Limited supply of Apple's iPad 2 keeps 65% of eBay resales in US

Posted:
in iPad edited January 2014
With demand outstripping supply, most iPad 2 units sold on eBay have shipped to buyers in the U.S., compared with just a third of the site's iPad sales remaining in America a year ago.



The initial iPad 2 sales data from eBay was shared with AppleInsider on Thursday, and provides an idea of who is buying the iPad 2, and what models are most popular. A total of 65 percent of the iPad 2 units sold on eBay went to domestic buyers, nearly doubling the 35 percent of sales of the first-generation iPad that stayed the U.S. when it launched a year ago.



Sales of the iPad 2 on eBay also show that the least-expensive, $499 Wi-Fi-only 16GB model is the most popular option, accounting for 30 percent of sales. The second-most-popular model is the most expensive option, as the $829 3G-equipped 64GB model represented 23 percent of sales on the site.



eBay has enforced stricter rules on iPad 2 sales in 2011, compared with sales of the first-generation iPad in 2010. Specifically, Apple authorized resellers are only allowed to list up to 50 items per week, and eBay top-rated sellers can only list up to four items per week, while last year authorized resellers could list unlimited items and top-sellers could list 8 items.



iPad 2 resellers are also making a healthy profit on eBay: The 16GB Wi-Fi model sells on eBay for an average of $198 above retail, while the 64GB model with 3G sells for $406 over the regular asking price.



Domestic resales of the iPad have grown on eBay with the launch of the second-generation device as Apple has struggled to meet demand for the product in the U.S. since it launched earlier this month. Apple's retail stores as well as its partners' completely sold out of the iPad 2 in its first few days, and stock has trickled in ever since.



But Apple has also improved estimated shipping times for new iPad 2 orders from its website to three to four weeks. And the company recently began the sale of the iPad 2 at 500 RadioShack stores, suggesting availability is improving.







Internationally, some of the strongest demand for the iPad 2 on eBay comes from Russia, Canada, Hong Kong and Japan. The iPad 2 went on sale in Canada last week, and is scheduled to become available in Hong Kong in April.



The earthquake and tsunami disaster in Japan indefinitely pushed back the launch of the iPad 2 in Japan from last week, while Apple has not yet announced a launch for its new touchscreen tablet in Russia. The company has said that international availability and pricing will be announced by Apple at a later date.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 26
    Quote:

    iPad 2 resellers are also making a healthy profit on eBay: The 16GB Wi-Fi model sells on eBay for an average of $198 above retail, while the 64GB model with 3G sells for $406 over the regular asking price.



    That is a blatant out and out lie.



    I got my hands on THREE 16GB Wi-Fi Black iPad2's at Target two weeks ago and tried selling them on eBay. I ended up selling only one of them for $610+$20 shipping. By the time eBay, PayPal and shipping took all of their cuts, I made $5 over what I paid for one after factoring in the tax I paid at original purchase.



    So I ended up taking the other two back to Target to at least get my money back.



    Most of these models are going for $600-$630. That's a far cry from the $699 they are reporting.



    Plus eBay would only let me list ONE iPad2 in a 7 day period.



    eBay and PayPal are the ones making the money off of the limited supply of iPad2's in the wild... not consumers.
  • Reply 2 of 26
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KindredMac View Post


    That is a blatant out and out lie.



    I got my hands on THREE 16GB Wi-Fi Black iPad2's at Target two weeks ago and tried selling them on eBay. I ended up selling only one of them for $610+$20 shipping. By the time eBay, PayPal and shipping took all of their cuts, I made $5 over what I paid for one after factoring in the tax I paid at original purchase.



    Glad to hear that your scalping failed. I hope that this happened to most other people too.
  • Reply 3 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KindredMac View Post


    eBay and PayPal are the ones making the money off of the limited supply of iPad2's in the wild... not consumers.



    You realize that what you did is not acting as a consumer but rather a re-seller?
  • Reply 4 of 26
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KindredMac View Post


    I made $5 over what I paid for one after factoring in the tax I paid at original purchase.



    Good!



  • Reply 5 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RichL View Post


    Glad to hear that your scalping failed. I hope that this happened to most other people too.



    "Scalping" is a pejorative term. You may not like what this person did, but it is perfectly legal. He provided a service to his buyer, who did not want to spend time waiting in line to get an iPad. Clearly, the buyer was willing to purchase it on Ebay for a little more money, and have it delivered.
  • Reply 6 of 26
    with about 10,000 sold through ebay, i wonder what percentage of total iPad 2 sales that represents...

    i'd like to see apple take back the world record from microsoft, but they would have to sell over 8 million iPads by May 11th.
  • Reply 7 of 26
    I originally ordered a black and wanted a white so I figured I would sell the black on ebay. The black came today and the white did not even ship yet.



    I thought i could make some decent $ to offset the cost of it.

    Well. I figured the 32 gg at&t black would go for about $900 on ebay. After final value fees and pay pal fees the net result is I would have made about $33. Not worth it.



    So keeping the black one
  • Reply 8 of 26
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by RichL View Post


    Glad to hear that your scalping failed. I hope that this happened to most other people too.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by MacInsider2 View Post


    You realize that what you did is not acting as a consumer but rather a re-seller?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post


    Good!







