Outside US, iPad Hits eBay Before Stores

An iPad on eBay.co.uk sells for nearly twice its US retail price.

Although Apple has slashed international shipping times for many countries, eBay auctions may bring iPads to early adopters before they can buy them in stores.

In Italy, where the official launch date hasn’t been specified beyond “end of April,” there are dozens of iPads for sale on eBay, the Apple Lounge found, where those willing to risk buying them online might get their hands on the device a few weeks early.

That same end of April date is also expected for the UK, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and Spain and Switzerland.

A CoM search found the same scenario on eBay around the globe from France, Germany, Turkey, Brazil to New Zealand: vendors pre-selling iPads before Apple at a mark up. eBay currently lists 2,650 iPads for sale on its international circuit, in addition to the country markets.

The 64BG model pictured on eBay UK above costs $699 from Apple but the price requested by the indie seller is nearly twice that, $1,050 plus shipping.

Due to what used to be long lead times outside US borders, black market Apple products flourished as fans have had to wait years to buy them from official retailers.

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Of course, a healthy dose of caveat emptor is in order: best case scenario, these are the real deal pre-ordered in the US. Worst case: they’re pricey knock-offs.

Anyone willing to take a chance (and spend the cash) for an eBay iPad?

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