Oh like those Chinese sellers that had a gang of friends buy over 100 iPad 2's last year?
My original intention was to keep them, but now I want to get the 32GB version. I'm reselling them at the market price, which seems to be $650-750 for the 16GB, depending on location. I figured since I put in my time to pre-order and probably will have to wait a few weeks for the 32GB, someone who wants one now (and chose not to pre-order or opted not to line up on Friday) can compensate appropriately me for it.
But yeah the professional scalpers are scum.
Hi Everyone,
I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents here. Plenty of responses have debated the virtues or immorality of being a reseller so I will not continue to argue these points. I honestly do not think most of you realize how big the reselling business is here in the USA and in Asia. In fact, the vast majority of big time resellers for hard to find items happen to be Chinese. Not sure why this is, but it could be the mindset as I myself happen to dabble in this field with quite a bit of success (nearly 300 units re-sold).
A bit of background in this business: The best practices and ruthlessness of buying up these items were first honed and practiced when the Nintendo Wiis came out. I personally know of several resellers who became millionaires reselling these. So the similar set of skills (quick acting, team work, high credit limits, disguises, multiple credit cards, etc.) were all perfected then. Craigslist is usually the 3rd option or backup option when selling with mass quantities being sold online.
China:
It is so organized in China, that entire teams of 20 to 50 people at a time wearing colored armbands will rove the malls and streets near Apple store during release time commanded by a team leader. With military precision they will swarm the lines and push any other stragglers out of the way. They are willing to camp out for hours sometimes days and are paid by the hour and day. Of course their rates are very low, as most of these are migrant workers that got nothing better to do.
A master reseller was able to buy up 200 Ipad 2 last year in NYC by paying off a bunch of students and old Chinese grandmas. On opening day he then flew with these 200 units to Hong Kong where he had a stall setup and sold out of every single unit in 24 hours making over $40,000.
USA:
Most of the resellers here happen to be graduate students and professionals who have time. There are also a number of full time businesses solely setup to take advantage of these shortages. I remember calling an online retailer last year during the iPad 2 craze and they shared with me (not knowing I too was a reseller) they ended up canceling hundreds of orders as all those were being shipped to the same address with all Asian last names. I will not be shocked to find out there are informal call centers setup in basements and dorm rooms with students working in teams with multiple credit cards and shipping addresses to work the system...whether Apple or any other retailer.
The networks of resellers here often communicate on student billboards and other private messaging systems and Google groups. Their team work was so effective they were shipping hundreds each DAY of Ipad 2 units to China offloading points each week. Everyone getting paid a commission along the way.
I personally witnessed entire extended families queuing up in line in front of Apple stores every single day without fail at 4AM every morning. Some of these folks even hired Hispanics to wait in line with them! Each person was handed cash and were likely able to capture about 10 to 20 units per day per group. So to end up reselling a few hundred units was about the average and by no means that amazing. There are likely resellers who have sold over a thousand units with multiple teams in different parts of the country working together. Any roadblock put up by the retailers including Apple have not really lessened the impact of this gray economy as there are always methods to get around the quantity restrictions (whether through manpower or other techniques).
Summary:
So apologies if this post has offended anyone. I only wanted to share with you that the reselling business is unstoppable. It literally is more high paying in some situations than drug dealing...safer...and with literally no risk (if you keep your receipts) The opportunity to make quite a bit of money is too tempting and it just so happens the Asian folks are laughing all the way to the bank (both from the factory owners, suppliers, and down to the reseller level). It is of course your decision and judgement to partake in the craziness.
