Apple puts refurbished iPhones on sale
$100 off
Agentless Backup is Not a Myth
Want a cheaper iPhone? Apple has begun offering refurbished handsets for $100 less than it charges for freshly made models.
So a refurbished 4GB iPhone costs $399, while the pre-owned 8GB model costs $499. Apple said both come with a one-year warranty, extendible to two years with a $69 payment.
They are tested and certified as fully operational, the vendor said, and "as good as new". Each refurbished iPhone comes in the standard box, with full documentation, accessories and so on.
The handsets presumably come from the stock of devices returned by original buyers because they didn't like the handset, the AT&T network it connects to, or because the thing didn't work and were replaced. Hey, some lucky buyer might even get the unit The Register bought then returned...
Apple make non-warranty returnees pay a ten per cent "restocking fee", if they've opened the box. This presumably covers the cost of returning the device to its original, pre-purchase state so it can be sold again, as a refurbished unit.
That ten per cent doesn't cover the $100 Apple's losing on the purchase price of a brand-new unit, of course, but it helps.
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Apple iPhoneCOMMENTS
Maybe...
"That ten per cent doesn't cover the $100 Apple's losing on the purchase price of a brand-new unit, of course, but it helps."
First of all, I'm not very good at English just yet, but "That ten percent doesn't"?? Shouldn't it be better "Those ten percent don't"? Unless you're implying a "fee" or whatever there... In which case thou art a sneaky bastard!
Anyway, the real point was that Apple is probably not losing $100 at all -- wasn't it that the materials cost $260 or something like that? Plus other costs (marketing, blah, blah), I guess it still would not get to the $400 or $500 asked for the refurbs... Or would it? If it doesn't, then they're not *losing* anything, just profiting a less. Or something.
Not really news
This development simply reflects the fact that Apple will take your iPhone back if you want, and they won't argue. People get to know this, and some have even bought iPhone with no intention to keep it. You can find many such Apple products for sale on their web site (bottom right corner of UK store front page). Sometimes they are simply overstock near a product's end of life. The really "used" products tend to go out through third parties, so it's not a bad place to buy.
iPhone will do fine in Europe, with or without 3G. If you don't agree, you're standing too close; step back a mile or two and look at the market again.
Can I get Cade's returned phone?
I assume one of these "refurb" phones is the one Cade Metz returned after his El Reg article. Can I get it?
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