Buying a CPU on eBay?

Peat Moss

Gawd
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Oct 6, 2009
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543
I have my eye on a Ryzen 3600XT listed as 'open box' (no original box, just plastic clamp).. I've bought other components on eBay before, but never a CPU. It kind of makes me nervous. Is there anything I should watch out for?
 
Bent pins from poor packaging... someone saying its new but they just cleaned it really well and its defective and you will be SOL on the warranty. That actually happened to me with a 3800x, it had a faulty IMC that would intermittently not post unless RAM speed was dialed way below spec.
 
Bent pins from poor packaging... someone saying its new but they just cleaned it really well and its defective and you will be SOL on the warranty. That actually happened to me with a 3800x, it had a faulty IMC that would intermittently not post unless RAM speed was dialed way below spec.

Thanks. Couldn't I get my money back through eBay if there is a problem, or not as described?
 
You could but it will just take quite a bit of hassle. I would honestly pass on it if you are not willing to accept the risk.
 
Thanks. Couldn't I get my money back through eBay if there is a problem, or not as described?

Ebay makes money from sellers, not so much from buyers, so make sure the ad is very very clear and what it says for returns, of anything. if the ad does not say anything about returns - avoid.
 
I bought a 1600 and was sent a 2600x in a box with the UPC removed. No idea what happened but everything else they sold was art/kraft/antique type stuff.
 
Anecdotal, but I have bought CPUs from eBay before without issue. Granted, they were SERVER CPUs, but...
Me too. I've gotten CPUs I couldn't have afforded new for pennies on the dollar used. They've all been LGA CPUs, but I've bought mobos no problem too.

Pick a seller with a good rep, who posted a reasonable number of pictures, and who lives on the same continent as you, and I think your odds are pretty good. You could always contact the seller and ask about how it'll be packaged for shipping.
 
Can you tell whether a CPU has been used before? Are there any marks or tarnish from heat, or residual thermal paste on it?

Maybe someone could take it out of the new box, test bench it, and then decide to sell it if they didn't like the unit sample they got because it didn't hit the boost clock spec?
 
Personally I have never had any issues with buying CPU's on ebay, the last time I bought a new CPU was 2012, and that was the 2nd time I had ever purchased one new (which is why im still running it, prices are way too high for new CPU's and I couldnt possibly justify spending $200+ on another one). I have also never seen a CPU die, even after years of abuse to the point of turning the contacts on the underside brown/black, though I do specifically have one dead CPU that was sent to me purely for the reason that neither of us could believe a CPU can actually die. I would recommend buying all of your CPUs used, its the same chip for less money and from what ive seen the odds of getting one that doesnt work is extremely slim. YMMV of course, but I just upgraded my home server with a nearly decade old AMD athlon for $18, I imagine anything released within the last 2 years would very likely be in fine condition.
 
Bought CPU on ebay and it worked fine. If you are worried just contact the seller and ask them about their return policy. Most sellers respond within 48 hours.

Bought many other good working parts as well - memory, video cards, etc. No issues.
 
I know exactly where the OP is coming from. Been there, thought the same thing. A couple years ago I finally said "screw it" and decided that I was going to try my hand at the 2nd hand used CPU market to upgrade some of my old systems. Would I get screwed? I did not know, but my desire to do some fun upgrades outweighed my fear of getting bad parts and in the end, I'm glad it did.

I've purchased an Intel Q9650, Intel 980X, AMD FX-60 and Intel Xeon E5-1680v2 all on eBay over the past couple of years and all worked (and are still working) perfectly today. The sellers all had good (98.5%-100%) feedback and were either selling multiples of the same CPU (in the case of the Xeon) and/or were selling lots of random computer system pull items (could tell from their other auctions that they were some sort of recycling place or similar) or they were individuals just like you or me just selling off old stuff (AMD FX-60).
I've also purchased memory multiple times from eBay and had decent, if not quite perfect, success. I had a bad stick straight out of the box from a set of two used 1GB DDR400 DIMMs, but the seller refunded me 100% even after I asked for a partial refund (since 1 stick was fine) saying they weren't sure the memory wasn't bad to begin with as it was sitting on a shelf at work with no hint of condition. Bought another set from another seller and that set worked perfectly. Other times I've bought memory it's "just worked" like it was new.

I have learned some things as I've searched (and searched, and searched) for the "right" place/person on eBay to buy computer parts (mostly CPUs and memory) from:
Don't make any impulse buys. (Yes, this most likely means no searching/browsing while drunk)
Always look at the complete picture: Seller feedback, longevity on the platform, current items for sale, price, etc.
Unless the seller is selling multiples of the same item (like 10+ of the same CPU), make sure the pictures show the EXACT item(s) you are buying. No generic/marketing photos allowed. Especially if it's a John Doe individual seller, I want to see the EXACT item(s) I'm buying. If they cannot be bothered to take a decent set of photos and post them on eBay, do you really want to buy their stuff?
If the seller has 10+ of that CPU, then obviously they are simply system pulls and 99% of the time they have a money back guarantee on DOA items like CPUs/memory. They aren't going to try to scam you; they just want to sell the items for a good price. A random DOA is the price of doing business in these types of items and the seller knows that.
Obviously if the price is too good to be true, think about it. A lot. Sure, I look for the cheapest items for sale, but I also want a good CPU (or whatever it is) with no funny business. I've let really "good/cheap" deals go before because my spidey sense didn't let me click Buy It Now. But on the other hand I had jumped on an exceptional deal for the AMD-FX60 to get it at way less than the normal selling price. Why did I click "Buy It Now" when it was priced "too good to be true"? I'm not sure now, but in the moment it seemed right to me for some reason after looking at the seller's history and other items he had for sale at the time. The CPU turned out to be perfect and is still working perfectly and even looked brand new when I received it (it wasn't, I asked the seller). Was I lucky? Maybe.
These tips are doubly true for memory. If you have a particular brand or speed you are looking for, it may take while to find the right search terms to find what you are looking for. Or it could be that the particular brand/model/speed you want is popular enough that most of the reasonably-priced stuff is simply not available on eBay because everyone else bought it already. It's best to wait and keep checking every day for a new listing that might be exactly what you want. I had to do this when I was looking for specific Samsung DIMMs of a certain speed. I spent quite a few hours over multiple days (over a week or two) looking before finally seeing items for sale that met the model/part #'s I wanted and had decent photos of the items with reasonable prices. In the end, I'm glad I waited because I got exactly what I wanted at a reasonable price (ie. the going rate) and the memory is still working perfectly.

