oribia

MTGFTW! If you ever come to NY we should play together :)

What's the best way to open an iphone/itouch/ipad without damaging the case? Also, I'm an econ major too!

Most people on Ebay don't outright lie, they just don't give the full truth. They might list an item as "Broken Ipod, just stopped working" and don't mention that they've already taken it somewhere that's opened it and have tried the basic fixes unsuccessfully. Also, they might say they're not sure if it's water damaged when they know it's been dropped in the toilet, things like that. Pictures might show a normal looking ipod, and the description might suggest it's a quick battery change when really they know it's the battery and hard drive that are broken, which is more expensive. Also, when products are sold "as-is" there's no guarantee that the insides are even still in the ipod! When working with Ebay you have to learn to read between the lines, ask a lot of specific questions, and take nothing at face value.

Thanks for the reply! Do you get your replacement parts off Ebay, or somewhere else? Do people ever say that it's official but it turns into a cheap knockoff?

Discourage cheating: feedback. If people get a crappy product, or one that isn't properly explained, they leave bad feedback. Problem is if the buyer is just a jerk that read the description wrong and unjustly left bad feedback, the seller can't leave bad feedback for the buyer in retaliation, only good. There are ways of disputing a bad feedback, but I think it costs money to do so (not positive, I have a 100% good feedback rating so I've never done that before)

Usually when people stretch the truth about products it's all within ebay's guidelines at face value. If they don't accept refunds (for working parts, not broken ipods) that could be a tell. If they explain a lot about the insides of the ipod, include parts to fix it, have it already opened, those could all be tells. Then again, it could also just be a person that knows how but is too lazy to fix the ipod.

Of course if you ask a question they could lie, but you should probably ask if it's been opened before. If it's ever been water damaged. If the seller has been the only owner. Things like that which can tell you more about the broken item's history.

Despite all these bad things I just told you, I still use and trust Ebay. There are a lot of cheats out there, but also people who legit their ipod just stopped working and they want to make a few bucks off it. Usually I sell, although sometimes I buy things too. I'm thinking about learning how to fix broken Ipods, and if I do I'd use Ebay to buy my first one. I think working on a friend's ipod would be too nervewracking to me in case I can't get it to work, or damage it more so it's worth less on Ebay, so that's why I'd buy privately. If I actually want to do what OP did, I'd transition from Ebay to privately, just because there are so many cheats on Ebay.