Telco v Online Sellers - why the huge price disparities?

I'm looking around for some new mobile phones. I've not decided yet
exactly what I want. However, the phones that I have looked at can be had
for considerably cheaper online, such as Ebay, for example, than if I go
into one of the telcos' shops.

For example, the Nokia N95 is $1,195 outright via Telstra. Or between $800
and $900 on Ebay.

For example, the Motorola V9 is $350 to $500 on Ebay. Telstra's price:
$829.

There are similar price differences for the other networks that I quickly
checked.

How can these Ebay sellers flog them for so much less than what Telstra,
as an example, sells them for? Why doesn't Telstra try to compete with
this market?

Has anyone had any success negotiating a price break when buying outright
from Telstra?

Last year when I was in the market for the Treo 750 none of the shops that
I visited were interested or couldn't drop below the $1,095 "rrp" mark.
Yet I bought one off Ebay for $600.

Someone's making a lot of money here, and I daresay that the EBay sellers
aren't giving their phones away...

---

› See More: Telco v Online Sellers - why the huge price disparities?

Snapper <[email protected]> wrote:

> I'm looking around for some new mobile phones. I've not decided
> yet exactly what I want. However, the phones that I have looked
> at can be had for considerably cheaper online, such as Ebay,
> for example, than if I go into one of the telcos' shops.

> For example, the Nokia N95 is $1,195 outright via
> Telstra. Or between $800 and $900 on Ebay.

> For example, the Motorola V9 is $350 to $500 on Ebay.
> Telstra's price: $829.

> There are similar price differences for the other networks that I quickly checked.

> How can these Ebay sellers flog them for so much less
> than what Telstra, as an example, sells them for?

Quite a few of the phones sold on ebay arent sourced from Nokia and
Motorola in Aust, they're mostly chinese product imported by the seller.

> Why doesn't Telstra try to compete with this market?

They dont need to.

> Has anyone had any success negotiating a
> price break when buying outright from Telstra?

Didnt even bother trying.

> Last year when I was in the market for the Treo 750 none of
> the shops that I visited were interested or couldn't drop below
> the $1,095 "rrp" mark. Yet I bought one off Ebay for $600.

Me too with my N95. I deliberately chose one being sold with
a full Aust warranty from a seller with lots of feedback too.

> Someone's making a lot of money here, and I daresay
> that the EBay sellers aren't giving their phones away...

Corse they arent.

It's quite likely that the ebay ones are imports that dont carry the A tick.
http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/..._10,pc=PC_1728

Snapper wrote:
> I'm looking around for some new mobile phones. I've not decided yet
> exactly what I want. However, the phones that I have looked at can be
> had for considerably cheaper online, such as Ebay, for example, than
> if I go into one of the telcos' shops.
>
> For example, the Nokia N95 is $1,195 outright via Telstra. Or between
> $800 and $900 on Ebay.
>
> For example, the Motorola V9 is $350 to $500 on Ebay. Telstra's price:
> $829.
>
> There are similar price differences for the other networks that I
> quickly checked.
>
> How can these Ebay sellers flog them for so much less than what
> Telstra, as an example, sells them for? Why doesn't Telstra try to
> compete with this market?
>
> Has anyone had any success negotiating a price break when buying
> outright from Telstra?
>
> Last year when I was in the market for the Treo 750 none of the shops
> that I visited were interested or couldn't drop below the $1,095
> "rrp" mark. Yet I bought one off Ebay for $600.
>
> Someone's making a lot of money here, and I daresay that the EBay
> sellers aren't giving their phones away...

"Snapper" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm looking around for some new mobile phones. I've not decided yet
> exactly what I want. However, the phones that I have looked at can be had
> for considerably cheaper online, such as Ebay, for example, than if I go
> into one of the telcos' shops.
>
> For example, the Nokia N95 is $1,195 outright via Telstra. Or between $800
> and $900 on Ebay.
>
> For example, the Motorola V9 is $350 to $500 on Ebay. Telstra's price:
> $829.
>
> There are similar price differences for the other networks that I quickly
> checked.
>
> How can these Ebay sellers flog them for so much less than what Telstra,
> as an example, sells them for? Why doesn't Telstra try to compete with
> this market?

Because telstra are reliable, and ebay is mainly rubbish.

would you buy a phone from someone at a pub too?

> Has anyone had any success negotiating a price break when buying outright
> from Telstra?

No one is silly enough to buy phones outright from telstra

Pleae wrote...

