Resellers on Adverts.ie

DopeTech · 27-12-2021 8:15pm #1

How do these guys make money selling brand new in box iphones and flagship android devices sometimes at lower rates than apple.ie. They have plenty good feedback so they items are genuine. Curious how they make a profit and what way they get the phones in the first place. Maybe someone good educate me.

babelfish1990 · 27-12-2021 11:28pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058224559/resellers-on-adverts-ie

Lots of stolen goods being sold on adverts.ie, donedeal etc. Always follow the safety guidelines recommended by these sites - specifically insisting on proof of purchase receipt from the seller. Also try to check the name and address of seller. Be wary of sellers who insist on meeting on a street corner and whose mobile numbers are not in WhatsApp with genuine photos. Use WhatsApp photo to check for other social media such as Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter etc. You will get a good feel for bona-fide sellers if you trawl their social media sites. Remember, if you buy a stolen phone, any of the networks may kill it at any stage.

twowheelsonly · 27-12-2021 11:41pm

I was only wondering the same thing myself today as I was browsing various Apple stuff. Some of them seem to be genuine enough and have plenty of feedback on Adverts.ie etc. Some of the ones on Facebook Marketplace I'd be wary of though as they don't have any ratings.

I'd imagine that some of them are probably reselling on behalf of genuine European / Eastern European dealers, where stuff might be a little cheaper, as they all seem to have names from those regions. I always thought though that Apple products were fairly standard prices everywhere.

babelfish1990 · 28-12-2021 1:05am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118380098#Comment_118380098

I think you are making a generous assumption that the devices originate from "genuine" European dealers. As you say yourself, Apple products retail for similar prices everywhere, so you need to be very wary of anyone who is selling Apple devices significantlly below market prices. There are some genuine sellers on these sites, but they tend to have grossly hyped up expectations of the resale value of their 2nd hand products. If you want to save money, my advice would be to switch to Android, where there is genuine competition between a plethora of manufacturers vs Apple's closed garden. Alternatively, you could try bone-fide dealers who often sell off "reconditioned" devices at great discounts. They are often unopened devices that have been returned under EU 14-day distance-selling regulations. I am not an Apple fan, but I recently picked up a couple of "reconditioned" Apple 4k TV boxes from Eir's shop eir-store.ie - they were in perfect condition, and less than half the price of the same models new from the same site (they also do "pre-owned" mobiles). Not quite as cheap as the €50-€70 that you will find them on adverts.ie, but not much more at €79.99 inc postage, fully guaranteed and still protected by EU distance selling rules. I checked out a few of the adverts.ie sellers, and was convinced that anyone selling at €50-€100 was shifting stolen goods.

twowheelsonly · 28-12-2021 1:53am

@babelfish1990 I'm not really looking at the second-hand one-off type of sellers that may be either selling knock offs or stolen goods at ridiculous prices as those fellas tend to give the game away with the tone of their ads or the overly cheap prices.

What the OP is alluding to is the fellas that are selling brand new stuff, still in sealed boxes and wrappers. There's a couple of them there that have a good pile of stuff and seem to have a constant supply. Some of them go back a few years. IMO there's no way that they're getting that much stolen stock. Their stuff isn't that much cheaper either, at the top end like MacBook or IPad pros there might be 150 to 200 Euro, just enough to make it attractive.

DopeTech · 28-12-2021 11:15am

Hi, yes I was referring to the sellers with good consistent stock of a wide range of products. I assumed they were somehow getting it at a cheaper price via work or via setting up a as a company themselves perhaps and claiming vat back but I don't know.

KildareP · 28-12-2021 11:44am

Most of the new, unsealed phones are billpay plans that are bailed on or insurance jobs.

You run the risk of finding such phones blacklisted on its home network, or across all networks in its home country if the operators share that information amongst themselves.

Apple do not discount their unopened retail phone products - ever (iPads and Macs are a different story if you buy through an Educational channel) so there is no exclusive channel through which anyone can buy genuine new iPhones with deep discounts.

daniruth · 10-01-2022 4:20pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118381094#Comment_118381094

You are right. Last year I bought two brand new google phones from adverts.ie from someone who had hundreds of positive reviews (not one negative). A few days later I went up north to visit some family members ... and guess what ... my phone couldn't get a signal and a message appeared about being blacklisted by a UK network (EE) ... I checked online and sure enough my phone ID was blacklisted ... I contacted the fellow at adverts.ie and I have to say he was fair enough, he offered me the money or a new phone. I took the money and bought the phone from a proper shop this time ... It cost me more, but I had no issues then ... I think many unsealed phones are bill pay plans that are bailed on or insurance jobs from another country where they get blacklisted. They work in Ireland because some of our operators won't blacklist them .... If I hadn't gone up north within a few days ... I wonder whether I would have got the same response from the "seller" ...

Resellers on Adverts.ie

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