5 tips for buying cheap used Macs on eBay!

In today's video I wanted to give you guys a crash course in how to find good deals on eBay. When shopping for a cheap used MacBook it can be hard to know which is a good deal and which is overpriced, so let's break it down into 5 easy techniques that can help you find a good cheap used Mac. We'll go over the tips and then we'll go on eBay and try to find some good deals!

Gear:

[michaeldunn]

Hey Luke, I haven’t messaged you before but here goes. I’m a disabled ex soldier, interested in MacBooks and started watching your channel. I’m now flipping MacBooks like crazy, following your buying guides and upgrading and servicing them accordingly. I love that, for ages, I now have a hobby and also make a steady side income. I bought and sold 9 MacBooks in the run up to Xmas alone. Your content is amazing, and thank you for giving me hope.

[LeeStewart]

The most important aspect for me, is that the seller is legit and has a good amount of positive feedback.

[yellawood]

I just bought a 2018 MacBook Air for $500. It was still in brand new condition. Older gentleman bought it but couldn’t get used to the Mac layout. He’s more of a windows user. Said all he wanted was $500. I checked everything out and it was perfect. I love buying items from older people because they take so much better care of their things.

[superqaxclub]

Just put the name Luke Miani and they will send you the best product on their listing

[MM-vset]

I made a spreadsheet of 34 different listings, with specs, pros, and cons, when I was hunting for a 2012 Macbook pro. I spent a total of 2 days, and got a deal for a 15" 2012 Macbook pro, with a quad core i7, 16gbs of RAM, a 256gb SSD, and a faulty HDD, and managed to lower the price to $620.
I recommend being patient. Some people spend an hour on ebay, and complained that they didn't get a good deal.

[Twominutedevotions]

I’d love to see you eBay a whole setup. For example, laptop, iMac, Thunderbolt Display, upgrades for the computers, keyboard, mouse/trackpad, and accessories(speakers, desk attached mounts, hubs, fake plant, LEDs, etc.) for a budget of like $750.

[MikeDancy]

If you want to find them even cheaper, look up E-WASTE SUPPLIERS in your State / Province / CITY etc. etc.

[jabramsja]

Got super lucky. 2014 15" Macbook Pro, 2.5GHz, 1TB SSD with 16GB ram and a GT 750m for $450. Big seller. Think they mixed up the listing, but I got it, and it's great!

[dapfury]

I got a Mid 2012 macbook pro with no hard drive or ram for dirt cheap on ebay. It was in great condition as well. Popped in some ram and a SSD and its cooking along just fine

[alliejr]

Great advice. Can you follow this up with a “buy/don’t buy” list. For instance, older iMac or MacBook models with 100% graphics failure rates versus not so much. I know you did something like that video recently, but a more comprehensive list. You clearly have this knowledge in your head without having to research it so it would be helpful. Thanks.

[goldengod]

I picked up a late 2013 15” Pro for $190 without an SSD; look for Make Offer listings and just keep badgering them to see how far they can drop their price

[twomix]

Protip:

6. Some eBay listings will allow you to offer a buyout price (lower than the listed price) to the seller. Be respectful and don't try to lowball them. Give a respectful offer and more often than not they will accept.

[fairnut]

Me be like: (price filter) 200$ Release year: 2014-2019

[GaryED]

Hi Luke. I followed your tips and scored a Near Pristine 2015 Macbook Air in beautiful condition with a 90 percent health Battery. Thank you bigtime. Love your videos

[dima]

Browsing sold listings was a really useful advise, I didn't even know you can do that. Thank you for the video.

[Justin]

Bro honestly. I watched your video earlier today and then tried your techniques and thank god I did because i got a good ass deal on a mid 2014 15inch i7 2.2ghz with 16gb ram and 512gb nvme for 350. THANK YOU

[DJTechYT]

THIS VIDEO IS AMAZING! This is a really great video even though I’m not interested in buying used Macs. You gave out a lot of useful advices that are really useful to people who are actually buying a used Mac. You deserves a lot more subs. Luke, you’re truly the king of buying used Macs.

[encinobalboa]

Newly listed should be top of list. As in any picker arena, the best deals never last. In fact, the best deals are usually gone within the first hour or less.

[pureretro]

I've managed to find a few bargains in the past by searching outside of the correct category for the Mac. Sometimes you get people listing items in completely the wrong category which will cut down the number of people you are bidding against. I also managed to get a great deal on a high spec Mac Pro because the user listed it as an "Apple tower computer" and clearly didn't know what he had. Lastly look for deals where the seller doesn't want to ship the item and requires the item be picked up. I managed to get two 27" Apple Cinema displays for about $15 that way.

[foxxxcub]

The tip about searching sold listings is great advice once you know what year and spec you are going for.
I've just bought a Macbook Pro after 2 weeks of searching using Luke's advice. I'd say it's saved me spending an additional 200.


I could see from the sold listings that only 3 out of 50 recently sold macbooks that met the model, year, spec and condition that I wanted had sold for under a certain price. For two weeks straight however, all the listings were on average nearly 200+ on what I'd seen these bargain ones go for in the sold listings.

Two weeks of relentless Ebay searching later and I just bagged exactly what I wanted for 30 less than the cheapest sold listing i'd seen!
Thanks so much for the advice Luke!