iCashedIn: iPhones Flood eBay
Duncan Riley
70 comments »
No surprise really: iPhone buyers are flooding eBay with their new iPhones with bids starting from $1 and buy it now prices as high as $1500.
For those outside of the United States desperate to get their hands on an iPhone, a number of listings offer worldwide shipping; this listing for example posts to Australia for $50. However be aware that the iPhone does not support simcards and today no one has worked out how to unlock the phone from AT&T, although you could always buy it now and work that part out later (or use the iPhone as an expensive video iPod). MacNN has screenshots on the iPhone’s innards for those interested in hacking it.
If you do sign up for an AT&T plan and live outside the US, be warned that AT&T’s international roaming rates would make a drunken sailor blush.
lol - ever the opportunists.
well, for what it’s worth…it’s worth it for many folks.
wait in line for some hours, then flip it on ebay. all in all, it can easily come to $100/hour for your “work”
“However be aware that the iPhone does not support simcards and today no one has worked out how to unlock the phone from AT&T”
what on earth are you talking about - the iphone is currently GSM only - OF COURSE it uses sim cards. also, there are plenty of international listings offering iphone unlocking (whether are not they can actually do it, I can’t say, but you can’t say “no one” has worked it out…).
I show one ebay auction up over $35k:
http://www.centernetworks.com/.....the-iphone
which is now over 60k! omg… clearly someone is playing games.
TechCrunch and Michael when you’re back: Can you please lower the threshold of iPhone articles? I love hearing about companies that are under the radar making a buzz and new technology, not all this bunched up stuff onto a phone.
iPhone smells.
5 out of 6 threads on the main page are about iPhone…I mean HONESTLY have some integrity, give us some actual new, instead of a 5th thread about iPhone and how Kevin Rose from Digg just got one, and we need to fellate him for his newfound greatness
“although you could always buy it now and work that part out later (or use the iPhone as an expensive video iPod)”
According to the Apple web site, the iPod capabilities won’t work on a non-activated iPhone. Kinda sketchy, since they’re making you pay full price for the hardware to begin with.
“Minimum new 2-year wireless service plan and activation fee required to activate iPhone features, including iPod; plans are subject to AT&T credit approval.”
Because someone bidding = someone paying.
Just like the last go around with PS3 auctions, quite a lot of people never PAY for these auctions. But hey, whatever, feed into the hype.
I just won an iphone from http://www.profilefly.com
Haha, just kidding! But seriously, everyone better get used to seeing that everywhere!
My suggestion is to wait 6 months, then you will get the best deal… real world pricing and performance on an iPhone
Check the history on the expensive ones.
5 out of 6 threads on the main page are about iPhone…I mean HONESTLY have some integrity, give us some actual new, instead of a 5th thread about iPhone and how Kevin Rose from Digg just got one, and we need to fellate him for his newfound greatness
machael likes sucking kevin cock
Yesterday, I came across an article in the WSJ with a surprising
conclusion: AAPL may be overvalued!
To reach this conclusion, they compare AAPL’s handset business with Nokia’s (NOK):
Since the iPhone was unveiled on January 9th this year, shares of AAPL went up from $85 to over $120. This has increased AAPL market cap in $34 billion. That means investors are valuing the iPhone business in $34 billion. That’s a lot of iPhones! But AAPL is expecting to sell only 10 million iPhones by the end of 2008.
Compare this to Nokia (NOK), who is expected to sell 550 million phones in the same period, and has a $108 billion market cap.
So NOK sells 55 phones for every iPhone. Yet its market cap is only worth 3 times as AAPL’s iPhone business. This doesn’t make sense in my book.
So what do you think? Should we short APPL and bet against Steve Jobs? (I never thought I would say that!)
Manny Backus
http://www.PortfolioCrafter.com
What a price to pay. Absolutely amazing. Why not sell the iPhone at an even higher price from the start and then lower the price gradually. I think this is called price skimming vs penetration pricing. Now what is happening is people are capturing the value Apple could be realized….maybe it is small potatoes or rather pears for Apple since it does get the benefit of the hype over how high auction prices are.
I must be one of the few that doesn’t give a rats ass about the iPhone, there are far better alternatives out there… at a lower price/pain threshold. I was hoping TechCrunch wouldn’t buy into this over-hyped product… time to shut my internet for a few days until this spills over.
