Selling 4s pre-orders on ebay

[colonelbutt]

I really don't approve of this practice.

Buying an iPhone on pre-order and then selling it on eBay.

Anyway, I have been following a few sales to see how much they are going for and have been laughing to myself.

For example.

1. iPhone 4S 64gb sold for £681. This means the person gets £681-40(ebay fees)-20(paypal fees) = £621. It cost them £699 so a £78 loss

2. iPhone 4S 16gb sold for £510. the person gets £455, so a loss of £44

I guess there won't be many people doing this next year

 

[JoJoCal19]

So people actually got smart up and stopped overpaying for stuff just to have it day 1? Good.

 

[mrgreen4242]

I think it's more a factor there being a lot of 4S's available at retail. Yes, they sold over a million of them in a day, but seeing as the casing manufacturing hasn't changed at all, and the internals manfuacturing has changed very little they've probably been turning these out like mad. The only reason there was a semi-limited supply at launch, I'd guess, is that they could only flash so many of them with the iOS 5 GM between when it was done and when they had to ship them out. People were Pre-ordering 32gb models on Sprint.com yesterday and getting them today.

No reason to buy overpriced scalped units.

 

[b24pgg]

There are plenty of people around the world in countries that don't officially have the iPhone 4S yet that are still willing to pay well above MSRP.

 

[dwd3885]

Also you have to remember that some people have to pay full price for an iPhone and some are able to get the fully subsidized price. If you don't really want an iPhone but you know demand is high, and you are eligible for full upgrade, why NOT buy the iPhone and sell? You buy for $199 and sell for $700 (average price on eBay for 16gb AT&T). Seems like you would definitely be making money.

The iPhone is also sold out nationwide and after today will be sold out in retail stores too. It's really smart actually. And I'm sure SJ would approve.

 

[maflynn]

I really don't approve of this practice.

Why not?

Its capitalism. Supply and demand, if the supply is short and people are willing to spend $$ to get one, who cares if someone is willing to sell them theirs on ebay.

What I don't approve is people waiting in line for hours/days and then try to buy 50 of the phones (to sell online) but apple doesn't allow such tactics. So if you wait in line or preorder and decide you can make some money then go for it.

 

[Young Spade]

What I don't approve is people waiting in line for hours/days and then try to buy 50 of the phones (to sell online) but apple doesn't allow such tactics. So if you wait in line or preorder and decide you can make some money then go for it.

Why? It's capitalism?

See what I did there?

And before you drop the line of it being unfair or uncouth, I'd argue I'm doing the same thing as you stated, only with more phones.

 

[maflynn]

Why? It's capitalism?

See what I did there?

And before you drop the line of it being unfair or uncouth, I'd argue I'm doing the same thing as you stated, only with more phones.

I'm not sure what your point is in your reply. I guess I'm not seeing what you did there.

 

[colonelbutt]

Also you have to remember that some people have to pay full price for an iPhone and some are able to get the fully subsidized price. If you don't really want an iPhone but you know demand is high, and you are eligible for full upgrade, why NOT buy the iPhone and sell? You buy for $199 and sell for $700 (average price on eBay for 16gb AT&T). Seems like you would definitely be making money.

The iPhone is also sold out nationwide and after today will be sold out in retail stores too. It's really smart actually. And I'm sure SJ would approve.

yes, but the ones they are selling have been unlocked

No provider (in the UK) sells them unlocked
So they MUST have come directly from apple

 

[kultschar]

I bet the eBay sellers making a loss don't follow thru with the auction!!

 

[maflynn]

I bet the eBay sellers making a loss don't follow thru with the auction!!

Yeah, but wouldn't that affect their feedback, plus they could just have a high reserve.

 

[ZBoater]

I really don't approve of this practice.

Buying an iPhone on pre-order and then selling it on eBay.

Anyway, I have been following a few sales to see how much they are going for and have been laughing to myself.

For example.

1. iPhone 4S 64gb sold for £681. This means the person gets £681-40(ebay fees)-20(paypal fees) = £621. It cost them £699 so a £78 loss

2. iPhone 4S 16gb sold for £510. the person gets £455, so a loss of £44

I guess there won't be many people doing this next year

You are assuming they just didn't burn their upgrade and made a few hundred £...

 

[dwd3885]

You are assuming they just didn't burn their upgrade and made a few hundred £...

right. I actually am considering doing this. I have a Galaxy S2 on ATT, ordered the iPhone because i have an upgrade and if I don't like it, i'll just sell it and make 400 bucks easy. How is that not ok?

 

[macingman]

if the supply is short

Supply isn't short....

 

[maflynn]

Then, those folks selling them won't be getting the premium pricing - the market will only allow what people are willing to pay

 

[dwd3885]

Then, those folks selling them won't be getting the premium pricing - the market will only allow what people are willing to pay

you honestly DON'T think people won't pay top dollar for this? Just look at eBay. Buying for $199 and selling for even 600 is good enough for most people not interested in iPhones.

 

[maflynn]

you honestly DON'T think people won't pay top dollar for this? Just look at eBay. Buying for $199 and selling for even 600 is good enough for most people not interested in iPhones.

No, I said the market will dictate what people will be willing to pay. So far that's been a premium.

 

[colonelbutt]

right. I actually am considering doing this. I have a Galaxy S2 on ATT, ordered the iPhone because i have an upgrade and if I don't like it, i'll just sell it and make 400 bucks easy. How is that not ok?

thats perfectly fine

I was talking about folk getting launch day pre-orders direct from apple

I understand capitalism (I think ) and I don't mind people doing anything

however if one person ordering 10 phones just to sell is preventing a genuine user getting their phone on launch day (and having to wait a week or two), that could be classed as not fair

apple only only 2 purchases per person, so this should work, but I have heard of people ordering much more and getting them

 

[Young Spade]

Supply isn't short....

Seeing that "short" is subjective, and everybody who ordered after the 7th have to wait a few weeks to get their phone, I would call that short.

100000000 phones isn't "short"; however, it IS short when 2000000000000 people order them.

No, I said the market will dictate what people will be willing to pay. So far that's been a premium.

So far? Have you looked at iPhone 4 sales on Ebay before the 4S launch? They still went for over 300 easy. No matter what the capacity was.