can Apple do anything against people buying large quantities of AirPods and scalping them on eBay? When I ordered my Apple Watch day on the day orders where opened up I believe they limited one per customer . Waiting for my feb 16 delivery date of my AirPods and was checking eBay thier was a lot of sellers with large batches of AirPods selling them 300 to 400 bucks a pop one seller has sold 96 of them. Are they groups of people recruiting lots of straw buyers or have they tricked Apple into thinking they where a legitimate retail store and buying a bunch? I guess the on,y thing Apple can do is buy one and see if they can track the serial number down to entity they sold them to
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AirPod scalpers
- Thread starter sslade6752
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I believe the Apple stores were limiting two Airpod units per individual. My guess is if scalpers work in cells where they have multiple people go to stores, purchased the AirPods and then take the amount of Airpods they were able to purchase, then resell them on eBay.
UnFortunately, scalpers are doing more harm than good. Because they take stock away from the people that legitimately want to use them immediately, versus taking them and selling them online for a large amount of money.
if people stopped buying from scalpers then they would go away
When you factor in hype and demand for product, scalpers will always exist.
I've seen multiple posts in this forum where people openly admit that they have purchased multiple of Airpods just to re-sale on ebay for a profit. Greed is a part of our society. Sadly.
True but if I was interested in these and I managed to get 2 pairs I'm not sure I wouldn't go ahead and sell one pair for a profit to reduce the final cost I paid for mine if I could.
I guess I'm different than a lot of people. I only buy what I am going to use. I feel like if I bought more than I would use simply to make a profit I am helping to create the scenario where others aren't able to purchase the product also.
Supply & Demand - this has been going on since the beginning of time. 
You would have to be a complete idiot to pay that. Wether you have the money or not. I'm with the other guy stop buying them will scaplers exist yes but in a small number that it wouldn't matter
The EBay resellers with large quantities are likely not getting them from Apple. They are experienced in this and go through a distribution point buying cases at a time. Yes, $ under the table happens here. There is nothing Apple can do here other than have enough supply to meet demand that scalping isn't profitable. Had Apple not put itself in a corner here by announcing a shipping time before they were actually on the plane to warehouses this would not be happening. But I think Apple is enjoying the false scarcity they created. Too bad because AirPods actually are buzzworthy w/o false hype.
I have a pair that hasn't been opened... I wonder if they were worth it. Got them through att randomly yesterday via website.
Is it "Greed" or is it "Opportunity"? (EDIT: Yes, I know its both.)
Sure, there are people who buy purely with scalping in mind. But lets consider Hatchimals (this years Tickle me Elmo phenomenon). Its an egg that your kid takes care of and an hour later it hatches a mediocre toy. I know several friends who stumbled upon this cute toy months ago and picked one up with no knowledge of its resale value. But as Christmas came by then this $50 toy started selling for $500 on eBay.
So. The dilemma was... "Give it to my kid and make them happy. Or sell it and buy them 10x more happy".
Now that Christmas has past then I've asked around and a few friends kept their Hatchimals and a few sold them for maximum profit. And in retrospect, they all wish they sold it. Thats because the product was fine, but within the morning the kid hatched their eggs and moved on to the next $20 toy.
With AirPods then I can easily see how someone would choose to eBay it. Its not like these are the only headphones in the market (or in your tech drawer) so while these may be hard to find today, but in 2 months then they'll be everywhere.
Anyway, after much excitement and anticipation then I opened mine yesterday. They're okay I guess but now that "my egg has hatched" then I'm already thinking of going back to my LG Tone Pro's.
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You'll never stop them, so long as there are people stupid enough to pay such ridiculously inflated prices Apple, er I mean scalpers will find a way to source the product.
I had a look on eBay and Amazon, out of curiosity to check availability and the cheapest I found a pair was £80 over the actual price. Not a hope in hell im going to pay that, never do, we can't do anything about them doing it other than having the good sense not to buy from them. As much as I'd love to have AirPods today I'd rather wait for them to arrive sometime in the next 6 bloody weeks.
will find a way to source the product. I had a look on eBay and Amazon, out of curiosity to check availability and the cheapest I found a pair was £80 over the actual price. Not a hope in hell im going to pay that, never do, we can't do anything about them doing it other than having the good sense not to buy from them. As much as I'd love to have AirPods today I'd rather wait for them to arrive sometime in the next 6 bloody weeks.
To be fair it's probably both. Greedy people taking advantage of the opportunity presented to them.
So... your telling me I should sell mine on eBay for max profit? I don't consider myself audiophile at all.. how was the sound quality?
I dislike scalping as much as anyone else, but it seems premature to label them "greedy" without knowing their circumstances.
Well we're allowed differing opinions, thankfully we don't all think the same or the debates on here would be damn boring
But regardless of circumstances, charging significantly over the odds for an in-demand product within its release window falls pretty much directly into the definition of greed.
The vast majority, in fact no, not vast majority, all of the ones you see on sale in various places with prices £100 or more above the retail price are being sold for one thing and one thing only, monetary gain. Such significant margins are literally nothing but greed fed by opportunity.
I can say this with complete honesty because I've done it many times before, when I sell something, even when it's an in demand product that some people are charging silly money for and people are paying silly money for, I don't.
I ALWAYS price anything I sell fairly. So long as I recoup my outlay, or close to it, then I've nothing to complain about. I see no need to be greedy and manipulative to take advantage of people's desires.
But hey, that's just me, I'm not a greedy moral-less person who's willing to gouge people of their potentially hard earned, long saved money.
No different than anything in demand. If people want something bad enough, they will pay and scalpers know this.
Currently just look at Hatchimals and NES Classic.
Currently just look at Hatchimals and NES Classic.
I bought two and selling my extra to my buddy for my cost. But I wouldn't call people who sell them for a profit "greed" per se. If they make a poor living but they want Airpods for themselves but the only way they can afford a pair is by selling 3 other pairs I don't have an issue with that. They are trying to make a living too. Just not the traditional way.
Maybe they worked harder to get the Airpods than you did so they deserve every pair they were able to acquire.
It's easy to judge others from your point of view but you should look through other's eyes to see if it's fair.
If I can afford to buy more than one of something and know I could sell it for a profit, you bet i'll do it. It's not always about greed when making money. It's just simple business and supply and demand dictates whether it is viable or not.
You will wreck 50% of the comments or more on MacRumors with that logic!
Thanks for your contribution.