Why are the N5's on Ebay more than Play Store?

[PAC757]

I thought I would look around on Ebay to see if I could save a little money as opposed to the Play Store, but it seems almost all the new Nexus 5's on Ebay are selling for more than the Play Store, and yes that is even with the Tax and shipping charges. Don't understand why someone would pay more on ebay than opposed to getting one from Google for less money. Confusing

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Golfdriver97]

I thought I would look around on Ebay to see if I could save a little money as opposed to the Play Store, but it seems almost all the new Nexus 5's on Ebay are selling for more than the Play Store, and yes that is even with the Tax and shipping charges. Don't understand why someone would pay more on ebay than opposed to getting one from Google for less money. Confusing

Posted via Android Central App

Probably leftovers from the initial release of the N5, when people would buy as many as possible and try to sell for profit. One word for that: Dumb. If you want to see probably worse examples, look at Swappa.

 

[codeda]

Also you can sell on eBay internationally. So it might be expensive for us but cheaper to someone else.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[N4Newbie]

When the N4 was released, it went "Out of Stock" within a matter of minutes. The second batch also quickly went out of stock. Smart people learned that they could buy 3 or 4 of them from Google, resell all but one on eBay at a nice profit and essentially end up with a free phone for themselves.

True to form, when the N5 was released, it also quickly went out of stock; just as quickly, it turned up on eBay at prices ranging up to $600 and more.

So, that is half the story.

The other half is that there are still many places (countries) where you cannot purchase an N5 from Google's Play Store. For people living in those areas, the only options are eBay, Craigslist, etc.

 

[Shilohcane]

Google has done a terrible job marketing all Nexus devices and the Play Store. People just don't know they sell Nexus devices there to get it cheaper. Most people only know about the Play Store from hitting the Play Store App on their phone or tablet that comes with most Android devices. The App on the phone you hit won't show you the Nexus Devices you can buy. You need to come to the Play Store through a Browser to see the Nexus devices in the Play Store. Google would increase sales a lot if they would put a small store on both Amazon and Ebay that had a slight up charge to paid the fees to those two sites.

I can not tell you how many people that liked my Nexus 5 can't find the devices section in the Google Play Store. I would bet 99% of the smart phone and tablet buyers don't even know where they can go to order a Nexus 5/7 from Google directly. Most people go to the Cell Service Networks stores to buy phones and just don't know you buy them online direct from Google.

 

[Scott7217]

Google has done a terrible job marketing all Nexus devices and the Play Store.

That's an interesting observation. Doesn't Google specialize in marketing and advertising? I thought that's how it makes most of its money.