> It's quite likely that the ebay ones are imports that dont carry the A tick.
> http://www.acma.gov.au/WEB/STANDARD/..._10,pc=PC_1728

The ones that I was looking all supposedly were Telstra phones. For
example the Treo that I bought had the Telstra logo on startup and the My
Place thingy went straight to Bigpond when selected.

Michael wrote...

> Because telstra are reliable, and ebay is mainly rubbish.

What proof of this do you have that supports this assertion?

> would you buy a phone from someone at a pub too?

Dunno what this has to do with it. I'm talking about legitimate sellers
who sell Telstra branded products, not some druggie looking to flog a
stolen phone, sans charger, manual, disk, cable, etc..

> No one is silly enough to buy phones outright from telstra

Why?

That is, why is it silly to buy outright?

"Snapper" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Michael wrote...
>
>> Because telstra are reliable, and ebay is mainly rubbish.
>
> What proof of this do you have that supports this assertion?
>
>> would you buy a phone from someone at a pub too?
>
> Dunno what this has to do with it. I'm talking about legitimate sellers
> who sell Telstra branded products, not some druggie looking to flog a
> stolen phone, sans charger, manual, disk, cable, etc..
>
>> No one is silly enough to buy phones outright from telstra
>
> Why?
>
> That is, why is it silly to buy outright?

Maybe he is saying that buying outright from Telstra is silly when you can
purchase cheaper elsewhere.
Telstra may offer better value by purchasing on a plan. Dunno.
BTW I have been looking at getting a Nokia N95 but am a little unsure about
the different models and pricing available.
As an example this site lists various models at different prices
http://www.exeltek.com.au/secure/cat...+N95+&x=9&y=10
I am wondering if the 8GB version is worth the extra money.
Any thoughts?

Fred <[email protected]> wrote
> Snapper <[email protected]> wrote
>> Michael wrote

>>> Because telstra are reliable, and ebay is mainly rubbish.

Its trivial for anyone with a clue to sort out the rubbish from what isnt with ebay.

>> What proof of this do you have that supports this assertion?

>>> would you buy a phone from someone at a pub too?

>> Dunno what this has to do with it. I'm talking about legitimate
>> sellers who sell Telstra branded products, not some druggie looking
>> to flog a stolen phone, sans charger, manual, disk, cable, etc..

>>> No one is silly enough to buy phones outright from telstra

>> Why?

>> That is, why is it silly to buy outright?

> Maybe he is saying that buying outright from Telstra is silly when you can purchase cheaper elsewhere.

He appears to be saying in that bit that its better value to get it
on a plan and pay it off over time than to buy it outright from telstra.

Thats generally true, but not always.

> Telstra may offer better value by purchasing on a plan. Dunno.

> BTW I have been looking at getting a Nokia N95 but am a little unsure about the different models and pricing
> available.

Yeah, it is one downside with the N95.

> As an example this site lists various models at different prices
> http://www.exeltek.com.au/secure/cat...+N95+&x=9&y=10

> I am wondering if the 8GB version is worth the extra money.
> Any thoughts?

I believe it is myself and chose to buy one. From an ebay sight.
Bought one with an Aust warranty from a seller thats a normal
Aust retailler with lots of good feedback and saved heaps.

One minor downside with it is that it no longer has a card slot.
That can be convenient for moving stuff to the N95, but I couldnt
care less myself, because wifi and usb are fine for that for me.

Fred wrote...

> BTW I have been looking at getting a Nokia N95 but am a little unsure about
> the different models and pricing available.
> As an example this site lists various models at different prices
> http://www.exeltek.com.au/secure/cat...+N95+&x=9&y=10
> I am wondering if the 8GB version is worth the extra money.
> Any thoughts?

For us the 8gb is not on the shopping list. It's not a NextG phone. The
plain N95 is, however.

Thing is, one of its features is that of a GPS. From the reviews that I've
read (and I posted the links here the other day), they're saying that it's
a (read: expensive) subscription service to download the maps. You can buy
a navigator for around $200 these days, so why would you bother with the
N95 if you're buying it for this feature (as well as the phone bit)?

The 8 gig storage would be handy I s'pose given that it has a 4mp camera.
But how good the camera is I don't know. Still, I s'pose a flash memory
card can be installed for photo/video/music/sound file storage if we go
for the non-8gb (NextG) version.

Snapper <[email protected]> wrote
> Fred wrote
>
>> BTW I have been looking at getting a Nokia N95 but am a little
>> unsure about the different models and pricing available.
>> As an example this site lists various models at different prices
>> http://www.exeltek.com.au/secure/cat...+N95+&x=9&y=10
>> I am wondering if the 8GB version is worth the extra money.
>> Any thoughts?

