Chinese traders snap up iPhones, luxury goods in Russia as rouble drops

[Sammyboy RSS Feed]

An honorable member of the Coffee Shop Has Just Posted the Following:


Even Mainlanders are shunning shoddy, cheapo Xiaomi for gay phone. :eek::D

Chinese traders snap up iPhones, luxury goods in Russia as rouble drops

PUBLISHED : Thursday, 18 December, 2014, 8:51pm
UPDATED : Thursday, 18 December, 2014, 8:51pm

Adrian Wan [email protected]



People queue outside an Apple store in Beijing. Chinese consumers have been snapping up Apple products bought in Russia after the rouble started weakening. Photo: EPA

Chinese expatriates in Russia are snapping up popular electronic and luxury goods and then reselling them to cash in on the weakening rouble.

Apple gadgets, such as the iPhone and iPad, as well as luxury handbags have proven especially popular with the Chinese traders.

“If you’re looking for the iPad, cosmetics, perfume, handbags or shoes, my dear, then you’re too late,” a Chinese trader told customers on her Weibo microblog.

Yesterday, prices for the iPhone 6 started from 4,700 yuan(HK$5,950) including shipping costs – about 600 yuan cheaper than those sold in mainland Apple stores. The bigger iPhone 6 Plus was selling from 5,600 yuan, about 500 yuan cheaper.

“Stop asking me about cosmetic products and perfume. I won’t respond. I’m too busy,” the Chinese trader said on her blog in another entry on Thursday. Orders for food products or infant milk powder were still accepted though, she said.

Xu Honggang, from Hehei city in Heilongjiang province, who trades products to and from both countries, said many people had enquired about the iPhone and that mainlanders had snapped up almost all of the 70-odd devices he managed to get.

“I have only three left now and there are still many people interested,” Xu said. “But the Apple store has stopped selling them, so I can’t get any more supplies.”

Apple stopped selling products on its Russian website after massive fluctuations in the rouble. The Russian currency has lost 20 per cent of its value against the US dollar this week, smashing records for all-time lows on Monday and Tuesday.

As Russians rushed out to spend their roubles before prices went up on imported electronics, Apple announced it would close its online store.

“Due to extreme fluctuations in the value of the rouble, our online store in Russia is currently unavailable while we review pricing,” the company said. Visitors to the site were greeted with the message “we’ll be back” in several languages.

Apple does not have stores in Russia, although it sells its tablets and smartphones through local retailers. This is the second time the California-based tech company has closed its Russian website. The site was shut for about 24 hours in November before it reopened with prices 20 to 25 per cent higher.

Beijing resident Jacques Li said he saved about 4,000 yuan in buying a 64GB iPhone 6 and a 64GB iPhone 6 Plus with the help from a friend in Moscow last month when the Russian currency started sliding.

“I have saved a lot. I think I am the lucky one, placing the order when the rouble dropped and before Apple stopped online sales in Russia,” Li said.




Click here to view the whole thread at www.sammyboy.com.