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Are the Scalpers loosing money?

gdourado

gdourado

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 22, 2010
468
66
Hello,
Just wanted to share something about the scalping...
Been watching ebay and saw a couple of fishy auctions.
Check this for example:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1111765516...84.m1497.l2649

A 64gb 5s ended for £770.
Ebay charges 10% comission. The payment is with paypal. Paypal charges fees.
The seller says the iPhone was purchased at an Apple store, so £709 price tag.
Is this scalper loosing money? Does it make sense?
Or will he just ship an empty box for £770?
Just got me thinking...

Cheers!
 
Your link has been shortened so we cant see. Chances are they ended it early due to getting a buy offer. For the grey, I can see them probably just breaking even now as store stock is more plentiful (and the only people willing to pay over the odds are the hardcore apple fans, the type who would get up early to queue).

I was in MK today and noticed 3 stereotypical scalpers leaving, all loaded up with phones which they shoved into a bag with more phones.
 
Mercenary said:
Your link has been shortened so we cant see. Chances are they ended it early due to getting a buy offer. For the grey, I can see them probably just breaking even now as store stock is more plentiful (and the only people willing to pay over the odds are the hardcore apple fans, the type who would get up early to queue).

I was in MK today and noticed 3 stereotypical scalpers leaving, all loaded up with phones which they shoved into a bag with more phones.
Click to expand...

Sorry about that.
Here it is:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111176551677?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

Cheers!
 
Looks like it didnt end early.

By my calculations, after all ebay and paypal fees he is making a £40 loss.

Plus hes priced postage at £4.10 which wont cover special delivery. Actually that doesnt cover 1st class recorded (we send a lot of boxes around that size, not phones BTW). So hes lost out on postage assuming he doesnt cheap out and send it without confirmation.
 
Mercenary said:
Looks like it didnt end early.

By my calculations, after all ebay and paypal fees he is making a £40 loss.

Plus hes priced postage at £4.10 which wont cover special delivery. Actually that doesnt cover 1st class recorded (we send a lot of boxes around that size, not phones BTW). So hes lost out on postage assuming he doesnt cheap out and send it without confirmation.
Click to expand...

So, by your math, there is definitely something fishy with that auction...
My guess is he will just ship the empty box, withdraw the funds and close his paypal account.
Hope the buyer can get is money back though...

Cheers!
 
Yeah I'm leaning towards a loss too, without doing the calculations; A new 16gb phone costs $700 with tax in most places, so you'd have to sell it for at least $800-850 to clear the ebay/paypal fees. In fact, according to this:
http://www.newlifeauctions.com/calc.html

At $800 fixed (buy it now), you'd get $696 after fees. :(
 
Keep in mind some people might get upgrade or new line pricing then sell the iPhone. Not all of the iPhones on eBay for resale were purchased at full retail price.
 
gdourado said:
So, by your math, there is definitely something fishy with that auction...
My guess is he will just ship the empty box, withdraw the funds and close his paypal account.
Hope the buyer can get is money back though...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

Nothing fishy. He just didnt get the insane bids he was hoping for :D Keep an eye on the seller. I'm guessing he will re-list.

----------
Raibyn said:
Keep in mind some people might get upgrade or new line pricing then sell the iPhone. Not all of the iPhones on eBay for resale were purchased at full retail price.
Click to expand...

"I have an IPHONE 5S 64GB White Factory Unlocked bought it from Apple Store Leeds."

So he did pay full price
 
He'll probably cancel the transaction and try to sell it again, worse comes to worse he can just return it. He definitely won't lose any money.
 
That particular auction doesn't seem right. In general though they don't lose money. Could just return the device for full refund rather then lose out at this point.
 
The scalpers in China certainly aren't at a loss.

The gold iPhone 5s is sold (and sells) at about twice as retail (which is already like 30% more than the US).
 
OneMike said:
That particular auction doesn't seem right. In general though they don't lose money. Could just return the device for full refund rather then lose out at this point.
Click to expand...

Well the answer here is simple. He will say to eBay he doesn't have the item anymore due to stock, etc. Eat whatever fees and just return the item to the apple store or try to resell it again. Buyer gets nothing.
 
Raibyn said:
Not saying he didn't, just saying you can't assume every phone for sale on eBay was purchased at full retail and therefore you can't assume the seller's profit/loss.
Click to expand...

But it says he did buy it from an apple store and it's unlocked. As per my quote from his auction
 
All you have to do is put the phone up for Buy it Now. If it doesn't sell for what you want, just return it to Apple for a full refund. Auctions are too risky.
 
The OP had this in the UK thread, so to clarify its a UK phone that will have been bought without a contract, basically its as is and unlocked.
 
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