at base US prices. A M1 Air still today is over 1500$, and back then when I sold him my MBP, it was over 2K$. For instance I paid almost 3K$ for my 14" M1 Pro, almost a full grand more than the US (customs, taxes, etc). Forgot to mention that particular local economy issue that changes the perspective of the deal. Right?

[@lenm2857]

I've sold a couple hundred of these 2012 unibody Mac's over the past 6-7 years. I was getting about $500 when I started, but 2 years ago I was down to about $275-$325 with 8 Gb RAM, 250 SSD and low cycle original batteries ( lowest was 6, many in the 50-125 cycle range). I stopped selling them around that time, just too old.

[@bartonlynch]

@@lenm2857 Well my deal was not so bad after all.

[@airmail333]

Dang, that’s really something! I mean, I can recognize the shady ads and always go with an individual seller instead of one of these businesses, but the organization is quite interesting!

[@ArasDigital]

You can actually sue for your domain name as is obvious squatting.

[@yannisgk]

i agree!!!

[@nicklasdamsgaard4655]

Thanks for making another video that expose how the refurb "brand" can actually be. "Buy refurb, you save money and it's better for the environment". Yeah, it sure is, when you overpay for old e-waste and all the future frustrations you meet, and you also end up using more money overall. Refurb could be somehow decent, if all the sellers didn't want their own extra oversize cut of the old moldy cake. I challange you to take a look on the refurb computer marked, specially the "gamer" one, ouch!

[@i3_i9]

You should file a lawsuit for impersonating you to sell there products.

[@ianlingam281]

The motto of the story is buy new with extended warranty if you don't want to get scam.

[@KimoKimochii]

10mins in still haven’t explained anything about how they are scamming lol

[@snintendog]

30 minute in he only talks about market place manipulation Nothing else.

[@dawidaleksanderwitkowski7455]

What are you talking about he clearly explained how the scam works.

[@gs8494]

The question I have is what, if anything, is Ebay doing about this sort of thing?

[@TheCentristChad]

They stole Luke's website domain. Genius 😂

[@supergeekjay]

And then when the domain expires it'll get snapped up by one of those domain sharks that will sell it for $2,000 😂

[@paulbee-q7p]

... im not expecting to have to pay.... "youre an apple fanboy, you will forever be R4ped by apple in as many ways as they can get away with"..... hahaahhahha suck it.

[@eddiegardner8232]

Hard to imagine why anyone would pay $430 for nine year old Intel Mac, when they could buy an M1 Air for little more than that, and get a 1-year real Apple warranty, a new Apple battery, a new SSD with no write cycles, a new keyboard and larger touch pad, unscratched case, and compatibility with current and future Apple software, as well as day-long operation on battery.

[@constitutionalright827]

That's the absolute truth.

[@SkynetCyb]

They make it misleading, if you search for a new macbook they'll find these with the current year in the title, if you don't know much what you want or are getting, you can easily get scammed.

[@TazSummers]

I'm an eBay Mac reseller. You've missed a lot of info in this video. Eg: The top listings you've singled out are top listings because they use eBay Promote and give an additional percentage to eBay for the sales they make. Something that retails for $300 will be listed for $400 to allow for the eBay promote fees. Thats the tip of the iceberg. If you want more info Luke, feel free to get in touch.

[@DJMeku]

Unpopular opinion: Besides the high price, I think the sellers do a pretty good job, accepting returns, replacement etc... This is pretty standard stuff

[@thiefrules]

It is not “standard” to bake MacBooks with dead GPUs to temporarily revive them, then sell the machines to unsuspecting customers as fully working devices with Macs Fan Control preinstalled to keep the GPU from dying in the limited warranty period

[@snintendog]

@@thiefrules apple does it so why cant other bake apples?

[@thiefrules]

@@snintendog Apple doesn’t bake the GPUs to fix it for the customer, they replace the motherboard entirely with a remanufactured/refurbished one. And they don’t sell their GPU-fried motherboards as “fully working” to unsuspecting consumers on the secondhand market, and they sure as hell do not keep switching their eBay profiles/names after a few years in business.

[@snintendog]

@@thiefrules yeah no they lit baked those boards in their special "reflower" it was just an oven.

[@johnshellard6201]

I don’t even live in the states (UK) but thank you for doing this type of video. Try and do your homework but if not use your friendly KZbinr to do it! You sir are a legend! ❤️

[@seth8629]

Wait, what Luke? Yes what they're doing is illegal. It's deceptive and misleading - a big no no under FTC Act and state equivalents. I'm not saying anyone is going to do anything about it but yeah it's illegal.

[@davidcollins2282]

Quality kit, quality video, quality banter. Thanks for sharing

[@wertywerrtyson5529]

What is worse? These people charging 400 bucks for a computer with a bad graphics card that will fail. Or Apple charging 2000 bucks back in the day for the same computer 😂 it’s terrible either way. But seriously this is bad that eBay allows them to do this.

[@pauli311]

I am a new viewer. I resell computer hardware so I understand selling gear with issues. The fan control thing should be disclosed at time of selling. I think it is absolutely a GREAT thing to not be wasteful and reuse. They need to disclose far more. The fact the fans run to mask the GPU, the hard drive type, not lie about apple-certified techs. The price isn't that bad for something that came packaged like that. It may not be a good price to you, but businesses cost a LOT to run. I feel Meh about it, but not as sketched out as you. Most of the stuff you showed us, I reacted "meh, seems about right". Except for the blatant lies, that is NOT cool. LOL @ the crusty magsafe charger. The 3rd year warranty cost going up that much is because there's a much higher chance of that old device breaking between year 2 and 3.