eBay have announced , ready for when it’s released. As is normal some sellers will be restricted in the number of handsets they’ll be able to list on eBay:
• Apple authorized resellers will be allowed to list an unlimited number of items per week.
• eBay Top-rated sellers, as well as sellers with a history of selling in the Mobile & Smart Phones category, will be allowed to list up to 8 items per week.
• All sellers meeting our minimum performance standards will be allowed to list 4 items a week.
• All sellers who have confirmed their personal information will be able to list 1 item per week.
All listings for the new iPhone will have to offer PayPal as their one and only payment method, eBay say this is to ensure they’re covered under seller protection (which is eminently sensible and cover is due to be extended from the 9th of October). However I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s also to ensure that buyers are also covered under PayPal buyer protection.
eBay do also point out that “Sellers who are having difficulty meeting performance standards may see a reduction in the number of these items allowed to be sold per week”. Be warned if you can’t meet what customers expect from eBay sellers you probably won’t be able to sell many iPhones.
The good news is that for the mobile phone accessory sellers it should be a bumper time for sales. Although many iPhone aficionados will have some accessories doubtless they’ll be in the market for new cases and cradles, as will all those who purchase the iPhone 5 as their very first Apple handset.
