Is it safe to buy a used iMac from Amazon?

motorat wrote:

Is it safe to buy a used iMac from Amazon.

Probably not. There is a long history of used Macs not being properly prepared or refurbished on seller sites like AMZ, eBay, Craigslist, etc. Buyers come here with all sorts of problems after buying from sellers on those sites, often with Macs that are still linked to the previous owner's Apple ID or have MDM implemented on it, in which cases it's almost impossible to fix.

Even "Sold by Amazon" does not mean that the product is somehow "better" or "safer" to purchase. All it means is that Amazon took the product into its own inventory before shipping it to you. There is no way to know the actual source of the item or how it was handled prior to your purchase.

My recommendation is to only buy used/refurbished Macs directly from Apple or from trustworthy vendors like OWC, MacOfAllTrades, DVWarehouse or UsedMac.

In my own case I have purchased many refurbished Macs from both Apple and OWC and every one of them has been perfect. Refurbs from Apple are eligible for AppleCare coverage same as new. OWC offers its own "Eclipse" coverage similar to AppleCare.

What iMac model and year is it? If it's not a Silicon iMac I, personally, would not purchase it. Also I would not get one with less than 16 GB of RAM and a SSD of less than 1 TB. If you have to get one with less than 1 TB SSD you can supplement it with external SSDs to store and run Photos, Music and Movie libraries from, saving the room on the internal SSD to that you can try to maintain 80-100 GB of free space to facilitate optimal system and application performance.

Silicon Macs can't be upgraded after purchase. If you're being a refurbished Intel iMac know that you're buying obsolescence.

Have you looked at the Apple refurbished iMacs?

Here's some food for though: a 10 Core Mac Mini M4 with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD ($999 + tax) with a 27" LG 4k monitor ($250 + tax from Amazon.com)  is $1249 + tax which is $560 less than a similarly configured new 24" iMac ($1799 + tax)  re 07/2025.   You can even save more money with a lesser featured monitor. The keyboard and mouse from your current computer can be used with the Mini.

If you get the Amazon iMac make sure it's returnable, save the box/packing material it came in and make sure it's been reset according to this Apple document: What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac - Apple Support.

I will say generally NO! Why, because on most they are not setup for resale per Apple's directions in What to do before you sell, give away, or trade in your Mac. What ends up happening is a poor user experience in many many cases. Macs are not MS Windows boxes, they are more sophisticated and need to be setup correctly for sale!!!!!

I recommend against buying a used Mac from:

• Amazon
• Ebay
• Marketplace
• Craigslist
• Nextdoor
• Local PC shop
• friend, neighbor, relative, aquaintances

If you cannot afford a new Mac buy either a refurbished Mac directly from Apple at: Certified Refurbished Products - Apple

or if that is too much then buy from a VERY reputable reseller such as Macsales.com.

Generally it is safe if it is sold by Amazon or "Amazon Renewed". But be cautious if it is an older model as it may not be able to run newer updates and be careful if the seller has little reviews and there is no clear warranty.

Another NO vote here.

In the 20+ years I've been here, I've seen too many stories of misrepresented Apple devices from non-Apple online sites including Amazon. I have done business with OWC and trust them.

I do not trust Amazon's "stores" that are presented as "official." When I was shopping for a new DSLR camera last month, I visited Amazon's Nikon Store. I found listings for bundled packages in the "Nikon Store" where the lenses and other "included accessories were clearly NOT Nikon products nor a brand they would approved.

So you have six long-serving contributors with well over a century of combined participation here saying "don't Amazon this!." When I worked in law enforcement, we called that a "clue."

Caveat Emptor !!!

It’s a veritable minefield of uncertainty into which I’d never venture.

Even those sold directly by Amazon carry little if any provenance as to their alleged refurbishment.

However, https://www.apple.com/shop/refurbished

provides properly refurbished hardware WITH a warranty.

Another vote for OWC/macsales.com.

You're welcome. OWC is well known and well established.ALL of the products they sell are highly tested and offer the best possible quality too. You would be wise to use them as a vendor.

Well said. OWC isn't the cheapest place to buy items for your Mac, but everything they sell is guaranteed to work.

Maybe.

This particular one was an eBay certified renewed sale, but you can see how well that went. Note the second page where I posted eBay's certified policy. And despite that, the buyer still couldn't get the iMac refunded or even properly fixed. No one would honor their own policy.

This is Amazon's renewed item policy. And their return policy for such items.

Caution is the word of the day.