Apple apparently has a secret store on eBay, which was brought to public notice quite a long time back. However, what many did not know was that the eBay storefront offers the same refurbished Apple products for a much cheaper price than those on the company's own online store.

The eBay store by the name Refurbished_Outlet has been operating since last October and it sells official Apple refurbs. The storefront apparently offers MacBooks for up to $100 less than what one can find on Apple's own online outlet, store.apple.com. The eBay store also offers deals with which one can save up to $50 on iPads and iPods when comparing to the official outlet.

Take a look at some of the major deals offered in the eBay outlet as Apple Insider lists them out:

- A 13.3-inch MacBook Air with 128 gigabytes of solid-state storage for just $899, which is $100 less than Apple's direct refurbished price.

- Refurbished 64-gigabyte iPod touch models for $229, a savings of $50 from Apple's traditional store.

- And the 32-gigabyte iPod touch is also available refurbished for $179, or $30 off what Apple normally charges.

- Verizon 3G-enabled iPad 2 models: the 64-gigabyte model is offered for $529, while the 32-gigabyte version is $429, both a savings of $50 from the Apple Store.

Although the store does not give any contact information and does little Apple corporate branding on it, 9to5Mac and AppleInsider believe it's an official Apple outlet. In addition to the aforementioned, another eBay deal offers Apple's 11.6-inch MacBook Air with 1.8GHz, 4GB SDRAM and 256GB SSD at $949, while the same refurbished model is priced at $1,059 on Apple's official online store.

Apple's initiative to sell refurbished products with the same price tags, full warranties (one-year), and approved inspections through its own eBay store was first brought into notice by 9to5Mac. However, the major downside of buying from Refurbished Outlet is that it does not offer a lot of stock so shoppers will have to act quickly to grab an item with an incredible price cut. However, as 9to5Mac notes, Apple doesn't charge online customers sales taxes, but eBay does for residents of Washington DC, Indiana, Nevada, New Jersey, Texas, and California.

While it remains unknown why Apple is undercutting its own refurbished store given the eBay store is actually an Apple-affiliated one, shoppers can definitely score some good deals there.