Last Friday, a friend of mine received his 42mm Space Gray Apple Watch Sport in the mail. From what he told me, he opened the big shipping box to find the big Apple box inside, all safe and sound in its plastic wrap. He was excited to open it, to put it on his wrist and show it off. He had received the Watch while so many other people were waiting. He was excited!
And then someone told him to check eBay.
As far as I can tell, from the point where he actually received it in the mail and took it out of the shipping box, my friend owned an Apple Watch for all of about 20 hours. Because the moment he saw the traction the 42mm Space Gray Watch Sport was getting, he knew what he “had” to do. And he didn’t even hesitate, I would bet.
It would take a shorter stretch of time for him to sell the Watch on eBay than it did for him to decide to sell it in the first place. In a matter of hours he had sold the Watch, and he had sold it for $1,000. Which means he probably netted something like $900 after fees from eBay. (I’m assuming eBay has fees, just because eBay.)
He spent about $420 or so on that Watch, and he sold it for $1,000. It’s hard to say that that’s not a good reason to “flip” the Watch. There’s no denying the wearable is in high-demand right now, but that’s no different from any Apple-branded device. The Watch is new, it’s from Apple and, more than anything else, it’s in very limited quantities. If you buy one for (much) cheaper on Apple’s website, you’ll be waiting until June to get it. So, to pay that premium, the person that really wants a Watch can get it now.
As many times as I’ve stood in a line to pick up a new iPhone, simply because I hate buying things online, I’ve heard people talk about selling the phone they were waiting to buy. And it happens everywhere, some places worse than others. Getting your hands on an Apple device, only to sell it at a severe markup, is not new and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. The profit is there, obviously, even if that means you have to wait to get one yourself for how ever long it takes.
With the best of circumstances, Apple will regain its foothold on its available stock versus the demand for the Watch, and it will go on sale without an extended shipping time, and maybe even in its physical retail stores. So, I asked my friend, who had just sold his Watch —the wearable he was actually excited to use— if he was going to be able to wait until then to pick one up.
He just told me that it’s “only June,” like waiting at least another month and a half is a big deal. Which, maybe it isn’t. He’s already waited since last September for the wearable, so what’s a few more weeks, right?
My question to you, is have you ever done this? Have you made sure to get a new Apple product as quickly as possible to resell it at a higher value immediately after? Do you know someone who has done this, or does this on a regular basis? Let me know!
