Apple’s new smartwatch is turning out to be a good source of dough for shady eBay scalpers. If you missed out on the preorders this morning and are looking to waste some currency, the Internet would be more than willing to oblige.
As with anything that involves Apple on launch day, getting second-hand Apple Watch preorders is not going to come cheap. For instance, there’s an Apple Watch Edition (38mm 18-karat rose gold case with white sport band) that’s for sale for $13,499. That price represents a $3,499 premium on the actual retail price of the device.
While that may sound excessive, some sellers seem to be actively testing the laws of supply and demand. One listing for an Apple Watch 42mm space black stainless steel model has a price tag of $3,400. That’s a 209-percent markup from the device’s retail price of $1,099. However, what’s odd about the listing is that it hasn’t been quickly dismissed as ludicrous. There are actually 26 buyers who have the item on their watch list. This means that somewhere out there, there’s someone weighing the pros and cons of buying an Apple Watch for three times the price that it was selling this morning.
Whoever ends up with the shiny new preorders will have a long, uncertain wait before they receive their new timepiece. Apple, which started receiving preorders in the U.S., the U.K., China, Australia, France, Germany, Hong Kong, and Japan, pushed back delivery dates about an hour into the launch. The delivery schedule for the cheapest Apple Watch Sport models started at April 24 to May 8. Then, it was pushed back further to May 13 and 27. Now, the company’s estimates extend to June. The same revisions showed up for Apple Watch orders. Apple did not give specific dates for delivery. Instead, it only said that deliveries are scheduled between four to six weeks.
Apple previously announced that its smartwatch would be in famous retail establishments by April 24. With the delay in preorders, there’s no telling when you can simply throw money at a salesperson and walk out of a store with an Apple Watch.
