The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

Play.com touts Nexus One with added price

Turning grey into gold

Customers who want a Nexus One but don't want to buy from Google can now pay an additional hundred and fifty quid to have one shipped through Play.com.

The listing was spotted by Macworld, and prices the Nexus One at £599 when supplied by "mobilesNmore" though Play.com's marketplace. Anyone buying direct from Google can expect to pay $535 plus thirty dollars shipping and twenty dollars for a UK plug, which totals (including VAT) around £439 - or £150 less than Play.com is asking.

It's quite normal for grey importers to charge over the odds for kit that can't be obtained direct from the manufacturer, or justify higher prices in exchange for a high-street presence and the ability to fondle the goods before purchase - but Play.com and its supplier are doing neither of these things - just selling at a higher price in the hope no-one will notice.

Given that customers for the Nexus One tend towards the more technically literate, we can't imagine that many people are going be taken in, but with a margin of a hundred and fifty quid a time, it won't take many to justify the listing from mobilesNmore.

Google is still saying the Nexus One will be available from Vodafone come the Spring, and while we don't know at what price just yet we can be pretty confident it will be less than the £599 being asked on Play.com. ®

To be fair...

That's a PlayTrade seller, so Play.com don't have anything to do with the pricing...

Caveat emptor, of course... Crazy price!

I do not work for Play.com or anyone associated with them!

3
0

Personally...

... I'll stay with my £300 HTC Hero.....

2
0

Blaming play.com?

Play.com don't set the price for their marketplace sellers, so implicating them in this scam seems a bit disingenuous. The seller on the other hand clearly deserves disapprobation.

2
0
Anonymous Coward

profiteering

Neither Play or Amazon are profiteering, these are 3rd party sellers who set their own prices, Amazon/Play just provide the website and payment handling.

1
0

Ahem - still cheaper than amazon

They're weighing in at £639

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Google-Nexus-One/dp/B00332YPHQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1265808389&sr=8-1

1
0

More from The Register

US boffin builds 32-way Raspberry Pi cluster
Beowulf cluster built for the price of a single PC
MYSTERY Nokia Lumia with gazillion-pixel camera 'spotted'
With 20Mp sensor - NOW will you try Windows Phone 8?
 breaking news
Review: HP Pavilion 14 Chromebook
All roads lead to Chrome?
Borked your iDevice? Pay EVEN MORE to have it fixed by Applecare
Or scream at their hapless techies on their forums
Euro PC shipments plummet into bottomless pit of DOOOOM
11th quarter of decline, 20pc drop on last year - Gartner
Dell's PC-on-a-stick landing in July: report
Wyse up, suckers, could this be a new set-side-stick?
Nintendo throws flaming legal barrel at YouTubing fans
All your walk-through vid revenue are belong to us
Report: AT&T dropping Facebook phone after dismal sales
Turns out folks won't buy that for a dollar