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We've got to STOP the scammers/Scalpers

Velin said:
This is precisely why I would never, ever line up for a product sale. You should refuse to be a part of it, and you win by not participating.

People generally suck, especially in crowds.
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No, people don't. Hustling, aggressive, organized gang-like, black market scamming resellers who are up to no good do.
 
Three changes that will never happen, but might help:

1) Apple sells its new iPhone via auction on its online store for one week prior to selling in its physical retail stores.

2) Investigative TV shows take up the fight and do a show on scalping, including interviews with people queuing outside Apple stores.

3) Apple fanatics accept that by-and-large the days of standing in line with other kindred spirits are gone, and order exclusively online.
 
davidjearly said:
At my local store (Glasgow, Scotland), there were around 200 people in line by 6am this morning. I waited patiently until the Apple store staff began handing out the cards.

During the several hours of queuing I endured, no less than 10 people asked me to buy a handset for them to use up my full quota of 2 (I only wanted one). I was offered money to do this, but wouldn't budge. In addition, I witnessed this happening throughout the line, with the vast majority of people there clearly looking to make a profit by purchasing additional handsets to resell at a premium.

These people sicken me. Entrepreneurial spirit, this is not.

In any case, would a (partial) solution to this be the following:

1. Announce a 'reservation date', where people must book/pay by registered card prior to the day of release, and be given a 'voucher' (not dissimilar to the one handed out to those today) which is then redeemed at the store on launch day?

2. No on the day cash sales are permitted, for whatever reason, until say 6 weeks after launch. After this initial period, cash purchases can be made. This also has the advantage of vastly speeding up the sale process during the launch phase.

2. Any customers purchasing on contract via Apple would also go through a similar process, doing all the 'paperwork' for the contract online, and simply queuing on launch day to essentially collect the handset.

One thing is for certain, I will never queue for a product again. With that in mind, if it is Apple's aim to have genuine customers creating a buzz about the store on launch day, I suggest that something needs to be done.

Thoughts?
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I totally agree.

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KeepCalmPeople said:
Three changes that will never happen, but might help:

1) Apple sells its new iPhone via auction on its online store for one week prior to selling in its physical retail stores.

2) Investigative TV shows take up the fight and do a show on scalping, including interviews with people queuing outside Apple stores.

3) Apple fanatics accept that by-and-large the days of standing in line with other kindred spirits are gone, and order exclusively online.
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I agree with #3. #2 typically makes companies re-think because it
s bad press. As you stated in #3...as-is, the Apple experience is over.

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One of these women making her way around the line had crap crawling in her hair. I was horrified that at times she stood in front of me, wondering what would fly out of there and onto me. But yeah, sure, she just loves the iPhone. Yeah.
 
How about , before release, everyone is told that to purchase a phone you must have an Apple ID and must pay with Credit/Debit Card that is linked to the Apple ID?
Or if cash is to be used, ID that matches the person to the account must be produced.
 
saldawop said:
How about , before release, everyone is told that to purchase a phone you must have an Apple ID and must pay with Credit/Debit Card that is linked to the Apple ID?
Or if cash is to be used, ID that matches the person to the account must be produced.
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Would impact their sales greatly. I found the numbers a bit discerning. They said stock was going to be low yet they sold 9 mill with most being 5s.

If they want to fairly dish it out they could insist the phone is upgraded from post sales. But to be far that raises even more issues such as long queues and abolishing the 2 per person rule (which I find silly). Not to mention the same issue as Apple ID, impact of sales

Least it's comforting to know they're trying to kick repeat visitors now.
 
We've got to STOP the scammers/Scalpers

It amazes me that this scalper on ebay has been able to sell 53 64gb iPhone 5's for £1k each !!

Sorry can't upload the picture but the ebay users name is mobile hunters
 
requiring an apple ID means you aren't taking android market share

gazelle said that trade ins of galaxy phones went up 210% when the 5s came out.
 
jagss said:
It amazes me that this scalper on ebay has been able to sell 53 64gb iPhone 5's for £1k each !!

Sorry can't upload the picture but the ebay users name is mobile hunters
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Have you seen the ones sold for £2500 each!

Maybe we should set up dummy eBay accounts and bid £10,000 for each phone!
 
Pagemakers said:
Have you seen the ones sold for £2500 each!

Maybe we should set up dummy eBay accounts and bid £10,000 for each phone!
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Tempting, but at the very least that would break the terms and conditions of eBay, possibly messing up any further use of the site, and may even be illegal as you are falsely agreeing to buy the item.

What I do wonder is how likely they are to be paying tax on their profits, what with many of the scalpers using ridiculous amounts of cash to buy them. That is very unusual in this country, especially in the end of the market in which Apple operates. I wonder if someone might like to let HMRC know...
 
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