Jon
Sweet, glorious specs of the 11.6 millimeter device (that’s frickin’ thin, by the way) include a 3.5-inch 480 x 320 touchscreen display with multi-touch support and a proximity sensor to turn off the screen when it’s close to your face
http://www.mp4-converter.net/zune-converter/
Apple iPhone == Apple’s “Jump the Shark”
Just wait and see.
as far as i can tell, there’s plenty of supply to meet the demand. no reason to be buying one off ebay.
What a joke… want an iPhone? Drive over to Apple store in Schaumburg, IL and buy one for $499 or $599… I did tonight and the way back from a movie, I did not wait 1 minute even, bought 2 and walked out… they had about 300 of them sitting behind the counter.
Love those tards who stood in-line all-day.
if anyone is still looking for them, wiipeddler has 4gb and 8gb versions, 1 of each
wiipeddler.com
I hope this one helps.
http://davidcann.com/iphone/
iBored. Seriously Mike, your blog deserves more. The iPhone may be a great device but does it really warrant such attention? At least it is a relief to know that this hype will not last long. So sJobs can enjoy the spotlight while it is on!
Way back TC wrote something about mylivesearch. how about writing mylivesearch.com, duncan ?
I’ve been waiting for aussie search hype. Any news from them.
http://www.mylivesearch.com/search/index.php
The number of bids on those are telling. I haven’t heard any reports of widespread shortages so until that happens, I don’t see these auctions going very far.
99% of the bids are hovering around $600 to $700, so obviously noone is going to make $1000K profit. Actually the stores have ample supply, they are just limiting to a few hundred items/day, so anyone who wants one will easily be able to buy one in a few days tops, probably faster than buying it on ebay and having it fedex’ed.
so far its shaping up to be like the PS3 fiasco…lots of initial demand(mostly to resell on ebay).
i can;t afford this a this price. i will have to wait until mass public release.
just a bubble
Just appeared on KQED’s “This Week in Northern California” talking about the iPhone.
http://www.sparkminute.com/?p=198
Apple store in SF as of 9pm had plenty of stock and no lines at all. It took minutes to walk up to the counter and request the phone.
Fools.
Can the web features be use without activation of the phone ?
All of the Apple stores in California show availability of iPhones for tomorrow according to Apple’s website. What was everyone waiting in line for?
Engadget, Gizmodo, TechCrunch, Dave Winer, Chris Pirillo, Vaspers, etc. are revealing the many negatives of the crappy iPhone, a brilliant scam by Apple and evil AT&T.
There are 30 reasons why you should NOT waste your money on an iPhone. Pirillo lists 20, and I added 10 more in a comment on his blog.
Is it true that the battery cannot be replaced? Why is the Euro version 3G? AT&T is screwing users like unbelievably. It’s a sad and laughable disaster and the backlash has already begun.
Vaspers slogans to live by: “if it’s on sale, it’s stale” and “if it’s hyped too much, do not touch”.
Slow network, slow or unavailable activation, smudgey, tiny text, tiny keyboard (needs stylus), DRM, proprietary software, no video, lousy 2 megapixel camera, etc.
P.S. Michael Arrington: on a happier note, I want to thank you for making the Conduit custom toolbar FREE (take that you VC sharks!).
I made a Vaspers Toolbar and a toolbar for a client, Naturally Yours Blog.
The usability of Conduit custom toolbars is absolutely incredible, almost hard to believe! Fast, easy, sublime!
You may quote me.
;^)
A NOTE FOR INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS - the iPhone MUST be activated, and remain on an active ATT line to even use the video/audio iPod functions. You cannot simply buy this thing and use it as a wide-screen iPod/address book. You have to pay for service, which is not available overseas nor will it be available for a long time (or ever) on this version of the phone.
if it was available in my country, would buy it..
dennis
http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-.....l-address/
I’ll give it a year and i should be able to get one free when i upgrade on my contract.
Quite frankly, I’m getting tired of techcrunch only covering companies/products/brands that are either well-established (e.g. Google, Apple, etc.) or those that Arrington has shares in. Seriously, are you (techcrunch folks) ever going to talk about real innovative companies/start-ups…. ever?!?!
Forget the iPhone - Send and receive money for only 50 cents via your mobile with KushCash. See? Not boring.
Like everything else I suppose it will get cheaper with time. But for those who would to jump onto the bandwagon, then you may have to pay a premium price. Thankfully it doesn’t concern me, well until its available in this part of the world.
It’s time to buy some RIM stock.
You people thinking that it will get cheaper are stupid.
iPod pricing “settle” at a certain level and never dip. The only thing that changes is that there MIGHT, note the word, be multiple product lines targeting various markets with different price tolerances.
