That's not the issue, what your doing is perfectly fine and you would be able to buy a phone because you have Tmobile. But it would prevent the ones that don't have Tmobile and have no intent on ever being a Tmobile customer.
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So many scalpers!
- Thread starter campingsk8er
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Last year and I am sure the same this year they will sell 2 per PERSON in the stores. I stood in line and watched "families" (from Grandma's who could barely stand up down the family tree) buying 8-10 phones and whipping out rolls of cash to pay for them obviously not for personal use. That's fine, that's capitalism, but what irked me is APPLE had no way to control the lines. These people, I mean "family members" would show up during the wait so the front of the line would keep growing and growing and people further back would slowly lose the chance to purchase their ONE device.
Had they simply handed out numbered tickets PER PERSON as they arrived in line so anyone showing up later is SOL it would have at least been fair, but to sit for an hour and watch many dozens of people saunter in to join their <cough> family <cough> in the front of the line was very annoying.
I blame APPLE for allowing the obvious scalping and having no control over the lines but why should Apple care (no pun intended)? If they can do it with concert tickets they can do it with iPhones but Apple simply isn't interested.
As for the nationality of these "extended" families it was pretty obvious what was going on and where these phones were headed but again that's the American way and I have no problem with that my problem is Apple could EASILY control the lines simply by handing out wristbands, tickets or whatever on a PER PERSON basis. It will not stop the problem but would reduce it and make it a bit more fair for those who really want to buy something for themselves.
Had they simply handed out numbered tickets PER PERSON as they arrived in line so anyone showing up later is SOL it would have at least been fair, but to sit for an hour and watch many dozens of people saunter in to join their <cough> family <cough> in the front of the line was very annoying.
I blame APPLE for allowing the obvious scalping and having no control over the lines but why should Apple care (no pun intended)? If they can do it with concert tickets they can do it with iPhones but Apple simply isn't interested.
As for the nationality of these "extended" families it was pretty obvious what was going on and where these phones were headed but again that's the American way and I have no problem with that my problem is Apple could EASILY control the lines simply by handing out wristbands, tickets or whatever on a PER PERSON basis. It will not stop the problem but would reduce it and make it a bit more fair for those who really want to buy something for themselves.
Only looks to be $100 premium in USA.. I suspect Vietnam is where the big premiums are this year as they are no Apple stores in that country
Yes no mainland Chinese this time, I went to Westfield valley fair and the queue was much shorter, perhaps one third the size. I also noticed that they were chatting in Vietnamese mostly.
I'm really glad that Apple is improving its supply chains. I'm hoping to join the queue next year, where I can chat with real Apple fans, not the annoying scalpels who don't really love Apple products.
I'm really glad that Apple is improving its supply chains. I'm hoping to join the queue next year, where I can chat with real Apple fans, not the annoying scalpels who don't really love Apple products.
The supply looks really good right now. I doubt most scalpers will be able to make much of anything this time around unless they have direct Chinese connections to sell to. Apple will be seeing lots of returns next week after they realize that there is little profit to be made this time.
I'm at my local Apple Store right now and they're pretty confident that there are enough phones to satisfy everyone in line plus more. This wasn't the case with the 6 Plus last year or the gold 5s the year before.
I'm at my local Apple Store right now and they're pretty confident that there are enough phones to satisfy everyone in line plus more. This wasn't the case with the 6 Plus last year or the gold 5s the year before.
I remember being in an apple store a couple years ago when a group of about 10 tourist came in and wanted to buy several iphones each. None of them spoke a word of English so it was funny seeing the employees try to talk with basically just hand gestures. They sold them to the people, it was so many iphones each person had 2 of those backpack bags. One older guy paid for it and sat there giving cash to each person as they did their transaction. It was an interesting thing to observe.
Last year was sickening.... I actually ordered online but I wanted to queue to experience what it's like to join Apple fans. All I really saw were huge lines of scalpers with no hope of getting it even having queued overnight. It really looks much more pleasant now.
Last year you could walk into the Apple store the day after and still get a regular 6 in many variations. The plus model was the one in short supply for MONTHS. My T-mobile pre-order of the 6 Plus took over 2 months to ship. I hope that doesn't happen this year.
Nope, the real scalpers just send the iPhones overseas. There's an expansive network that gets the phones over there where they sell for a tremendous premium to weathly buyers who cannot get them otherwise.
Outstanding post and a very valid point. There's no way to fully eliminate scalpers, but your Apple Store should absolutely hand out hard-to-reproduce numbers so people can't cut in line. Easy, cheap, and necessary. Honestly, you should write to the manager of your store and share your idea with him/her.
I buy mine at full price as well, but would gladly get locked in for a period of time, say six months, compared to all these scum scalpers grabbing phones.
Hong Kong is the worst. Every year when a new iPhone launches, literally everyone snaps up the devices (some even go as far as to create multiple Apple IDs in a bid to buy more, even though a maximum of 2 per person is enforced) and then resells them to the mainland Chinese lingering outside the Apple Stores to make a quick buck. There are even websites and Facebook pages that post live updates on the prices on the black market! Thanks to these people, Apple has long banned walk-in purchases and implemented convoluted procedures for anyone who wishes to buy an iPhone in Hong Kong. These scalpers would also return the products for a refund if they could no longer make a profit. Scummy move if you ask me.
Literally everyone is a scalper in Hong Kong. It's improbable for any real user to buy an iPhone in the first week.
Literally everyone is a scalper in Hong Kong. It's improbable for any real user to buy an iPhone in the first week.
The thing is nobody should have to write to the Apple Store managers to encourage them to come up with common sense solutions to a known problem. For once, this needs to fall on Angela Ahrendts because this is something under her purview and she is getting paid an enormous amount of money to control the retail experience. One would hope she could think this through herself and get the managers to implement it. Normally on this forum people blame her for all sorts of things that aren't her responsibility. But this time, it is on her.
AT&T store managed its lines very smartly when I stood in line for the IPhone 5s. An employee came out with a clipboard and made note of who was in line and what we each wanted. She then went back to check our requests against inventory to let us know if waiting would be futile or not. And she and other employees regulated the line against cutters. It wasn't left to customers to duke it out amongst themselves.
As for the races of scalpers, well I'm not a fan of political correctness so I'm not offended. I understand where you folk are coming from and I don't begrudge the resentment. But as an Asian myself...or at least half-Asian with a mischievous sense of humor, I can't help but read some of the comments and want to go down to the Apple Store with a huge backpack and stand in line with my Asian mom and any of her cousins we can round up and look around and wink at peeps
who give us the scrutinizing gaze and possibly photograph us for evidence to back up their rants on social media...then as we get toward the front of the line, take a bow, leave and go off to shop the rest of the mall. But...I'll be too busy here at home waiting for my iPhones to arrive. 
there's plenty of good ideas but will anyone ever listen to them? it's unfortunate but not much anyone can do. no one follows the rules when it comes to the morning of it seems. these scalpers are probably paid a small amount to stand in line for someone else. I agree with TB07-NJ and that's how it should work. ticket, wrist band or something to that affect. no ticket, no wristband, no iPhone or back of the line.
I saw on the news them interviewing people in line at the Pasadena store. She went to the middle of the line and woke up an older chinese man and asked why he wanted the new iPhone. He said "Apple!" and went back to bed.
that's why I always just pre-order online, so I won't be stereotyped as a scalper waiting in line
that's what I always do anyways.At the end of the day, just buy it online
