If you’re thinking of buying a Thinkpad from EBay:
1. Check what’s available in the Marketplace here.
2. If what you’re looking for isn’t available, post a WTB.
3. Be patient.

Few more tips from experience:

1) Insist the seller DOES NOT label the package with it's contents. I once recieved an A31 battery in an envelope that was marked "laptop battery" all over it. Not suprisingly, the envelope had been cut open, and included a note "it came this way"

2) Send a Thinkpad in a box much larger than a Thinkpad. My favorite was when I got my A31p, it was in a HUGE box marked 'Teddybear' THAT one wasn't opened.

3) (Not eBay, but) When I bought my brand new T61, it came in a box (still have it) with THINKPAD writen ALL over it, plain as day. I'm suprised ANY of them get to their owners!

I buy Thinkpads and parts from reputable German shops. I wire the money and the item arrives like agreed upon in the e-mail. For Thinkpads I demand serial number and check the warranty online and call local service depot if they will fix it.

I bought a Z60t from a seller in the UK, he shipped it in an unpadded manila envelope. No shrink wrap, no padding, just a laptop in an envelope.

I bought via eBay and it went ok. I'm satisfied and got what they described.

http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=85811

That's amazing. I'm curious, what kind of condition did it arrive in?

Yes, I can not emphasize enough the importance of getting the model number for the Thinkpad and to ask for sufficient wrapping.

When I bought my T42 from a Norwegian variant of CraigsList, the ad had a picture of a 14" unit. When I got the laptop, it was stuffed in a box with no wrapping, and not even turned off, just put to sleep. Amazingly it was not damaged, and it turned out to be a 15" unit. The downside was that it had a XP install meant for a Dell, so no drivers for any Thinkpad functions. I downloaded and installed the drivers, but a person with no computer knowledge would have been stuck there with a laptop with no wireless, no volume/hotkeys, no Active Protection, etc. I sent the seller a nasty email, but since I got a very cheap and decent looking 15" unit, I didn't go further with it. While typing this post I did a search, and the same seller is still selling T42's, using the SAME pictures as he did 1.5 year ago. But now he has been kind enough to add the text "15 inch", for those who know what that refers to. And his T42s are apparently made in 2006/2007.. (Norwegians, if any here, can PM me to get to know who this seller is)



I take it that the battery was gone? Things done with the best intents, don't always turn out to be such a good idea. A friend of mine once got a control module for his car shipped in box marked: "Careful! Expensive parts inside" The part was still there, so we laughed and found it to be hilarious that someone could actually mark it like that..

every computer i have, i bought on ebay. 3-x41s, 2-x32s, 2-x40s, 1-x30. i take big chances. i always buy them stripped. no hard drives no os, no ram or very little, might or might not have a wireless card. no batteries. always advertised as is, no returns. always from sellers with very little feedback. the most i paid was for one of the x32s (100.00). every other one was less than 40 bucks. no one is bidding against you. i welcome no specs, poor description. i only had one dell that was junk everything else is working great. i buy all my parts, batteries, cards wifi antennas on ebay and then build them. i've blown out mats of cat hair and all sorts of stuff from inside of laptops. but they're cheap and i'm not out hardly any money if something doesn't work. i bought an x40 from a seller that advertised it as non working with no description and it came with an ultrabase, 2 bags, 4 harddrives and a 19v ac adapter from an hp. it also had a linux disc stuck in the ultrabase. i put the correct ac adapter on it and it booted to bios. i paid 20 bucks for that one.

so i guess what i'm trying to say is if you want a working laptop in great shape you will pay a good price for it and you better do your homework but if you're willing to do a little work {which i think is fun}, you can make yourself something really neat. nothing is more satisfying than seeing that dirty black thing in that rumpled up box transform into something that everybody wants to see when you take it somewhere. and if one doesn't work, then you have a bunch of parts for the next one. ibm's are very sturdy laptops, it takes a bit of work to screw one up. all in all, i'm very happy with what i have and my experience with ebay.

Could you name a few? Thanks!

I have bought a handful or two of 2nd hand Thinkpads throughout the years. Some at eBay (US/UK), some locally in Denmark.

My 770Z, 9549-8AU (which is now listed on eBay item #120605756657) was the very first item I bought on eBay in 2003.
It came from the US in this huge Targus, very well packed. Arrived in Denmark in pristine condition, labeled: Antique Computer. It is now being sold with every single accessory I bought since 2003 + sparepart machine 770X.