tl/dr; Yes, but be wary. Be diligent. You absolutely can certainly find perfectly working CPUs (and memory) on eBay from reasonable sellers.
 
Having bought and sold many things on eBay, including some CPUs, I would say it's fairly safe as long as you take precautions you should take with any purchase on eBay. Seller rating, return/refund policy, etc... Inspect and test the CPU once you do get it. Test it for performance of course, but before that, a thorough visual inspection before even thinking about putting it into your system is a must. Bent/missing pins, imperfections on the surface (example below), etc...

Anecdotal Story Time, Feel Free To Skip
The only bad experience I had with a CPU on ebay was an i5 that was shipped with a little nick in the heatspreader like it was gouged with an awl or tiny screwdriver. It was so small, I didn't notice it... except that my thermals were very lopsided, even for an Intel chip. I took the cooler off and noticed the really tiny nick, and that it had a little bit of metal sticking up from the edge of the gouge. I was mad because this left an imprint on my cooler's copper cold plate. I could have chiseled the protruding metal off, lightly touched it with some sand paper, and been fine. However, I was mad because of the damage to the cooler's cold plate. I returned it for a full refund, and seller paid shipping. No issue. They did offer a $10 discount, which I would have taken instead of returning it had I not been so angry about that cold plate... lol
 
For what it is worth I have quite literally purchased and sold THOUSANDS of CPUs on eBay. Out of those I had 1 dud that was probably damaged in shipping (pins) and not sold as such.

How do you know which sellers to buy from?
 
How do you know which sellers to buy from?

Feedback and location. It does help having an eBay and PayPal account with a lot of transactions on your end if a dispute or misrepresented item occurs but that is exceedingly rare if you buy from vendors with a fair bit of feedback.

Look at their other listings and read the item description carefully. If they don't have a true description and stock photos, maybe leave it alone.

Location I stick to NA unless I was buying a big lot of chips to break up and resell in which case I'd buy from Asia.
 
How do you know which sellers to buy from?

Ones with good feedback. Then I check the feedback to see if they are selling the kinds of products that I'm buying from them. If they are selling you a CPU and every other listing they have is in a completely different category, then I'd watch out.
 
I've been buying CPU's from Ebay for years now. I've never had any problems doing so. Back in the day, my Opteron 254's came from Ebay and they weren't exactly cheap as they were current production items at the time.
 
Same here, I have bought literally hundreds of used CPUs from ebay over the years, and haven't been burned yet. The only one ever to be a challenge was the Socket 423 P4 1.9GHz in my signature retro gaming system. It had a bunch of bent pins from poor packaging that I was able to straighten. For the $8 shipped I paid for a fairly rare CPU, I wasn't going to bother complaining!
 
ive bought a handful, amd and intel. no issues. one amd chip had slightly bent pins on one edge but straightened with a razor no prob. but as mentioned, location and seller rating are important to pay attention to.
 
Here to say I bought my current mobo, CPU, and memory off eBay. The mobo came with an i7 920 with a 212 cooler, and some memory. I upgraded my memory (eBay) and gave my memory to my wife and daughter machines. I then retired the i7 to storage and upgraded to a Xeon w3690. All without issue the Xeon did not work when installed but it was my fault because while I did check for compatibility, but I did not upgrade my bios. Once the BIOS was updated all was good.
 
Feedback and location. It does help having an eBay and PayPal account with a lot of transactions on your end if a dispute or misrepresented item occurs but that is exceedingly rare if you buy from vendors with a fair bit of feedback.

Look at their other listings and read the item description carefully. If they don't have a true description and stock photos, maybe leave it alone.

Location I stick to NA unless I was buying a big lot of chips to break up and resell in which case I'd buy from Asia.
Cool thanks, makes sense.
 
Ebay makes money from sellers, not so much from buyers, so make sure the ad is very very clear and what it says for returns, of anything. if the ad does not say anything about returns - avoid.

Even if the ad says no returns, you can return or get a refund if it isn't as described.

Not difficult at all to get a refund if it isn't as described.

I sell and buy a lot on eBay.
 
I've had only one issue with an eBay CPU, and it was a nincompoop who listed a 2200G and sent a 2300X, in a mailing envelope with no protection. I got a 50% refund from the seller since I had to buy a 3200G for the computer I was building; and, once I got the bent pins straightened, the 2300X is running fine in a nameserver box.

I think as long as you take a reasonable amount of care reading the listing and making sure you haven't bid on a $10 CPU with $200 shipping, you should be OK.
 
I don’t have nearly the numbers some in the thread do but I’ll echo I’ve bought my fair share without issue. Read the description carefully and only buy from reputed sellers with lots of feedback and you’ll be fine.
 
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