Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
63,280
30,342



Last week, we reported on long return lines at Apple's 5th Avenue retail store filled with Chinese iPad resellers. Resellers try to buy up as many iPads as possible on launch day to quickly turn around and sell them for a profit. According to our report many of these resellers were returning their iPads with some individuals returning up to 30 devices at one time. We speculated the reason for the returns was due to a an adequate launch supply of new iPads by Apple.

ipadreturnline.jpg



Reuters dug deeper and found that these resellers are having trouble making a profit on Apple's most recent launch, despite a healthy demand for the product in China.

Reuters reports that some of the new pressure comes from Chinese custom authorities which have told shipping companies to stop accepting iPad shipment orders. Meanwhile, the iPad has been added to a list of taxable items entering China. The end result has been much tighter margins than in the past.
An electronics dealer in Oakland, California, said he struggled to break even this year, a far cry from previous iPad releases when he shipped upwards of 1,000 tablets and pocketed profits of $50 to $100 per device sent to his buyer in Hong Kong.
The other major factor seems to be an abundance of supply and a simultaneous launch in 10 countries including Hong Kong. As a result, black market prices for the new iPad in China has been falling.

One dealer even said "This whole game is over", due to the overabundance of supply, describing the market as "flooded".

Article Link: Reselling Apple Products on Launch Day: "This whole game is over"
 

benhollberg

macrumors 68020
Mar 8, 2010
2,170
7
Had the same problems this year. Last year buying dozens of iPads a day making $500-$1000 per day for two weeks and this year I still have inventory and will be lucky to break even.
 

Invincibilizer

macrumors 6502a
Aug 18, 2011
769
2
Sorry Apple

The iPad has oversaturated the market, time for android tablets to rise!
 
Last edited:

AriX

macrumors 6502
Jan 8, 2007
349
0
I assume this is good news for regular customers - less people going into stores and buying up as much supply as they can means more for everyone else.
 

gadget123

macrumors 68020
Apr 17, 2011
2,261
293
United Kingdom
Looks like those profit sellers won't be able to do it now.

I remember the Ipad 2 was really hard to get a hold of but now there's enough on the market for everybody.
 

chuckd83

macrumors regular
Jul 12, 2010
177
15
I live in China and my family sent me a Kindle through the mail. I had to pay RMB300 (around US$50) to Customs. :eek: It's supposed to be 10% of the value of the device. Then I look at the customs receipt and it lists my Kindle as worth RMB3000. Now I know why...friggin resellers.
 

Kebabselector

macrumors 68030
May 25, 2007
2,987
1,638
Birmingham, UK
2 guys in my office bought 2 each, one to keep and one to sell for profit. They decided to return the unsold ones on Friday. Seems Apple did a great job in the supply of these devices this time.
 

andiwm2003

macrumors 601
Mar 29, 2004
4,382
454
Boston, MA
I guess for the next launches Apple will limit the return policy to 2 or five per ID. I can imagine that there is substantial cost involved for Apple with shipping and accepting the returns, checking and reselling those iPads.
 

GoCubsGo

macrumors Nehalem
Feb 19, 2005
35,741
153
Had the same problems this year. Last year buying dozens of iPads a day making $500-$1000 per day for two weeks and this year I still have inventory and will be lucky to break even.
A sad story indeed. :rolleyes:
Sorry Apple

The iPad has oversaturated the market, time for android tablets to rise!
Um no. I think they simply figured out supply and ran with it.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

firewood

macrumors G3
Jul 29, 2003
8,106
1,343
Silicon Valley
Looks like Apple did what was necessary to remove these parasites from the hot new iDevice distribution eco-system. Cut them off financially at the knees by working with customs authorities and purposely flooding the biggest neighborhoods of potential end-user buyers, to thus keep them away from non-authorized resellers. Apple only has to randomly do this every other new device intro or so, and the front companies that pay people to get in line will get cold feet after taking their first loss.
 

rsocal

macrumors 6502a
Sep 22, 2008
738
0
Southern Ca
It's nice to see everyone who wants to buy an iPad not have to wait. I'm glad to see Apple plan so well for this launch!
:apple::apple::apple:
 

garylapointe

macrumors 68000
Feb 19, 2006
1,883
1,244
Dearborn (Detroit), MI, USA
I ordered 2 and returned one

Due to the initial LACK of information, while only wanting one, I ordered two.
One AT&T and one Verizon. There was very little information on using these globally and I was trying to pick the best one for that purpose...

Eventually, I decided on one and canceled the other. But had it taken me longer to decide, I'd have had to return one later.

Actually, when I canceled the one, the other was far enough along I couldn't have canceled it (and then it sat in a FedEx warehouse for days and days) so I almost couldn't.

Obviously, my plan wasn't to resell it, but I had assumed that I could have if I needed to. I'm glad I didn't go that route.

Gary
 

Blorzoga

macrumors 68030
May 21, 2010
2,560
66
GOOD. Shouldn't be allowed refunds either. Lessons must be learnt.

It's amazing how ignorant some people are. The resellers are simply taking part in capitalism. It's what the U.S economy is based on. All companies do it. Buy things at one price, sell them at a higher price, make a profit. The resellers do nothing wrong. They wait in line, they use real money, they find workers to wait in line, they (presumably) pay them to do so. They find buyers, they pay expenses, they make a profit. Sound familiar? Is it just because many of them may be of Asian descent that we view them with such disgust? Or is it jealousy, because we didn't make a buck ourselves. Stop being such hypocrites. Don't you think Apple uses its muscle to buy up parts and get cheap prices for labor and other things to raise their profit margin? What's the difference?
 

class77

macrumors 6502a
Nov 16, 2010
831
92
Had the same problems this year. Last year buying dozens of iPads a day making $500-$1000 per day for two weeks and this year I still have inventory and will be lucky to break even.
Excellent. Hope you wind up losing money because it's guys like you who make it harder for average people to get an iPad.
 

Blorzoga

macrumors 68030
May 21, 2010
2,560
66
Looks like Apple did what was necessary to remove these parasites from the hot new iDevice distribution eco-system. Cut them off financially at the knees by working with customs authorities and purposely flooding the biggest neighborhoods of potential end-user buyers, to thus keep them away from non-authorized resellers. Apple only has to randomly do this every other new device intro or so, and the front companies that pay people to get in line will get cold feet after taking their first loss.

Parasites?
 

Apple OC

macrumors 68040
Oct 14, 2010
3,667
4,328
Hogtown
personally I think scalpers lined up to sell back to Apple at cost Hilarious :cool:

whether they are buying up all the good seats to an event or buying available product so the general public cannot get said items ... scalpers are greedy jerks
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.