iPad Mini – Not Actually a Rental Unit
The high resale value of Apple products has long been a compelling argument for the perceived premium — I remember reselling my Titanium Powerbook for ~80% of retail a year later so I could jump to the new Aluminum Powerbook. In contrast, the high-end Dell XPS laptop I bought at the same time fetched less than 40%.
The trend has continued into the mobile era — though instead of PCs we have Android devices, and instead of Macs we have iPads and iPhones.
I loved Judie’s post about the easy new method of selling tablets through eBay. After getting and using the iPad Air, I knew the iPad Mini had to go, so I used the method from the post, and in about 15 seconds had my listing.
Like Judie I was surprised when the listing suggested I could get as much as $290 for the iPad Mini – remember that it sold new for $329 when released and now sells new for $299.
But I was AMAZED as the bids quickly escalated and eventually got even more than the $290 suggested price. It is on the way to a happy new home now, but as I thought about the incredible price I got for the iPad Mini, something occurred to me.
I have owned the iPad Mini for 53 weeks, getting it on launch day last year. It has been used every single day; even though it is in great shape, it saw plenty of use.
But if you back out the usage rate:
– $30 difference between purchase and sale prices
– 53 weeks of usage
You get just over $0.50 a week. Let me repeat that – 50 cents per week to use an iPad Mini.
This is an absolutely stunning figure – and it contrasts very starkly with the amounts people are getting for the one-month old Kindle Fire HDX and similar other Android tablets. If I went to sell my Kindle Fire HDX ($269 for 32GB + $55 for Origami cover ~ $325), I would be lucky to get $250 – and it is less than a month old!
The resale of Apple stuff just continues to astound me … and it makes buying Apple products a no-brainer.
[Note from Judie — If you haven’t already checked out eBay’s new Simple Flow Tablet Selling Tool, what are you waiting for?]
Considering that you can get a brand new iPad mini for $299 straight from Apple right now, yes, someone certainly has no brains!
Also, I hate to be a buzzkill, but you haven’t factored in eBay’s and PayPal’s cut, huh =P
Oh I know that stuff … but it is more about the big picture – and I think you already know that. 🙂
I know, I know… I only tease out of respect for GD.
Seriously though, I’m scratching my head over whoever bought a used, out-of-warranty iPad mini (unless you bought AppleCare for it?) for the same price as a new one. I guess they either don’t pay attention to the news or REALLY don’t want to give any of their money to Apple.