In october 2002 I bought a Z61p also on eBay from a very nice guy in New York. Unfortunately the machine got stolen while it was going through customs at Fedex in Denmark. That made me feel like having a black hole inside. I could have killed. To this day I can't believe how things can disappear during customs. It was insured, so some dude/dirtbag must have seen the label "Laptop, value: $1000" and took it home. Although it took some time, the seller was patient, filed a complaint and I got a 100% refund.

Went on eBay in Great Britain and bought another Z61p in november 2003. I tend to go after topnotch machines and preferably those with the latest mainboards, before the series are phased out.
This machine also came well-packed and arrived without a scratch.

When I sell on eBay, I prefer to have items shipped in a manner, that I'd like to receive myself.

I also avoid suspicious listings, where the seller won't tell model or typenumber and I seem to be able to find those private listings, where you can "smell" it's the sellers own ThinkPad being sold.

Z61p in 2002/2003? Time machine or what?

Back to the Future Trilogy is out on BluRay in october 2010.

No I'm mixing things up. Thanks for bringing me back to reality, AIX.
Bought the 770Z in june 2003 through eBay US. This machine....I haven't seen such high quality since. The keyboard in 770Z was the best made for a laptop. Quality has surely gone down since.

No, the Z61p I bought from a good guy in New York though eBay US in october 2008, not 2002, and it was stolen by some Fedex employee in Copenhagen while it was going through customs. Imagine the anger, when it just disappeared.
Waited a year and bought another Z61p from just as good a guy in England through eBay UK in november 2009, not 2003. All second hand.
The design of Z61p is just so way sexier than the T61p I'm using now. Why Lenovo changed the neat design of Z61p into this ordinary T61p is beyond me.

The trouble some people are having with the expensive W510 has gotten to me. Since IBM made 770Z 11 years ago, I'm stunned with the fact that Lenovo manufactores such immature notebooks. Stunned ! I'm having the blasphemic thoughts:"Would I buy a Lenovo in the future?" Answer "I don't know/I'm not sure !"

Thanks for pointing out my errors. Glad I could correct those. Thanks.

The parts are equally misrepresented.

I am hopefully receiving the right FRU on Monday for my LCD cable, they say 3 times is the charm....

Unfortunately I used my debit card and the merchant double billed me. Hopefully it's a painless fix. It's only $20...so my time is lost.

I've purchased about 60 items of various types off ebay over the years including 4 thinkpads and 2 dell latitudes. The only purchase which left a sour taste in my mouth was that of a T43 which had an LCD advertised as having 'no dead pixels'. That was literally true, but it did have a whole bunch of white pressure points and a lot of odd-looking grey dust-like features. I ended up having to spend about an additional $ 100 (again on ebay!) go get a good replacement lcd. For the rest I've gotten two nice T60s and a T61 which were all in
excellent shape (basically brand new) and two of which were still under warranty - although I've had no reason to actually make use of the warranty.

Hello, I'm the person who started this thread -- I'm glad to see that I made a useful contribution to Bill's site. (o:

Since 2008, I have bought two more Thinkpads from EBay -- an X32 and an X200s. (Very good portables, in my opinion.)

The X32 arrived in fine condition but needed to have its logic board replaced because
the BIOS wasn't identifying the Media Slice correctly. There was no mention of this problem in the seller's description. He was however willing to help in any way. The good thing was that the X32 was still under warranty; Lenovo gave me no trouble at all.

Important point: it is worth looking for a ThinkPad still under warranty. Sellers may be honest but not "expert".

The X200s was not packed as well as it should have been, but it arrived healthy and just as described. The price was market value, i.e. not a "bargain".

Important point: if you are expecting packaging of a certain type, ASK FOR IT. (o:

I've bought every Thinkpad I own on eBay except for my 360cse, and currently waiting for my 770z to arrive,
I had been looking for one for the last three years and had lost 4 different auctions (including DK6400Brian's).
I think I've gotten good deals on all of them, the A31 especially, came in mint condition with 3 combo CD-RW
drives, the floppy drive, a DVD drive and the docking station for $100. I'll have to wait and see what accessories
the 770z comes with, I think I'll have to look for a DEVA card and a floppy drive, the seller really didn't know what
he had, I just went on all the pictures he sent me.

The 770Z are nice, did you get one with the 1280x1024 screen by chance?

No, I've only seen one of those on eBay (DK6400Brian's). Still, it seems like a very vernerable machine that can still keep up today.