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There are 100s of Apple Pencils on eBay....

mikezmac

mikezmac

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Jun 4, 2014
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There are 100s of Apple Pencils on eBay and none in the stores.

I have one on order, I pre-ordered when the iPad pro 1st came out. Mine is scheduled to arrive on Dec. 7th. There is stock (for very short times) in Apple Stores and in Best Buy. Unfortunately all the people buying them up are reselling them on eBay. I work so I cannot hang at an Apple Store when the doors open.....

I was hoping to get one before the thanks giving holiday when I'd actually have the time to enjoy it.....

I'll admit I'm a bit frustrated at Apple. If they did the online ordering only and delivered those faster and when demand dropped it would get stock to stores. This would fill the supply vacuume and kill the grey after market eBay sales. This way the Apple people could get the Apple products.

Just sayin...
 
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mikezmac said:
There are 100s of Apple Pencils on eBay and none in the stores.

I have one on order, I pre-ordered when the iPad pro 1st came out. Mine is scheduled to arrive on Dec. 7th. There is stock (for very short times) in Apple Stores and in Best Buy. Unfortunately all the people buying them up are reselling them on eBay. I work so I cannot hang at an Apple Store when the doors open.....

I was hoping to get one before the thanks giving holiday when I'd actually have the time to enjoy it.....

I'll admit I'm a bit frustrated at Apple. If they did the online ordering only and delivered those faster and when demand dropped it would get stock to stores. This would fill the supply vacuume and kill the grey after market eBay sales. This way the Apple people could get the Apple products.

Just sayin...
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How do you know they're not fakes?
 
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i think just limiting to 2-3/customer might even do the trick. they already have a rule for no reservations and when i called the apple store they said they weren't able to let me purchase and hold it for me over the phone, its walk in only. not sure why this rule was made but not a purchase limit one.
 
davideotape said:
i think just limiting to 2-3/customer might even do the trick. they already have a rule for no reservations and when i called the apple store they said they weren't able to let me purchase and hold it for me over the phone, its walk in only. not sure why this rule was made but not a purchase limit one.
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The online orders had 2 per person limit, surprised the in-store doesn't.

Scalpers are going to do their thing as long as supply is constrained though. It still seems crazy that they launched without accessories ready to go in large quantities.
 
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When Apple products are in short supply, it's always a freaking mess and a literal free for all. But when a product is readily available, then one can reserve for pick up or have online orders served on a first-come/first-served basis, nice and orderly.

Apple must like it that way, because they have some very smart people who could rectify the situations if they so choose (order for in-store reservation, etc). I'm convinced they simply don't want to do anything about it.
 
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xraydoc said:
When Apple products are in short supply, it's always a freaking mess and a literal free for all. But when a product is readily available, then one can reserve for pick up or have online orders served on a first-come/first-served basis, nice and orderly.

Apple must like it that way, because they have some very smart people who could rectify the situations if they so choose (order for in-store reservation, etc). I'm convinced they simply don't want to do anything about it.
Click to expand...


It doesn't seem like it was that bad a few years ago. It was either in lines or online. If there was a mix the online orders were filled in a timely manner.

I think this is terrible as it is now, my 2 cents
 
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If there are a ton of them on eBay it seems like it's a sign that they are becoming more common. Maybe that's just the optimist in me though :). I'm not paying anything over retail even if it's killing me slowly to wait. December will be here soon enough!
 
goomba478 said:
If there are a ton of them on eBay it seems like it's a sign that they are becoming more common. Maybe that's just the optimist in me though :). I'm not paying anything over retail even if it's killing me slowly to wait. December will be here soon enough!
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They are sold out at bestbuy and all Apple stores in New England. Most stores are getting 5 or less in. Some of the Best Buy stores the employees buy the pens and eBay sell them.
 
I certainly understand the sentiment. I have lost money just avoiding the scalpers by placing orders with expedited shipping online...only to purchase two at my local Best Buy when they came in. I have no need for 4 pencils. I plan on keeping 2 (one for use and the second for spare/backup). The other two I will probably end up returning even though that would put me in the red.

I hope Apple never does this type of launch again. I could live with store-reservations running low but at least place a limit. The other alternative is to actually include the Pencil with the iPad Pro! However, they probably wouldn't do that because it would cut into their profit margin. Nevertheless, I would have been willing to pay the extra $100 anyways if they included it!
 
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masotime said:
Sell it to someone in this forum. You don't have to scalp, just cover your shipping costs :)
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I offered on another thread but it seems the shipments from Best Buy have alleviated the need. If you know anyone that needs/wants a Pencil have them DM me.
 
MacPro2014 said:
I hope Apple never does this type of launch again. I could live with store-reservations running low but at least place a limit. The other alternative is to actually include the Pencil with the iPad Pro! However, they probably wouldn't do that because it would cut into their profit margin. Nevertheless, I would have been willing to pay the extra $100 anyways if they included it!
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It wouldn't come close to cutting. There would still be a fair bit of padding. They still wouldn't do it, though.
 
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Look at this guy, $349 for a opened pencil. These people are the scum of the earth.
 

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Most likely they will be coming to retail stores in a steady stream. No reason to think the pattern from last week will stop.
 
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Pakaku said:
It wouldn't come close to cutting. There would still be a fair bit of padding. They still wouldn't do it, though.
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That is the sad reality. In all honesty...Microsoft priced their Surface counterparts better. I would have liked to purchase the Smart Keyboard as opposed to a 3rd party one but it doesn't have back lighting and was more. The Pencil should be a bit lower (maybe $60-70) but I still don't mind it given the performance.
 
iRobertM said:
Look at this guy, $349 for a opened pencil. These people are the scum of the earth.
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WOW, he must have been curious to the function. Even for scalpers that is a heavy premium (never mind an opened box).

Even more sad were the scalpers charging that much for pre-orders to ship in mid-December.
 
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MacPro2014 said:
WOW, he must have been curious to the function. Even for scalpers that is a heavy premium (never mind an opened box).

Even more sad were the scalpers charging that much for pre-orders to ship in mid-December.
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We can blame the scalpers, but really this is the result of a terrible supply / demand ratio. There's really only one party whom I think should shoulder the blame, and it should be Apple corporate for letting this happen.... Even if the sales staff have been unhelpful, they really have no control or knowledge of when shipments arrive in store, it's just a really bad launch all around.
 
How much is an item worth? The answer is, as much as someone will pay for it. If this is 500 years from now, and someone is selling a hostoric pencil, it will go up in value because they are rare. Well, these pencils are rare now, so it is worth more than the cost at apple since people can't get them.
 
Macalway said:
Most likely they will be coming to retail stores in a steady stream. No reason to think the pattern from last week will stop.
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There has been zero stock in Apple Stores for Saturday and Sunday in Hong Kong.
 
point is now there are more players in the game (best buy, staples). its up to the masses to do their own homework and check local stores now instead of ONLY waiting for apple to pony up and/or then hitting up fleabay.

have to admit, the scalpers had a good week last week, but that is about to come crashing down now....
 
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