Help me solve this eBay iPhone pricing mystery!

November 30, 2007 1:56 PM

Can someone explain to me why iPhones are routinely selling for way more than retail price on eBay? There's no shortage of 'em.

I was checking eBay for iPhone auctions because I was wondering how much I might be able to get for my used one. I was thinking if I could get a couple hundred bucks, it would help me justify getting a new one if Apple comes out with a 3G iPhone in January.

Anyway, what's going on here? New in box, $515. $540. 3 for $1650. Sheesh, I'm tempted to go buy a few at the Apple Store and list them on eBay, but I really don't get it. These aren't even unlocked, they're factory-sealed in their boxes. I don't understand what the added value is if they're selling iPhones in the box like they come from Apple. Why is there even a market for iPhones at above retail price when there is no iPhone shortage?

posted by evariste to shopping (17 comments total)

I should have added that 8 GB iPhones are sold at the Apple Store for just $399.
posted by evariste at 1:57 PM on November 30, 2007

I noticed the same thing the other day and wondered the same thing. The answer to your question can be found on the buyers page for that $515 auction.

Buyer 1: Location: Greece
Buyer 2: Location: Germany
Buyer 3: Location: France

In short, these are folks who are not fortunate enough to have a friend in the US to go into the Apple store and buy one for them. Apple's new policy to require credit cards for purchases (no cash!) and, presumably, check numbers and refuse to sell more than 2 or 3 to any one person prevents other.
posted by phearlez at 2:02 PM on November 30, 2007 [1 favorite]

emmm other solutions or other folks from helping these folks out. Premature post!
posted by phearlez at 2:03 PM on November 30, 2007

Are you sure these phones are not unlocked so you are not tethered to AT&T?
posted by caddis at 2:03 PM on November 30, 2007

Are they actually selling at those prices you see or is that the bottom bid that they accept? I see lots of crap on EBay that has high minimums but never generates a single bid.
posted by 45moore45 at 2:05 PM on November 30, 2007

Are you sure these phones are not unlocked so you are not tethered to AT&T?

Yes, look at the auctions. They're sealed in their retail packaging. There are also auctions for unlocked ones, but the reason those fetch a premium price is no mystery to me.
posted by evariste at 2:06 PM on November 30, 2007

Are they actually selling at those prices you see or is that the bottom bid that they accept? I see lots of crap on EBay that has high minimums but never generates a single bid.

Those are completed auctions, so you're looking at final sale prices. I was specifically looking at completed auctions in order to get some realistic pricing data.
posted by evariste at 2:07 PM on November 30, 2007

Buyer 1: Location: Greece
Buyer 2: Location: Germany
Buyer 3: Location: France

In short, these are folks who are not fortunate enough to have a friend in the US to go into the Apple store and buy one for them.

I can see Greece. But they're already for sale in Germany, and about to be in France! So are these buyers practicing their own personal currency arbitrage? 399 Euros are 590 dollars, so after you put shipping it across the ocean into the mix, I can't see how they're saving much money, if any.
posted by evariste at 2:20 PM on November 30, 2007

Does a US iPhone even work in Europe? I'm thinking this has to be some sort of scam, but I'm not seeing what.
posted by happyturtle at 2:31 PM on November 30, 2007

No cellphone networks in Canada sell the iphone, so everyone here with one has bought them from places like ebay.
posted by loiseau at 2:38 PM on November 30, 2007

The iPhone in Germany, to my knowledge, is sold through T-Mobile exclusively. Here in the US where I can (and did) walk into the Apple store and plunk down a credit card and buy one without signing anything committing to a contract. German purchasers may not have that option and if they're anti-contract cranks like myself they may prefer to pay a premium for one they can jailbreak and have nobody the wiser about.
posted by phearlez at 2:45 PM on November 30, 2007

I see equipment on ebay all the time that's marked up significantly over retail, especially music equipment. I figure it's scammers fishing for suckers.
posted by lekvar at 2:46 PM on November 30, 2007

The baseband firmware changed after ~ November 9th to include a new signed bootloader that is (so far) resistant to hacking. Any recent purchases of 1.1.2 phones probably have this, so there is extra value in older, 1.1.1 or even 1.0.2 phones if you intend to carrier-unlock.
posted by squid patrol at 3:09 PM on November 30, 2007

Yes, it's international buyers. The same thing is happening with the OLPC. The "sell" for us$400 but only to North Americans. One sold to the UK last week for 750 or something like that.
posted by dobbs at 4:07 PM on November 30, 2007

Ebay frequently has % off sales when payment is by Paypal, so that may account for some of the differential. I've seen as much as 20% off, a substantial amount for something like an iphone.

Also people who pay via Paypal often don't treat that as real money--perhaps they've gotten gifts that way, or receive money for doing surveys, etc. That sort of devaluation leads to people paying higher prices.
posted by aerotive at 4:23 PM on November 30, 2007

Is this just an eBay thing, rather than specific to the iPhone? I'm currently keeping an eye out for a particular homeschool math curriculum on eBay and it regularly goes for the same or more than it would sell for new--sometimes significantly more when shipping is factored in. My sister-in-law used to sell things from her store (cosmetics) on eBay and regularly got more money than she'd have gotten if people walked into her shop at the mall to buy the stuff. There is that element of getting caught up in the auction and wanting to "win." It seems to me, also, that a lot of buyers don't bother to research what something costs new.
posted by not that girl at 4:29 PM on November 30, 2007

I paid $500 on eBay, and I live in Canada. I'm satisfied that I got my moneys worth.
posted by blue_beetle at 11:37 PM on November 30, 2007