back to article eBay chokes on iPhones

Some were boasting from their camps outside Apple stores before the iPhone rush began, of how much money they would make on eBay auctions; and apparently, at least one optimist let it be known that $2,000 would be needed to buy a $600 iPhone. According to Katie Hafner, stringer for the New York Times, "Thousands of listings …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I'm suing apple

    I bought an iPhone after camping outside all night, and now I can't even give it away on eBay. I've already lodged a lawsuit against apple. If anyone else wants to join me, please contact me at whataloser@greed.com Please make sure you put "I came unstuck too" in the subject.

  2. andy gibson

    Good

    I'm glad that those buying the iPhone just to sell on Ebay have had their fingers burnt. Like the PS3, supply meeting demand is good. Now if only they could do the same for concert tickets.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    iPhone madness

    I laugh at the fools who camped out to buy the iPhone and the idiots who spent hundreds of dollars to be first in line to discover they can only buy ONE phone at a time.

    People are greedy stupid fools... I remember when everyone wanted to be the first to own bloody Windows 95!!! Where are the fools now? Did they camp out for 98? ME? XP and VISTA?

    Technology changes constantly and it is stupid to rush out and buy the beta versions... but thanks anyway for the laughs.

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    The carrier for the UK is....

    Telefonica, aka O2

    its been confirmed for months apparently, signed and sealed!

    not that I'm even the slightest bit interested!!

    would you like to see proof?

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Good for Apple

    Good for Apple on getting the supply line filled.

    Now if Nintendo could just get it's s@!t together so I could buy a Wii for my kid I'd be happy.

  6. Badg3r

    wiiiiiii

    Goto Game they have the wii's in stock, they are out there supply is now consistent.

  7. Pete

    Whats all the fuss

    Is it just me, or are people going crazy over something they already own? My lowly old phone plays music and videos, takes pictures, connects to the internet........ oh yeah, and makes telephone calls and can send texts.

    I am truly a gadget person, who likes to be the first to get new toys whilst they are still novel, but that's the point, this is not new, it's the same as we already have, with a different brand name on it.

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Re: Fuss

    Interface.

  9. Dillon Pyron

    eBay fools

    On the evening of the 29th, I saw an iPhone with a bid of $875. By the time the fool finally received his overpriced phone, I could have walked into my AT&T store and picked one up.

    There was a pile of Wii's at Fry's last night, and we saw a bunch at Costco on Saturday.

  10. Joe K

    Enough with the iPhone stories

    Seriously.

    I know its big news for Apple, and its a tech story alright, but it means precisely squat to UK readers.

    And the vast majority who don't give a shit about Apple, or the overhyped gadget itself will never buy one and be happy with the phones we have already, which play music just fine without iTunes thank you.

    Oh, and have a useable camera. And are cheaper. 3G.

    You get the idea.

  11. MTT

    Get some perspective assholes

    The people who camped out aren't all "greedy, stupid fools." Some people are just trying to turn a quick profit so they can get a leg up for once in their lives. If that means blowing $600 on the lottery-style chance you can triple that money by selling to some rich f--k who has the cash to blow $2k on an iPhone, or PS3, or Xbox360, or whatever... what do you think they're going to do? One iPhone or PS3 at $2k means a nice Christmas for the kids, a security deposit on a better place, or the downs on a "new" used car.

    people who speculate on low/mid-level goods aren't the greedy ones (try currency speculators for that crowd). Often, they're the working poor who are trying to hit up as many times as they can before they hit down. They're students (I know a few), single moms, blue collars who take a day off on that off chance, etc.

    I'll grant you that there are jerks in the mix, people who are making ends and just want more of it. But the situation is a little more complex than what I'm seeing here in the posts, and you all should think about that before you gleefully banter on about how the campers got bit this time.

    (btw, I *did* camp for a PS3 and a wii, but both for personal use. I don't camp for other things, as I really don't have the time or need for the money.. but I have plenty of friends who do and I cast no aspersions on what they do.)

  12. This post has been deleted by its author

  13. daniel

    Re: Re: Fuss / interface

    $200 for hardware.

    $400 for pwetty bwuttons.

    Hey, I'm a mac fanboy and I like being screwed over!

    Interface? In ya face!

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A rumour that was spread around town

    "One iPhone or PS3 at $2k means a nice Christmas for the kids, a security deposit on a better place, or the downs on a "new" used car."

    With all the will in the world, people are diving for iPhones when they could be diving for pearls.

  15. Luca

    Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii

    What do you mean "if Nintendo could get their sh*t together"?

    Every time I go to my local Best Buy they have the Wii on hand.

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    re Get some perspective assholes

    So they wait how many hours ? say 30 hours in total ?

    how much does Mc Donalds pay ? I have honestly no idea but take 8$

    so instead of working for 30 hours and getting 240$ for sure they take the chance of losing money instead ?

