Buying Friend's iBook

[Ichiban_jay]

Hey all, I have a friend I talk to who lives in NY whilst I live in AZ. Today he brought up the subject of his cousin, who has a brand new iBook still in original packaging that he wanted to sell to him for $700 bucks. Since he doesn't have the money to buy one (and has a powerbook anyways so why would he want two laptops?) I asked if it would be possible for me to purchase it off his cousin. He's going to ask this afternoon.

In any case, my main question is, is there any services that would be able to handle this transaction. I COULD just send the money through Paypal, but then I would have no protection to whether or not this cousin would actually deliver as promised. Is there any way to do this without the chance of losing $700 bucks? (that is humanly possible, no I'm not going to fly to NY to do it in person :lol: )

Thanks in advanced, oh mighty forum members
http://kathi.kathihill.com/graphics/persons/animatedsmbowingman.gif

[Franz Josef]

In the absence of some sort of escrow arrangement (not suitable for such small amounts), there's always going to be an element of risk. Why not transact through your friend or pay in installments (half in advance, half on receipt).

FJ