The buyers and sellers of bidorbuy, South Africa’s largest online marketplace, are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the newly released iPad 3, coined “the new iPad” by Apple. The new iPad was launched today in the US and 9 other countries.
The phrase “buy iPad 3” is among the twenty most popular searches on bidorbuy with about 120,000 searches every week. While 85% of iPads for sale on bidorbuy are brand new, bidorbuy expects an increase in second-hand first and second generation iPads.
With the launch of the first generation iPad in March 2010, consumers were prepared to pay extra to be the first to get their hands on one, and so, many sellers on bidorbuy obliged by supplying the device months before it became available in the country through the traditional channels.
“Almost from the moment when the first generation iPad was launched in March 2010, this device emerged as one of the most coveted products on bidorbuy”, says bidorbuy CEO Jaco Jonker.
History repeated itself with the launch of the second generation iPad with bidorbuy sellers being among the first with the iPad 2. Subsequently the number of second-hand first generation devices for sale increased.
A similar pattern is predicted with the iPad 3: more second-hand devices for sale and the sale of the brand new older models to slow down. According to bidorbuy, last week only 25 iPads were sold on the site which is down from earlier average numbers, and more than half of them were second-hand.
Currently on bidorbuy, brand new iPad2 prices range from R4950 for a 16GB model to about R8000 for a model with 64GB, 3G and Wi-Fi. In second-hand version, the same models are priced from R3500 and up to R7000 respectively.
“We will probably see a further decrease in the pricing of both new and second-hand units, which means that late adopters now have a chance to own an iPad 2 at a lower price”, says the bidorbuy CEO.
Jaco Jonker also warns consumers to be cautious when buying the third generation iPad:
“As always when something widely coveted is about to hit the market, we at bidorbuy will increase our vigilance. We also advise buyers to exercise due caution, to check the seller’s past performance and ratings on bidorbuy and to carefully read the item description, especially noting the expected delivery time.”
“In any case”, he adds, “it seems that this time consumers should not be in a hurry to put their hands on the first crop. Official channels are promising to get iPad 3 to South Africa within days from the international launch. If that does happen, buyers can look forward to somewhat better pricing on bidorbuy”.
