A
AaronK
Guest
Here’s an email I just sent Jimmy Akin just now, after reading his post on Advertising Your Competitors. I’d appreciate advice from readers here as well.
Hello Jimmy,
I’m facing my own dilemma with some planned eBay sales; seeing your recent post “Advertising Your Competitors?” prompted me to ask you.
I’m buying broken laptops, troubleshooting and fixing them up, with plans to start reselling them soon. The two that I’ve fixed so far had fallen victim to liquid damage, with the sellers apparently assuming them to be irrecoverable short of something like a logic board replacement. The first laptop started working again after opening it up, doing a little cleanup and reconnecting the keyboard. I’m a bit mystified as to how it started working again, but it’s been going strong for days through testing and casual browsing. I did a more substantial tear-down and cleaning for the second, but in the end it just needed a simple battery connector replaced.
I plan to do testing and offer a 30-day return policy on all such laptops, but should I disclose their history (either each in their particular circumstances, or as a general disclaimer) when I resell these? I was planning to do so, but my brother discounted the idea – he said as long as they’re working they should simply be listed as used laptops; there’s no need to scare buyers away when they’re working fine.
I do expect that these laptops will continue to work, but here is my fear: at some point, months after a sale, a laptop may stop working. The buyer may take it to Apple, and regardless of the cause, Apple may inform the buyer of liquid damage and the need for a logic board replacement. That’s long past the eBay feedback and return policy window, but still has the potential for a customer service nightmare.
On the other hand, full disclosure has the potential of driving a lot of buyers away from a laptop that will work perfectly for years to come.
But these are speaking more to the pragmatic side of the question. Ethically, what am I obligated to disclose to a potential buyer?
Hello Jimmy,
I’m facing my own dilemma with some planned eBay sales; seeing your recent post “Advertising Your Competitors?” prompted me to ask you.
I’m buying broken laptops, troubleshooting and fixing them up, with plans to start reselling them soon. The two that I’ve fixed so far had fallen victim to liquid damage, with the sellers apparently assuming them to be irrecoverable short of something like a logic board replacement. The first laptop started working again after opening it up, doing a little cleanup and reconnecting the keyboard. I’m a bit mystified as to how it started working again, but it’s been going strong for days through testing and casual browsing. I did a more substantial tear-down and cleaning for the second, but in the end it just needed a simple battery connector replaced.
I plan to do testing and offer a 30-day return policy on all such laptops, but should I disclose their history (either each in their particular circumstances, or as a general disclaimer) when I resell these? I was planning to do so, but my brother discounted the idea – he said as long as they’re working they should simply be listed as used laptops; there’s no need to scare buyers away when they’re working fine.
I do expect that these laptops will continue to work, but here is my fear: at some point, months after a sale, a laptop may stop working. The buyer may take it to Apple, and regardless of the cause, Apple may inform the buyer of liquid damage and the need for a logic board replacement. That’s long past the eBay feedback and return policy window, but still has the potential for a customer service nightmare.
On the other hand, full disclosure has the potential of driving a lot of buyers away from a laptop that will work perfectly for years to come.
But these are speaking more to the pragmatic side of the question. Ethically, what am I obligated to disclose to a potential buyer?