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anonymous
Q: Are the ads for electronics in the Guangzhou classifieds real or fake?.. Are the phones legit?
There are many that post in the classifieds and claim to be from the UK.. I'm not sure if it's safe to buy from these companies or if they are selling fakes....
11 years 48 weeks ago in Web & Technology - China
They claim they are real, and even show you the packaging as proof. But something in the back of my mind tells be not to buy from them.
Why ?. An Apple iPhone 4S with the basic memory cost wholesale, at factory, the equivalent of $ 600 + US dollars (I do not recall the exact amount, but it is under $ 650). And to me, it is a proven fact since I have seen invoices to dealers.
So, how can a person or company sell it for $ 400 to $ 500 as I see advertised, and still give you a "real" phone and not a fake. Something is fishy, and I also know there are no volume discounts. So, phones are either too hot to handle, or fakes in any way. And on top of that, some offer that if you buy two, they will give you a third one free. That is, selling you something with a wholesale value of 3 x 600 = $ 1800 US dollars for $ 800 to $ 1000 . Too good to be totally legit.
But that is my opinion anyway, I have never dealt with them, but have seen many of their ads.
Xpat.John:
A lot of these cheaper phones are bought with a 2 year contract in another country, then they will cancel the contract. In some cases, especially if they have inside contacts, the cost of the penalty plus the cost of the phone, comes out to about $400.
Then, of course, there is the iPhones that slip out the back door of the manufacturer in China before they ever get on a boat to their intended country.
In any case, the phones that are sold outside of their intended country are grey market and have no warranty. The user would also need to be tech savvy enough to update the jail broken phone on their own when new updates come out.
TedDBayer:
Hong Kong is supposed to have the best price on iPhones. At home I can buy iPhones for $400, but from somebody a hacker knows, supposed to be real phones, I see adds for them, but never bothered checkin them out, buy in a store, if theres a poblem i have a place to take it back to. I actually bought my Iphone 4 used, it was unlocked then the guy updated it and it locked, so i gave him $100, put an original SIM in it restored it and it worked, i just can;t unlock it yet, IOS5 4.11.8, my GF fell in love with it, so guess where it is. i gave her my old iphone 3 which I picked up for peanuts before but the wifi doesn't work now, so she uses the 4 for wifi.A girl with 2 iPhones, how much Face did that give her? cause I never got any back.
