Hello there, ladies and gents. I have an idea I'd like to run by you.

I'm a poor college student, as many of you know. I live in a school apartment, work part time, live comfortably for what it's worth, but I'm gonna be needing a lot more money in the coming months, and have no way/time to make more. Then, I got an idea.

The Apple iPad is all the rage now, right? And, Apple just recently announced a month delay in the EU release date, right? Those two things combined means that eBay prices for the iPad are ridiculously inflated, especially on listings that ship internationally.

So, here's my idea. I have no iPad, and no money to get an iPad. On eBay, I make a listing saying that I have a new-in-box iPad to ship internationally, with a stipulation that it'll take me a few days after the closing time to ship it out. I wait until the bidding goes up, or I set a slightly high buy it now price, and when I get the money from the winner of the auction, I withdraw it from Paypal to buy it from a local store, or use Paypal to buy said iPad online with fast shipping to my apartment. I then take it immediately to whatever shipping company can ship internationally, pay for the shipping and insurance, and pocket the entire difference as profit.

Long story short, I buy and sell an iPad, all without spending a single cent out of pocket.

Good idea? Bad idea? What do you guys think?

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(16/04/2010 06:28 PM)SkyDX Wrote:  Sounds like it could work.....^^

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The risky part is that you need to guarantee that you can actually get an iPad straight after you withdraw your money.
On the other hand, the buyer may also factor in the risk you put in.

But otherwise, sounds similar to the idea of short selling, cept you're getting arbitrage in this case :) (if there's no risk involved)

(This post was last modified: 16/04/2010 07:48 PM by ZiNgA BuRgA.)

(16/04/2010 07:47 PM)ZiNgA BuRgA Wrote:  The risky part is that you need to guarantee that you can actually get an iPad straight after you withdraw your money.
On the other hand, the buyer may also factor in the risk you put in.

But otherwise, sounds similar to the idea of short selling, cept you're getting arbitrage in this case :) (if there's no risk involved)

The wonderful thing is that I live in Utah, meaning that even if some product is wildly crazy popular, most stores will have them still, and in this case, the Apple store always has them. I'm more concerned about Paypal letting me actually withdraw the money to my bank account before the item has been shipped.

See if you can take a loan from someone?  Though, for that amount of money it may be difficult.
Also, do check that the prices are what you think they are - I doubt you're the first person to think of this, and if you've got a fair bit of competition, you probably won't make as much as you think you may.