Tohir Solomons

Buying a laptop off an auction site

Posted on the June 15th, 2009 under Humour,Reflections/Thoughts by Tohir

My current laptop is a DELL d630 which I bought through an auction site Bidorbuy.co.za. Purchasing such a pricey product weighed heavily on mind. What happens if I’m conned? What happens if it is not up to spec as advertised? Fortunately, mine was a very pleasant experience, and went through quite smoothly. Here are a few tips I’ll share…

1. Take time to identify what you want and whether an auction is the best approach

There is alot of hype and excitement of ecommerce, and some people end up believing this is there only approach. Not true! You can go down to any computer store, and sometimes they’ll offer the same, perhaps with a little more piece of mind, and a physical presence.

As a developer, I wanted a laptop that could stand me in good steed for a couple of years. The specs I wanted was: Dual Core Processor, 2Gigs RAM. Anything below this would probably have to be replaced soon.

From this criteria, I did comparisons, and found I could get a better deal on an online auction site, than at the local computer shops.

2. Take an interest in auction listings that list as much details as possible

The more details you have, the easier it becomes to compare this with online reviews. Does the spec mentioned in the listing closely resembles what people blog and list on their sites. This will help you discover whether the seller is overhyping the machine or not.

Take particular note of the brand number (in my case D630). This will also help you discover the age of that generation of laptops.

3. Request a service tag (Particularly with Dell)

Most auction websites allow you to question the seller, so use that feature to request a service tag. Each Dell laptop comes with a service tag. On the Dell website, you can enter this service tag, and will provide you with information of the original spec, etc. http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/index.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=gen

4. Check the seller’s ratings

How has the seller fared in previous transactions? Were previous buyers happy? Are there re-occurring issues that came up?

5. Lastly, check for previous prices on similar items

As much as you would like to win the auction, it’s also not great to win it by overpaying. Check what similar previous sales went for, and use that as a guide for an upper limit.