Bejing Triples Security To Stifle iPhone Scalpers
October 21, 2010
The iPhone 4 arrived in Beijing, China at the end of September. That alone should be cause for celebration. However, leave it to the scalpers to ruin everything for the people who follow the rules. That first day was just the beginning of all the chaos.
The Beijing Apple Store allowed customers to purchase more than the usual maximum of two phones each. Once the scalpers had the opportunity to buy as many as they could, they ran with it. They were purchasing upwards of 30 phones at a time. This just about killed any chance for the other customers, who were already waiting for three hours, to get one. The scalpers attempted to sell their newly purchased wares to those still waiting in line, with a significant markup, of course. At the end of the day, the store had to close and police were called because fights ensued.
The Apple store then attempted to thwart the scalpers by requiring that all customers schedule a time to pick up their new iPhone. That idea has not yet proved to be successful. The scalpers have scheduled as much of the available time as they can, causing the customers who simply want to get an iPhone to be disappointed yet again.
Now Apple has added as much security as they can. They have tripled the amount of security in the Beijing store. Security is reportedly stationed every three meters and the iPhones have been moved to the upper level. There are no phones at all on the bottom floor. Those customers with reservations have to be personally escorted by an employee to the upper level in order to get their iPhone.
Unfortunately, there is yet to be a happy ending to this iPhone 4 story. Scalpers are still selling the iPhones they are able to acquire for as much as a $130 profit for each phone. How do you think this situation could be fixed? Please leave a comment with your suggestions.