Consumers beware: This is how e-commerce platforms get their low-priced iPhones
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Every year, with the launch of Apple's new iPhone, a large number of scalpers emerge, and it is these scalpers who create "miracles" time and time again: When iPhone 4 was launched, the price of the parallel-imported iPhone from the US was raised from US$599 to RMB 10,000; when iPhone 6 Plus was launched, it was hard to get one, and the lowest-end version was raised from US$599 to RMB 13,000; when this generation of iPhone 7 Plus was launched, scalpers once again set a new record for the highest scalper price ever for a mass-produced version of an Apple phone: the top-end bright black iPhone 7 Plus was sold for RMB 30,000. In sharp contrast to the extremely public "first release" price, the scalper circle is relatively hidden. Many people are very interested in the scalper circle, but they also have some doubts. Fortunately, I met an "old" scalper Mr. A (pseudonym) many years ago. During the chat with Mr. A, I gradually got to know the scalper industry. In the hope that more people can understand the original intention of scalpers, I would like to talk to you about the things behind scalpers. Being a scalper is not so profitable now. When it comes to "scalpers", most people first think of the various legendary myths of getting rich overnight. However, myths are just myths. In fact, in the past few years, scalpers could earn high profits through a series of means when popular models were first released. At that time, the profit of reselling a mobile phone could even reach 2,000 yuan. In addition, the market demand was huge at that time, and it was still very easy to resell dozens of phones a day. Although it was not as exaggerated as getting rich overnight, there were still tens of thousands of yuan in pure profit a day. However, in the past two years, the mainland has become the first release area for Apple, and users can directly choose to buy the "first release" phone from Apple's official website. The scalper industry has suffered a heavy blow. In addition, the Internet is extremely developed now, and the market price is basically open and transparent. The profit of scalpers is getting lower and lower. Sometimes a wrong bet will lead to a loss of all the money. Mr. A once made a wrong bet, and as a result, he lost all the remaining profits of the previous few years, and returned to the pre-liberation era overnight. In this industry now, gray transactions are the most profitable. I believe that many friends who see the above will be very confused. If the scalper industry is no longer profitable, then why does Mr. A continue to be a scalper? In fact, Mr. A is no longer a pure scalper. The speculation of Apple mobile phone first release has changed from his "main business" to "side business". His main source of income is no longer speculation. They have a more profitable business than speculation: official replacement of new phones. Apple provides warranty services with different warranty periods for its products. If a non-human failure occurs during the warranty period, a replacement service will be provided after confirmation by the after-sales technical department. The replaced phone is a brand new, unactivated bare phone. This bare phone is actually no different from a brand new phone. Even the warranty period is the same as that of a brand new phone (the replacement rule of the national version is that the warranty period is reset when the replacement is made within the warranty period. The replacement phone provides a 365-day warranty period, which is the same as the warranty period of a brand new national version phone). If there is any difference, one is that there is only a bare phone without original packaging and accessories; the other is that its serial number is different from the arrangement rules of the retail version serial number. However, these problems are not a problem in the hands of scalpers. The first problem is easy to solve. Huaqiangbei sells a set of super-high imitation accessories for 60 yuan, and the degree of simulation is so high that even they themselves cannot tell the real from the fake. The second question is even simpler. Since the new bare machine can still provide a 365-day warranty period, users will not find any problems when they check the warranty period after activation. At this time, most users will think that this machine is a brand new retail machine. Only a very few users who know the difference between "retail machines" and "replacement machines" will carefully check the serial number of their machines. Having said so much, how much profit can they make by doing this? Mr. A calculated for me like this: the old machines used for replacement are basically collected scrap machines, and the cost is basically 0. The serial number of the national bank that is still in warranty costs about 500 yuan per number, and it costs about 100 yuan to find someone to replace the machine. Including miscellaneous expenses such as packaging, accessories, and labor, the total cost is about 1K . So what about the selling price? If it is packaged well, it can be sold to users at a price slightly lower than the market price. Even if it is sold alone, it can be sold for more than 3,000 yuan, and the net profit exceeds 2,000 yuan . Although it seems that the single profit is not as high as the profit of speculative goods, considering that this business can be carried out all year round and the demand is huge, the final profit is still considerable. Machines priced lower than the official price come from various channels. In fact, the editor discovered a long time ago that sometimes the iPhones sold by some domestic e-commerce platforms are cheaper than the same models sold on Apple's official website. I always thought that it was because Apple gave the e-commerce platform a low purchase price, so the e-commerce platform could sell at such a low price. But after Mr. A's explanation, the editor finally understood why the price of iPhones sold by e-commerce platforms is lower than that sold on the official website. According to Mr. A's explanation, the sources of low-priced iPhones sold by e-commerce platforms are generally divided into two types . One is to purchase from the official normal channels, but due to some special circumstances (such as grabbing the first release, e-commerce anniversary celebrations, etc.), e-commerce platforms will sell them at a loss, but they will definitely not be very many; the other channel is more interesting. Mr. A calls the machines sold through this channel "operator activity machines". As the name suggests, these machines are sold from the operator channels. In order to compete for users, operators often launch various preferential activities, such as pre-depositing **** yuan to get a mobile phone. At this time, scalpers will use their internal relationships to separate the phone charges from the mobile phone , and then contact the e-commerce procurement department through their relationships. When the e-commerce procurement confirms that there is no problem with the mobile phone, the transaction is considered to be completed. The e-commerce has purchased a machine without any problems at a low price. These scalpers also earn a certain profit by cashing in the mobile phone and phone charges separately. The most important thing is that there are not only one batch of machines flowing out of this channel, but a large number of them have been flowing out all the time. According to the scalpers, "as many as you want, as many as you want". After such a procedure, these machines are "laundered" from the operator channel machines to the e-commerce procurement channel machines. Of course, users don't have to worry. These machines have no problems, and even if there are problems, it is the fault of the e-commerce procurement, and has nothing to do with the users. In the end , because the editor has known Mr. A for many years, Mr. A often talks to the editor about some stories in their circle, but due to a series of factors, the editor really can't tell these stories to everyone one by one. Here, I will give you a few points to note based on my experience: 1. Don't be greedy and buy low-priced mobile phones from informal channels. If you are lucky, you can buy a replacement phone, but if you are unlucky, you can buy a refurbished phone. 2. Don't buy so-called original disassembled parts from the Internet. People in Huaqiangbei can't tell whether they are real or fake. 3. If you really want to pursue the ultimate cost-effectiveness, it is actually very cost-effective to buy a suitable official replacement phone.As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity. |
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