iPhone 4 demand is still high. Apple can’t seem to stock them quickly enough and despite their increasing measures they haven’t been able to stop iPhone scalpers.
One scalper named Huang claims to have sold 20 iPhones since its official launch and has made himself 3400 Yuan ($510):
“I have been standing in line repeatedly since the first day of the launch. I purchased twenty iPhones in total so far, and made 3,400 yuan out of them,”
Scalpers add anywhere from 400-700 Yuan to the price of the iPhone before selling it on to customers who are not willing to line up for hours. One customer paid 5700 Yuan ($855) for his 16Gb iPhone 4, but isn’t bothered about the mark up:
“Given the convenience factor — you don’t have to pre-order online and you don’t need to wait in long queues — I think the higher price is reasonable,”
Apple stores through out China have tried different tactics to stop the grey market sales from extra security to a pre-order and pre-pay service, but nothing seems to be stopping these opportunists making an easy living.