After Amazon, eBay is the most important point of sale for Apple products on the Internet. It is not only because of the variety of apple products that we can find in it, but also because of its price. This is even more pronounced in iPhone and iPad, where the price is far from the price recommended by Apple. Today it is possible to have discounts that even exceed 100 or 200 euros over the original price without Black Friday in between. But what is the real reason for this price difference?
Japan: the reason Apple products are cheaper
Not Russia, not the United States, not even China. Japan is the source of all Apple products that are sold on eBay for significantly less than the recommended retail price. The reason?
First, the currency exchange. The official price of the iPhone 11, for example, is 48,630 yen, which at the change in the crazy currency is only 405 euros . It is true that the price indicated on the Apple website is the value of the device before taxes. It is also true that most companies that buy products within the country deduct these taxes , as in any other country.
If we choose to buy any Apple product individually in Japan, the current tax is 10% on the total value of the sale (previously 8%), it would leave us with a final value of only 445 euros : far from the more than 800 euros that Apple asks for the iPhone 11 64 GB in Spain.
To this is added the existence of unofficial vendor stores that offer iPhone, iPad and Apple products of all kinds at a price even lower than that stipulated by Apple. In Spain we can get a discount of between 30 to 50 euros, depending on the product and the store where we buy the item in question. Although we do not have recorded data on the number of unofficial sellers in Japan, it is estimated that the offer should not be very different from that of countries like China .
Is there a difference with the iPhone and iPad in Spain?
The obligatory question. Technically not. Beyond the availability of the 3G and 4G network bands of the iPhone and the keyboard layout in the MacBook Air and MacBook Pro, the truth is that there is no technical difference. Well yeah, one: the camera shutter, or rather, the sound of the camera shutter .
In Japan, the law requires all technology manufacturers to enable a sound that serves as a "buzzer" or "buzzer" when taking photos or screenshots on an electronic device. In Europe this sound can be disabled from the iOS settings. Unfortunately, the Japanese version does not allow you to disable this setting for the reasons just mentioned.
Another difference that we find with respect to the models sold in Europe has to do with the warranty. Often the majority of eBay ads that offer these types of products indicate that the guarantee has to be processed by the company itself . Never by Apple or other unofficial channels.
It is true that sometimes the guarantee can be processed directly with Apple. In any case, the warranty is limited to one year . Let us remember that Europe is the only territory that offers a minimum legal guarantee period of two years. While the first year is the responsibility of the manufacturer or brand of the product, the second year must be covered by the store or area that has distributed the item in question in case of error or factory failure.