People will almost do anything to get hold of the latest bit of tech, no more so than one customer who sold her position at the front of the queue to someone who payed $900 dollars to get their mitts on a new iPad. Although she had been queuing since Wednesday in the wind and rain so she deserved some money.
Well we’ve been alerted that UK customers who are looking to buy an iPad from the states are being blocked by Apple. If you try and buy the iPad 2 online and then use a third party company to then send it on to the UK, you will be receiving a message from Apple cancelling your order.
“Dear Apple Customer, thank you for your recent Apple order. We appreciate your interest in iPad 2. There is a limited quantity per customer for this product and your order has exceeded this limit. Your order has therefore been cancelled and you will not be charged. We apologize for any inconvenience caused.”
The problem is of course making quite a few people angry, but from Apple’s point of view they have a limited amount of iPad’s, and as they probably saw the same shipping address they have shut down this sneaky tactic.
The message, which usually goes out to customers who try to order more than the two iPad limit, is apparently also being sent to UK customers trying to send their iPads to US-based companies that specialise in forwarding on items purchased in the US abroad.
They are probably trying to prevent customers loading up with iPad’s, who will then go on to sell them, a way round this would be to find a friend in the states to pick one up at a Apple Store, and the ship it to the UK.
The iPad 2 is going to create a significant resale market as there are already shortages in America and if someone is willing to pay $900 for a spot in the queue then there’s going to be a sizeable profit in picking up as many as you can carry.
Sadly this leaves true Apple fans empty handed and facing a massive mark up. We think this is a sensible move from Apple. Fair for all.
So if you are planning to import a iPad 2 then you need to come up with another way getting hold of a iPad 2.