Why are people paying hundreds more on pre orders on Ebay?

[coolbreeze]

I kinda miff'ed by the success people are having selling Nexus 7's on Ebay. In completed listings there are pages of sold units for 7's that are going to be pre ordered. Auctions going for up to 325 for them. There are some auctions for on hand units ready to ship now that have sold as high as 450. Why? If people go to Google play and order today they will have theres within a week for 227 with tax and shipping. Makes no sense.
 
 Do people just see the spec's for the 7 and figure they are 400 to 600 dollars tablets and don't bother to research, or is it they think there is some crazy backorder wait, but that still makes no sense cause they are paying for pre orders in most cases.

 I ordered a 8gb first yesterday and cancelled it to order a 16. Google shipped both because they didn't have time to cancel the 8 (must have shipped). I wonder if I should keep the 8 instead of refusing it , and then but it on Ebay tonight when it arrives. What do you peeps think? Will there still be a demand this week after systems hit the stores, or should I refuse it?

[S.Prime]

I have seen some of the white back I/O special edition Nexus 7's give to developers bring the premium price you mentioned.

[coolbreeze]

This is just one of many pre orders sold on Ebay yesterday. 350?


Google Galaxy Nexus 7 Tablet 8GB~ Pre-Order ~ Ships WORLDWIDE! Brand New, SEALED
See original listing


Item condition:   New
Ended:   Jul 12, 201209:17:42 PDT
Sold For:   
US $350.00 [ 1 bid ]
Shipping:   
FREE Standard Shipping
Item location:   spring valley NY, US, United States
Seller:   nickhp44 ( 301)  |Seller's other items

[Babyfacemagee]

I wrote an article about the White Google I/O sales on eBay here:  http://nexus7forum.com/index.php?topic=132.0

Another possibility is that people are buying these pre-ordered Nexus 7's on eBay for exorbitant prices from foreign countries and territories that do not have the Nexus 7 for sale yet.   Buying on eBay is the only way to get one if you live say in France, Russia or South America where you can't get them. 

Notice how it says ships 'WORLDWIDE'...that's a tipoff that they're targeting international buyers.

[samalex]

Given this is Google's first tablet I bet some are buying them more as a collectible since the white N7's given out at the Google IO conference were kinda part of tech history.  Not sure if they will be valuable in 5, 10, or 20 years but it may be worth the gamble to get one just incase.

[daraldf]

I don't consider myself to be a collector but if I came across a white N7 in great shape, I'd consider buying it if the price was right.

I work in retail and it always made me wonder why people would overpay for something on ebay. My ebay shopping days have been over for years. You used to be able to get some good deals there if you knew your prices but the last couple times I bought items there, I had bad experiences.

[radiocycle]

Hmm, I'm sorry to hear that you had bad experiences on eBay, but that doesn't mean that all eBay is a bummer.  I still sell/buy on eBay and, in general, it seems to be a great service.  I sell lots of telegraph keys, steam engines, etc. that wouldn't otherwise have an outlet with that degree of exposure.

radio

[samalex]

I agree with radio, EBay is pretty nice, though I don't buy from it much anymore since I'm now married with children   Back when I was single though I bought crap from there more time than I'd like to admit.

But I do use it to sell stuff, mainly old computer parts from time to time. Heck sold my old '55 Chevy to a guy in Sweden about 5 years ago on there and my euphonium about 2 years ago, so it's even good for those higher priced items when there's just no local market for them.

But for the N7, other than someone wanting a Google IO version just for posterity I'm not sure why someone would buy one when chances are Gamespot or even Google Plus (hopefully) will be moving them soon.

[coolbreeze]

Anyone know why Some Ebay auctions list their N7's as unlocked?  Are they talking about being developers models that are unlocked for modification?

[S.Prime]

Unlocked is an unlocked bootloader, which allows you to write to the system partition. Then you can put the Superuser app in the system partition and change the recovery to CWM.

[Don]

I see that phenomenon every time a new device is released and have always wondered why people pay so much.
I have always chalked it up to: http://www.knowyourphrase.com/phrase-meanings/fool-and-his-money-are-soon-parted.html] [url]http://www.knowyourphrase.com/phrase-meanings/fool-and-his-money-are-soon-parted.html [/url]