But iPhones will NEVER be cheaper than an iPod. NEVER. EVER. EVER. Get it through your stupid thick skulls. NEVER.
iPhone v2.0 is also NOT coming until 12 months after today, maybe even longer. NOT COMING. Get that through your stupid thick fucking skulls as well. Everything they’ve done thus far had been to create a PHONE PLATFORM that’s extendable by software. That’s why they made the whole interface TOUCHSCREEN.
The next MAJOR revision of iPhone will be at the 2 year mark, when most people’s accounts will expire. Then a new phone will come out, that’s incentive for people to upgrade. Note also that the internal battery has been designed to last through 300-400 cycles. That’ll last for about 2 years. Coincidence? NO.
So you fucking stupid people, please, shut the fuck up.
No simcard? This photo says something different.
http://images.macnn.com/macnn/iphone/dis/24.jpg
i can bet it will be unlocked and working in mexico ( i should know), russia, india, korea and china within july..
but i am going for the meizu minione instead.
Micheal , I love the Iphone but do we really need this much covereage ? I am also one of the people whom are sick and tired of the Iphone coverage. Sure its important and should be covered but 1-2 articles is enough.
Dude try staying on course with your blog . The early days were the best . Great coverage of interesting startups and the comments highlighted this but now your flooding the blog with shit.
Sorry Mike, I do appreciate your hard work and efforts but its important for people to be honest with you.
Regards
the other crazy part to this whole thing is the 2 year $70 ARPU commitment to the exclusive carrier.
carriers who make service plans flexible with unlimited EDGE or 3G will be able to pull users from all this iphone hype.
by the way take a look at RIM stock they just split.
There’s an iPhone contest, where you have to comment on a blog to win an iPhone.
http://techtheblog.blogspot.co.....phone.html
What exactly is the killer feature other mobil phones / PDAs don’t have?
I don’t see any.
Open your eyes and ears folks. TC is being used to hype the same companies , products, and/or services in order to keep the reader and advertiser base strong. It’s getting close to CASH OUT TIME for Arrington and company. The more he pushes the Big Guns on the web, the closer he gets to a larger payday. iPhone….BFD…who cares? its a friggin phone.
If you think this is an ebay flood….wait till they give away 15 thousand free phones to employees…..I’m sure a few of them will make it to ebay….or at least whatever phone they decide to get rid of.
It is mad to pay $1500 for iPhone, when they can get it $499 and $599 for 4GB and 8GB, I went this morning and got two without paying any additional costs or line in Apple Store in Raleigh. I don’t know how long it will be available, but even if you order online you can get them in two weeks. Only a fool would pay $1500 for this iPhone.
Vaspers doesn’t have an iPhone; he does, however, have opinions about it: its shortcomings, mostly. Is this worth reading ? You be the judge !
http://pladeo.wordpress.com/20.....ed-iphone/
Read this before you buy an iPhone - i’m shitting - The video processors are breaking!!!
I’m have to take mine back this afternoon - check out the images on my blog post on my fucked iPhone - also see engadget they are finding others too
if this get’s recalled Apple is in MAJOR trouble.
The Detroit Free Press finally woke up out of its depression - long enough to write the first article on IPHONE — EVER. It even invited people to text in from their IPHONES to a special web page they set up. This could be an interestng but brief attempt to revive the dying newspaper industry. Stay tuned.
Maybe techcrunch should rename itself to: iphonecrunch.com
Sometimes I feel like apple owns this site.
Can anyone tell me if this is worth it just plain and simple…I mean do I write about it?
Manny @13 - Valuations, as you probably know, are not always based solely on how many units of x a company will sell and at what margin. If that was the case, MSFT is undervalud and Apple is overvalued.
Apple’s valuation is based also on what Apple may do in the future — i.e. future growth is priced in. So, for example, some people are saying (shouting) that Apple is creating a handset platform. So, the valuation is (could be) also based on what value Apple may create out of this platform in the future.
@Alaska Miller
The phone could go down in price if AT&T subsidizes the cost
Anybody else see the Ebay for 15k? Amazingly people thing there is going to be a shortage on these phones like the Wii.
Hello,
I can’t belive it, 15,000 ?
I heard some people is having problems with AT&T activation, can anybody tell me if this is true?
there is a new blog offering $1000 for unlocking the iphone
http://unlockingiphone.blogspot.com/
“The iPhone does not support simcards.”
Not true. GSM phones must have SIM cards.
Wait a bit before you plunk down five or six hundred for an Iphone, within six months or less someone else will sell a clone that is better and cheaper and will work on every network.That is the story with apple they don’t create technology they just package it and charge the suckers way to much for what they get.