With Apple iPad 2 now in the thick of things and getting rave reviews, it was only natural for the first gen iPads to pile up with those who sell or recycle old gadgets. Gazelle is one such company – one of the largest in the US – and they are already sitting on a stockpile of about 17,000 original iPads.
Normally, the Massachusetts based company would pass on these to other retailers with a big presence like Wal Mart. However, the sheer volume of used iPads that has landed up with them has forced them to review their selling policy. In fact, they have now decided to sell the iPads directly to the consumers, something they have never done before in the 5 years of its existence but had always wanted to do.
“We see this as the opportunity to become an e-commerce player,” said Kristina Kennedy, the company’s senior manager of branding.
Gazelle has been witnessing a steady stream of iPads flowing into the company stores which at one point had peaked to even a thousand units a day. The rate though has dwindled since then to about 50 iPads a day. What is particularly pleasing for the company is that while the tech savvy consumers have sold their old iPads to fund the purchase of the new gen iPad 2, these same consumers have also taken extremely good care of their iPads.
So its almost 90 percent of the iPads that has been found to be in pristine condition that would require little or no refurbishment before they are put up for sale once again. Gazelle therefore stands to gain more and loose very less from the used iPads as the first gen Apple tablet is still very much in demand. This in spite of the new iPad 2 being a substantial improvement over the original tablet. The fact that most of the apps developed for use on the new iPad 2 is also very much relevant on the old iPad has ensured these remain in demand.
Now all Gazelle has to do is to ensure they have a sound marketing strategy in place and get their pricing spot on. The company is already hinting on a price point of $300 to $500 for the old iPads depending on their memory capacity or connectivity options (3G or Wi-Fi). The new iPad 2s are selling for almost $500 to $829 for the various versions. If they are able to get their act together on these, the old iPads can well re-write the company’s fortunes once and forever.
via forbes