    Let me enlighten the three of you about the situation...



    #1- I live in a rural region of NY where the local-yokles fight the local town boards when the towns want to put municipal water and sewer systems in because they are happy with their well water and septic tanks. Technology is the demon in the box to the majority of the folks up here. However due to the fact there is a military base here, we have the commercialization of most suburban areas. We have a Target, multiple Walmarts, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Applebees. Ruby Tuesdays, etc...



    #2- Someone on MacRumors had created links to Target's database of all the iPad 2 models. I happened to have it still open on my iPhone from the week prior and one Monday night after dinner I happened to enter in the local zip code and Ta-Da!!! It said that our Target had some in inventory. So I drove down the street to the store and found three still in stock. The worker told me that they had 6 come in that morning... So please take note that after selling three of them since 9am that morning they still had THREE more in stock on the shelf at 7pm that night. Like I said... people around here do not appreciate technology.



    #3- I didn't beat down an old lady or shove a child out of the way to get these iPads. My plan was to try and sell two of them at a profit so that I could cover the cost of the third so I could keep it for my family.



    I wanted to have one for the new Garageband so that my son, who happens to have Autism and is extremely attached to music, could use the iPad2. Remember the video Apple put out about how the iPad helps children with Autism??? It's 100% TRUE. My mother in law has an original iPad and my son LOVES it. I was actually trying to do something special for my family.



    So thank you for assuming that I must be some troll looking to make a profit.



    And besides... what is wrong with offering product up on eBay to people in other areas that are WILLING to pay more just to have a hot item??? It's called Capitalism. It is what our country's economy is based on.



    Using your logic, eBay is a horrible service that should never be used...



    It's not like I bought the iPads and then hung out outside the store asking people if they wanted to buy an iPad from my trunk! When I placed the first iPad on eBay my reserve was what I paid including tax.



    That is not scalping...



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleGreen View Post


    "Scalping" is a pejorative term. You may not like what this person did, but it is perfectly legal. He provided a service to his buyer, who did not want to spend time waiting in line to get an iPad. Clearly, the buyer was willing to purchase it on Ebay for a little more money, and have it delivered.



    Thank you.
  • Reply 9 of 26
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    Scalping is not a big issue anyway - and I dont do it. Its just market forces. If he could get three and sell them on, and people wanted to pay, whats the problem.
  • Reply 10 of 26
    asdasdasdasd Posts: 5,686member
    ( its only a problem if somebody can buy hundreds at a time).
  • Reply 11 of 26
    imoanimoan Posts: 56member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KindredMac View Post


    Let me enlighten the three of you about the situation...



    So thank you for assuming that I must be some troll looking to make a profit.



    Don't feel bad. The forum likes to attack anyone who violates the Cult of Mac rules.



    Remember, never say anything bad about Apple, never suggest Apple could do anything wrong, and most of all, never covet thy neighbor's iPad!!



    I can't believe people. Can't they just wait until the iPad is available through regular channels? What's so great about the iPad that one should pay anything extra for it? It's just a ten inch iPod touch folks. Yeah, it's got tons of Apps, but a lot of them wouldn't be necessary if Apple hadn't crippled the browser. Give me a MacBook Pro anytime. That I would pay extra for.
  • Reply 12 of 26
    veblenveblen Posts: 201member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KindredMac View Post


    That is a blatant out and out lie.



    I got my hands on THREE 16GB Wi-Fi Black iPad2's at Target two weeks ago and tried selling them on eBay. I ended up selling only one of them for $610+$20 shipping. By the time eBay, PayPal and shipping took all of their cuts, I made $5 over what I paid for one after factoring in the tax I paid at original purchase.



    So I ended up taking the other two back to Target to at least get my money back.



    Most of these models are going for $600-$630. That's a far cry from the $699 they are reporting.



    Plus eBay would only let me list ONE iPad2 in a 7 day period.



    eBay and PayPal are the ones making the money off of the limited supply of iPad2's in the wild... not consumers.





    With iPad 2's I think it's better to do buy it now than put it up for auction. Here is my experience. I woke up at 4 AM EST Friday Martch 10th and bought one 64 gigabyte ipad 2 Black WiFi only from the Apple Store. I bought a 2nd ipad 2 at Best Buy later that same day after waiting in line for a few hours because I didn't want to wait for it to be shipped and I had some comp time built up at work. I planned on canceling my order when I returned home.



    After trying my ipad 2 out my wife decided she wanted to upgrade her 1st gen ipad to an ipad 2 so I didn't cancel my original order. We received my Apple Store ipad 2 on the 17th of March. I went on ebay and saw the 64 gigabyte ipad 2 Black WiFi only model with completed listings selling for between $850 and $1100.



    My wife decided she could wait to get her ipad 2 and that if someone wanted to buy hers for $1100 more power to them. We listed it with a buy it now of $1100 with $25 shipping. It sold on the 18th.



