You have to love E-Bay - Just sold my three iPods for an average of 83% of retail in advance of Wednesday's announcements... Money is in my PayPal account just waiting to order Steve's latest and greatest...
You can read the main details below but I also wrote a longer article about this on my blog at:
http://stockphotojournal.blogspot.com/2007/09/1-year-old-ipods-hold-83-of-original.html
I'm a huge iPod freak (I've purchased 27 iPods over the years either for myself or for family and friends) and just auctioned off my three current iPods on E-Bay in anticipation of new ones being announced at the Apple event on September 5th. (Please Apple - release a touch screen iPod with WiFi !!!) I'm shocked (and thrilled) that my three iPods collectively sold for 83% of the purchase price one year ago. (This figure includes selling one at a discount because I lost the earbuds.) How many other consumer electronics products hold 83% of their value (used no less) one full year later?
Full disclaimer - The 83% does not factor in E-Bay fees. At the same time though, it also does not include the fact that I usually recover about 50% of my E-Bay fees as part of my shipping costs. It also doesn't take into consideration the fact that I purchase my iPods at a 5% discount from retail from my company's personalized online Apple store. Factoring in all these items, the percentage is virtually the same - I've just chosen to ignore it for the purpose of sharing the numbers...
The 1st iPod I sold was my 1 year old Black 30 Gig iPod. It retails for $249 at the Apple Store and has sold for that price ever since I purchased it in September, 2006. This is the iPod that I sold without the earbuds yet it still sold for $187.50 or 75.3% of the original retail price. It cost me $3.32 per month to enjoy this iPod for almost a full year.
The 2nd iPod I sold was my 1 year old Product Red 4 Gig Nano. It retails for $199 at the Apple Store and has sold for that price ever since I purchased it in October, 2006. This iPod sold for $162.50 or 81.66% of the original retail price. It cost me $3.04 per month to enjoy this iPod for a full year.
The 3rd iPod I sold was my 1 year old Black 80 Gig iPod. It retails for $349 at the Apple Store and has sold for that price ever since I purchased it in September, 2006. This iPod sold for $315.00 or 90.26% of the original retail price. It cost me $2.83 per month to enjoy this iPod for a full year.
The total selling price of these three iPods was $665.00 or 83.43% of the total retail price of $797.00. Wow !!! It's important to note that I do take extremely good care of my iPods which allows me to list them as "like new" and I do keep all of the packaging, etc. so when it's time to sell, I can offer a complete package to the buyer. It no doubt helps as well that I have a 300+ positive feedback profile on E-Bay so buyers know that they can trust me...
Like I said - I'm a huge iPod fan and upgrade my iPods whenever new ones come out. Some people thing it costs me a lot to do this but as you can see, if you're smart about it, you can always have a new iPod, always have an iPod within it's warranty period, and never spend a dime on Apple Care for just a few dollars per month.
You can read the main details below but I also wrote a longer article about this on my blog at:
http://stockphotojournal.blogspot.com/2007/09/1-year-old-ipods-hold-83-of-original.html
I'm a huge iPod freak (I've purchased 27 iPods over the years either for myself or for family and friends) and just auctioned off my three current iPods on E-Bay in anticipation of new ones being announced at the Apple event on September 5th. (Please Apple - release a touch screen iPod with WiFi !!!) I'm shocked (and thrilled) that my three iPods collectively sold for 83% of the purchase price one year ago. (This figure includes selling one at a discount because I lost the earbuds.) How many other consumer electronics products hold 83% of their value (used no less) one full year later?
Full disclaimer - The 83% does not factor in E-Bay fees. At the same time though, it also does not include the fact that I usually recover about 50% of my E-Bay fees as part of my shipping costs. It also doesn't take into consideration the fact that I purchase my iPods at a 5% discount from retail from my company's personalized online Apple store. Factoring in all these items, the percentage is virtually the same - I've just chosen to ignore it for the purpose of sharing the numbers...
The 1st iPod I sold was my 1 year old Black 30 Gig iPod. It retails for $249 at the Apple Store and has sold for that price ever since I purchased it in September, 2006. This is the iPod that I sold without the earbuds yet it still sold for $187.50 or 75.3% of the original retail price. It cost me $3.32 per month to enjoy this iPod for almost a full year.
The 2nd iPod I sold was my 1 year old Product Red 4 Gig Nano. It retails for $199 at the Apple Store and has sold for that price ever since I purchased it in October, 2006. This iPod sold for $162.50 or 81.66% of the original retail price. It cost me $3.04 per month to enjoy this iPod for a full year.
The 3rd iPod I sold was my 1 year old Black 80 Gig iPod. It retails for $349 at the Apple Store and has sold for that price ever since I purchased it in September, 2006. This iPod sold for $315.00 or 90.26% of the original retail price. It cost me $2.83 per month to enjoy this iPod for a full year.
The total selling price of these three iPods was $665.00 or 83.43% of the total retail price of $797.00. Wow !!! It's important to note that I do take extremely good care of my iPods which allows me to list them as "like new" and I do keep all of the packaging, etc. so when it's time to sell, I can offer a complete package to the buyer. It no doubt helps as well that I have a 300+ positive feedback profile on E-Bay so buyers know that they can trust me...
Like I said - I'm a huge iPod fan and upgrade my iPods whenever new ones come out. Some people thing it costs me a lot to do this but as you can see, if you're smart about it, you can always have a new iPod, always have an iPod within it's warranty period, and never spend a dime on Apple Care for just a few dollars per month.