> For us the 8gb is not on the shopping list.
> It's not a NextG phone. The plain N95 is, however.
>
> Thing is, one of its features is that of a GPS. From the reviews that
> I've read (and I posted the links here the other day), they're saying
> that it's a (read: expensive) subscription service to download the maps.

No they dont say anything of the sort, and thats not true anyway.

> You can buy a navigator for around $200 these days,
> so why would you bother with the N95 if you're buying
> it for this feature (as well as the phone bit)?

To have everything in the one device, for when you are out of the car.

> The 8 gig storage would be handy I s'pose given that it has
> a 4mp camera. But how good the camera is I don't know.

Excellent. Its actually got two cameras, not just one.

> Still, I s'pose a flash memory card can be installed for photo/video/
> music/sound file storage if we go for the non-8gb (NextG) version.

On Sun, 23 Mar 2008 13:44:35 +1100, Rod Speed wrote:

> Fred <[email protected]> wrote
>> Snapper <[email protected]> wrote
>>> Michael wrote
>
>>>> Because telstra are reliable, and ebay is mainly rubbish.
>
> Its trivial for anyone with a clue to sort out the rubbish from what isnt with ebay.
>
>>> What proof of this do you have that supports this assertion?
>
>>>> would you buy a phone from someone at a pub too?
>
>>> Dunno what this has to do with it. I'm talking about legitimate
>>> sellers who sell Telstra branded products, not some druggie looking
>>> to flog a stolen phone, sans charger, manual, disk, cable, etc..
>
>>>> No one is silly enough to buy phones outright from telstra
>
>>> Why?
>
>>> That is, why is it silly to buy outright?
>
>> Maybe he is saying that buying outright from Telstra is silly when you can purchase cheaper elsewhere.
>
> He appears to be saying in that bit that its better value to get it
> on a plan and pay it off over time than to buy it outright from telstra.
>
> Thats generally true, but not always.
>
>> Telstra may offer better value by purchasing on a plan. Dunno.
>
>> BTW I have been looking at getting a Nokia N95 but am a little unsure about the different models and pricing
>> available.
>
> Yeah, it is one downside with the N95.
>
>> As an example this site lists various models at different prices
>> http://www.exeltek.com.au/secure/cat...+N95+&x=9&y=10
>
>> I am wondering if the 8GB version is worth the extra money.
>> Any thoughts?
>
> I believe it is myself and chose to buy one. From an ebay sight.
> Bought one with an Aust warranty from a seller thats a normal
> Aust retailler with lots of good feedback and saved heaps.

What ARE the differences between the N95 8GB and the N95? Obviously one
has 8GB of internal memory and the other doesn't... and the casing is
different (though the dimensions are precisely the same) and the 8GB
version's screen is 0.2" larger.

Is that it? Surely there must be more to the 8GB model than just the extra
memory and an almost imperceptibly larger screen?

Horry <[email protected]> wrote
> Rod Speed wrote
>> Fred <[email protected]> wrote
>>> Snapper <[email protected]> wrote
>>>> Michael wrote

>>>>> Because telstra are reliable, and ebay is mainly rubbish.

>> Its trivial for anyone with a clue to sort out the rubbish from what isnt with ebay.

>>>> What proof of this do you have that supports this assertion?

>>>>> would you buy a phone from someone at a pub too?

>>>> Dunno what this has to do with it. I'm talking about legitimate
>>>> sellers who sell Telstra branded products, not some druggie looking
>>>> to flog a stolen phone, sans charger, manual, disk, cable, etc..

>>>>> No one is silly enough to buy phones outright from telstra

>>>> Why?

>>>> That is, why is it silly to buy outright?

>>> Maybe he is saying that buying outright from Telstra
>>> is silly when you can purchase cheaper elsewhere.

>> He appears to be saying in that bit that its better value to get it on
>> a plan and pay it off over time than to buy it outright from telstra.

>> Thats generally true, but not always.

>>> Telstra may offer better value by purchasing on a plan. Dunno.

>>> BTW I have been looking at getting a Nokia N95 but am a little
>>> unsure about the different models and pricing available.

>> Yeah, it is one downside with the N95.

>>> As an example this site lists various models at different prices
>>> http://www.exeltek.com.au/secure/cat...+N95+&x=9&y=10

>>> I am wondering if the 8GB version is worth the extra money.
>>> Any thoughts?