    Well I am sorry but that way you will never make it. If you invest you should have a decent chance to have your investment back with a decent profit.

    just my thoughts.

  17. MTT

    re Get some perspective assholes

    "so instead of working for 30 hours and getting 240$ for sure they take the chance of losing money instead ?"

    $8/hour? try minimum wage for most fast food employees (currently less than $6/hr.) But, for argument sake let's grant an $8/hr rate.

    30 hours of shift work at McD's = 3.5 days of actual time assuming standard 8 shifts and no back-to-back double shifts. This nets $240 US *pre-tax* income... subtract ~ $30-50 in income tax and FICA tax depending on your filing status and you're left with $190-210. We'll split the difference and call it an even $200 for 3 days of work. Greasy, smelly, rude-customers-who-you-have-to-smile-at type of work.

    Compare that to a waiting for 30 *consecutive* hours in a line for a chance to make 10 times the money in 1/3rd the the amount of time? Tell me what you'd do in that situation?

    For items like the Xbox 360, PS3, the PSP, Nintendo Wii, and the Nintendo DS this tactic paid off. I have friends who made upwards of $2500 on Playstation 3's last November.

    Look, there's always risk in speculation, people lose money in real estate, and stock markets crash. yada-yada-yada...right? Companies like Apple, Microsoft, and Sony generate huge hype and publicity for product launches, scare up the media about product shortage, and in this case led a bunch of people down along knowing full well that there was no scarcity of product. It's a finely tuned and practiced form of pump and dump, and I don't think it's something to laugh about or criticize consumers for.

    I just get pissed that some people characterize these consumers who are scrapping for a living as greedy, yet themselves probably greatly sympathize with the S&L and/or Enron victims who fell for similar insta-rich style tactics (albeit at much higher stakes.)

    phew...rant over :)

  18. Neil

    Anyone...

    So does anyone want to make MTT an offer and buy his brand-new-never-been-opened Apple iPhone which didn't shift on eBay?

    $600 ono.

  19. Brian

    MTT perspective

    "I have friends who made upwards of $2500 on Playstation 3's last November"... NO U havent. PS3 has been a sales disaster. People may have qued for it but it, didnt come close to selling out. Now remember the Pink razor v3. Wish I'd bought half a dozen of thoes before Christmas 2005 I could have made a killing. U dont need innovation, just a coat of pink paint :)

  20. MTT

    re Anyone...

    ha :)

    thanks, but i didn't wait in line for one, and I'm not really into the i-phenom that is Apple. I personally prefer PC's, Creative's Zen line of media players, and Samsung's Blade phone. That covers most of what Apple has to offer by way of hardware.

    I'm not that into paying extra money for smugness ("oooh, my computer looks like an art-deco lamp! That's so progressive.")

    sorry apple lovers ;)

  21. MTT

    re MTT perspective

    ' "I have friends who made upwards of $2500 on Playstation 3's last November"... NO U havent. PS3 has been a sales disaster. '

    Brian, I'm sorry but you're just plain wrong on that first part.

    The PS3 *did* sell out on release, at least in major US cities, so, people who put up their consoles in mid-Nov. or did pre-sale auctions on eBay made a nice sum of money. Here in Boston, we had lines of 300 or more people stretching around and through the Prudential center, Fenway, the Cambridgeside Galleria, etc. just to get one unit out of something like 40-60 per store. Down the way in Philly people were getting shot and trampled for them.

    Once the hype died down and it became clear that Sony wasn't really having "shipping delays" (aka pumping and dumping) so that there was plenty of product, and once people tried the Wii... then the PS3 tanked. But those first few weeks were unbelievable in terms of shopper hysteria.

    Like i said before, I *did* wait for both the Wii and the PS3 but not for resaIe, and I have to say as an aside, that the difference in crowds was also unbelievable. The Wii folk were a great bunch of people, some dressed as Mario and Link and all very friendly. My kids and I went very early on launch day to wait in line (about 3 AM for myself and 6 AM for the kiddies), and I had the pleasure of treating my 'line mates' to a box-o-joe from Dunkin donuts, laughing with fellow gamers about geeky stuff, and playing DS Mario Kart tourneys.

    The PS3 crowd was a mix of nice people and very twitchy, very quirky people. No one was shooting up the joint :) but definitely a different vibe, and less buy-the-world-a-coke attitude.

  22. Matthew Lloyd

    Point and laugh

    "I laugh at the fools who camped out to buy the iPhone and the idiots who spent hundreds of dollars to be first in line to discover they can only buy ONE phone at a time."

    For your viewing pleasure:

    http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/Home/Detail?contentId=3641729&version=2&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=1.1.1

  23. Kiresh

    re: Point and laugh

    That was gold! That greedy cow got what she truely deserved!

  24. Erick P

    reminds me

    When Brazil played against England... I bought two tickets for 60 quid each, and sold them for 300 each!!!! And in the end, the game was a tie...

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