    It only costs a dollar or so to list an item on ebay buy it now (the fees come after selling the item). The people paying premiums for ipad 2's don't want to wait for an auction to finish. These people want to buy it now and get it shipped out immediately.
  • Reply 13 of 26
    gordygordy Posts: 1,004member
    It's called the 'free market' folks.
  • Reply 14 of 26
    alienzedalienzed Posts: 393member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by KindredMac View Post


    Let me enlighten the three of you about the situation...



    #1- I live in a rural region of NY where the local-yokles fight the local town boards when the towns want to put municipal water and sewer systems in because they are happy with their well water and septic tanks. Technology is the demon in the box to the majority of the folks up here. However due to the fact there is a military base here, we have the commercialization of most suburban areas. We have a Target, multiple Walmarts, Olive Garden, Red Lobster, Applebees. Ruby Tuesdays, etc...



    #2- Someone on MacRumors had created links to Target's database of all the iPad 2 models. I happened to have it still open on my iPhone from the week prior and one Monday night after dinner I happened to enter in the local zip code and Ta-Da!!! It said that our Target had some in inventory. So I drove down the street to the store and found three still in stock. The worker told me that they had 6 come in that morning... So please take note that after selling three of them since 9am that morning they still had THREE more in stock on the shelf at 7pm that night. Like I said... people around here do not appreciate technology.



    #3- I didn't beat down an old lady or shove a child out of the way to get these iPads. My plan was to try and sell two of them at a profit so that I could cover the cost of the third so I could keep it for my family.



    I wanted to have one for the new Garageband so that my son, who happens to have Autism and is extremely attached to music, could use the iPad2. Remember the video Apple put out about how the iPad helps children with Autism??? It's 100% TRUE. My mother in law has an original iPad and my son LOVES it. I was actually trying to do something special for my family.



    So thank you for assuming that I must be some troll looking to make a profit.



    And besides... what is wrong with offering product up on eBay to people in other areas that are WILLING to pay more just to have a hot item??? It's called Capitalism. It is what our country's economy is based on.



    Using your logic, eBay is a horrible service that should never be used...



    It's not like I bought the iPads and then hung out outside the store asking people if they wanted to buy an iPad from my trunk! When I placed the first iPad on eBay my reserve was what I paid including tax.



    That is not scalping...





    Thank you.



    Ok so you're not scum... it's still scalping.
  • Reply 15 of 26
    I've visited ebay many times looking at the prices of iPads. Not all of them are being sold due to high starting prices. It looks like the prices of the ones that are selling aren't enough above the retail price to earn much above the ebay fees. Lately I think ebay is just becoming a place to dump merchandise at a loss or for individuals to empty their closets. I wonder how anybody can earn a living with such tight margins after the fees take so much of the profit.



    I'll buy an iPad when I can go to my local retailer and give them my money and take it home immediately. That way at least a salesperson will earn a commission. How long will it be before I can do that in Montana? Only one Radio Shack in the state got iPad inventory. That was over one-hundred miles away. The Radio Shack in my town doesn't know when they'll get any.



    Wal-Mart got four and they were gone the first day. Wal-Mart doesn't tell it's store departments what inventory will be coming to them. The staff just open the boxes that come on the truck. That's the first time they know what will be in stock.



    Apple didn't ship any iPads to their local electronics store retailer yet and they have a full display of all Apple products. That's just not fair. The retailers must earn plenty of money form Apple products because if my store were treated that way I'd drop that product line.
  • Reply 16 of 26
    zorinlynxzorinlynx Posts: 170member
    I was able to get an iPad 2 at Best Buy on launch day, without even having to wait.



    So I call bullshit.Maybe people in big cities like NYC had problems but if you were willing to drive a bit it wasn't hard to find one.
  • Reply 17 of 26
    I walked in to an Apple store yesterday and bought two of the 16 gig white models, they never even told me they were on a limited supply even though the place was packed.
  • Reply 18 of 26
    imoanimoan Posts: 56member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by alienzed View Post


    Ok so you're not scum... it's still scalping.



    No it isn't. It's called an auction. I guess you're not familiar with eBay?



    What's wrong with you people??
  • Reply 19 of 26
    ndn2007ndn2007 Posts: 15member
    A definition of scalping...



    http://www.thefreedictionary.com/scalping



    3. To resell at a price higher than the established value: scalping tickets to the baseball game.

    4. To buy and sell (securities or commodities) in order to make small quick profits.
  • Reply 20 of 26
    lilgto64lilgto64 Posts: 1,147member
    ignoring the definitions related to you cranium - I always thought scalping meant, or at least implied, that you were selling something that you were not authorized to sell. Baseball tickets for example, I thought had some sort of restriction against reselling etc. And that you ran the risk when buying from a scalper of receiving a product that is not legitimate. So maybe that is not the definition but perhaps just why it became a pejorative term.



    For merchandise such as the iPad - once you buy it - you own it and no one can stop you from selling it to anyone you choose for any price they are willing to pay.



    I do think it is rude for folks to buy up gobs of product just to turn around and deliberately mark them up to knowingly gouge the final customer - but on the other hand - I think it is stupid to pay 10 or 20% more than retail price for an item that you can just wait a few weeks to get at retail. Assuming that is, that you have some mechanism by which to make the retail purchase.
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