>> I believe it is myself and chose to buy one. From an ebay sight.
>> Bought one with an Aust warranty from a seller thats a normal
>> Aust retailler with lots of good feedback and saved heaps.

> What ARE the differences between the N95 8GB and the N95?

Its physically different and looks better with the 8GB.

No card slot.

> Obviously one has 8GB of internal memory and the other doesn't...

You quite sure you aint one of those rocket scientist fellas ?

> and the casing is different (though the dimensions are precisely the same)
> and the 8GB version's screen is 0.2" larger.

> Is that it?

No card slot on the 8GB.

> Surely there must be more to the 8GB model than just the
> extra memory and an almost imperceptibly larger screen?

It looks completely different, the silver front is gone, the 8GB is black on the front.

Rod Speed <[email protected]> wrote:
> Horry <[email protected]> wrote
>> Rod Speed wrote
>>> Fred <[email protected]> wrote
>>>> Snapper <[email protected]> wrote
>>>>> Michael wrote
>
>>>>>> Because telstra are reliable, and ebay is mainly rubbish.
>
>>> Its trivial for anyone with a clue to sort out the rubbish from
>>> what isnt with ebay.
>
>>>>> What proof of this do you have that supports this assertion?
>
>>>>>> would you buy a phone from someone at a pub too?
>
>>>>> Dunno what this has to do with it. I'm talking about legitimate
>>>>> sellers who sell Telstra branded products, not some druggie
>>>>> looking to flog a stolen phone, sans charger, manual, disk,
>>>>> cable, etc..
>
>>>>>> No one is silly enough to buy phones outright from telstra
>
>>>>> Why?
>
>>>>> That is, why is it silly to buy outright?
>
>>>> Maybe he is saying that buying outright from Telstra
>>>> is silly when you can purchase cheaper elsewhere.
>
>>> He appears to be saying in that bit that its better value to get it
>>> on a plan and pay it off over time than to buy it outright from
>>> telstra.
>
>>> Thats generally true, but not always.
>
>>>> Telstra may offer better value by purchasing on a plan. Dunno.
>
>>>> BTW I have been looking at getting a Nokia N95 but am a little
>>>> unsure about the different models and pricing available.
>
>>> Yeah, it is one downside with the N95.
>
>>>> As an example this site lists various models at different prices
>>>> http://www.exeltek.com.au/secure/cat...+N95+&x=9&y=10
>
>>>> I am wondering if the 8GB version is worth the extra money.
>>>> Any thoughts?
>
>>> I believe it is myself and chose to buy one. From an ebay sight.
>>> Bought one with an Aust warranty from a seller thats a normal
>>> Aust retailler with lots of good feedback and saved heaps.
>
>> What ARE the differences between the N95 8GB and the N95?
>
> Its physically different and looks better with the 8GB.
>
> No card slot.
>
>> Obviously one has 8GB of internal memory and the other doesn't...
>
> You quite sure you aint one of those rocket scientist fellas ?
>
>> and the casing is different (though the dimensions are precisely the
>> same) and the 8GB version's screen is 0.2" larger.
>
>> Is that it?
>
> No card slot on the 8GB.
>
>> Surely there must be more to the 8GB model than just the
>> extra memory and an almost imperceptibly larger screen?
>
> It looks completely different, the silver front is gone, the 8GB is
> black on the front.

Not available with NextG yet.

On Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:54:46 +1100 "Rod Speed"
<[email protected]> wrote:

> > It looks completely different, the silver front is gone, the 8GB is
> > black on the front.
>
> Not available with NextG yet.


Is next G 3G, or 3.5G or a bastardisation of either? Or neither?

Or Tel$traG?

(Parkybot, where are you when we need you?)

Where I live, previous occupant who worked for Orange (3) left behind a
staff magazine (Australia doesn't score a mention), in which it says
China is developing 4G, whatever that is.

On Mon, 24 Mar 2008 22:25:02 +1100, John Phillips wrote:

> On Mon, 24 Mar 2008 20:54:46 +1100 "Rod Speed"
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>> It looks completely different, the silver front is gone, the 8GB is
>>> black on the front.
>>
>> Not available with NextG yet.
>
>
> Is next G 3G, or 3.5G or a bastardisation of either? Or neither?
>
> Or Tel$traG?

It's 3G at 850MHz.


> (Parkybot, where are you when we need you?)
>
> Where I live, previous occupant who worked for Orange (3) left behind a
> staff magazine (Australia doesn't score a mention), in which it says
> China is developing 4G, whatever that is.

There's talk of 5G on Wikipedia. Everyone's all excited about it!