First iPhone 6s in Moscow Cost Up to 90,000 Rubles or $2,300
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Mario Tama/Getty Images(MOSCOW) — As hundreds line up around the world for the new iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, gray market importers in Russia are starting to fly them in and re-sell them at a massive profit.
In Moscow, home to three Bentley showrooms but zero Apple stores, there is no shortage of people willing to pay top dollar to have the latest phone even just a few days before everyone else. Internet stores are offering the new phones at a substantial markup, but those who want to receive them before next week will have to pay even more.
Among several vendors contacted by ABC News, most that said they would have the phones by Friday night priced the basic 16 GB version of the iPhone 6 at around 60,000 rubles, or roughly $1,550. (The prices quoted on their websites are for delivery next week.) That’s more than double the cost in the United States, where an unlocked, contract free iPhone 6 starts at $649.
One store priced the basic iPhone 6 model at 89,990 rubles, or over $2,300. Across the board, iPhone 6 Plus prices were about 10,000 rubles, or over $250, more than the smaller phone.
“They’re very expensive right now,” a salesperson at applelifestyle.ru said, advising callers to wait until next Tuesday or Wednesday when the price will drop roughly in half.
The stores said they’re seeing just as much demand, if not more, for this year’s new iPhones compared to previous years. One vendor said he had a long waitlist and could not say when they would be available. Most of the shops said they were seeing more demand for the iPhone 6 Plus compared to the iPhone 6, despite the higher price.
In previous years the price in rubles for the newest model iPhone was nearly the same, though Russia’s currency has taken a dive since then, driving down the price in dollars.
The vendors said their phones were arriving mainly from Europe and the United States. The first batches are expected to arrive Friday night and Saturday morning. Some sellers declined to say whether they had paid customs duties to import them. Others insisted they were legit and offered one year warranties.
An authorized Apple retailer in Russia said they did not expect to receive the new iPhones until next Friday. Even then they’ll offer the basic iPhone 6 model for 31,990 rubles, or over $830.
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