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Your Call: eBay and Demand for the iPhone 4☆

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  • Michael Waterson
  • Chris Doyle

Abstract

The iPhone 4 was introduced into the UK market on 24-super-th June 2010 to significant consumer interest. Demand revealed itself exceeding supply through conventional channels, since there was very extensive activity in terms of bidding on eBay auctions for the product. We monitored all UK eBay transactions on the iPhone 4 for six weeks from introduction, with total transactions amounting to around £1.5m. We analyse determinants of winning bids in terms of characteristics of the phone, the seller, and the buyer. Our most notable and novel finding relative to previous studies is a very significant premium over list price being paid in almost all cases, with positive uplift factors including whether the phone was unlocked and whether it could be sold overseas. Demand fell over time, as evidenced by lower achieved prices, but the fall in price was relatively modest. A significant premium of 32GB over 16GB versions is revealed.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Waterson & Chris Doyle, 2012. "Your Call: eBay and Demand for the iPhone 4☆," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(1), pages 141-152, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ijecbs:v:19:y:2012:i:1:p:141-152
    DOI: 10.1080/13571516.2012.642644
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Nicollier, Luciana A., 2012. "Customers' Complaints and Quality Regulation," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 990, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    2. Chao, Hong & Ho, Chun-Yu & Leung, Tin Cheuk & Ng, Travis, 2017. "To root or not to root? The economics of jailbreak," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 481-497.
    3. Nicollier, Luciana A, 2013. "Reviews, Prices and Endogenous Information Transmission," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1029, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    4. Waterson, Michael & Wojciechowska , Olga, 2024. "Individual bidder behaviour in repeated auctions," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1498, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    5. Nicollier, Luciana A., 2012. "Customers’ Complaints and Quality Regulation," Economic Research Papers 270636, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    6. Nicollier, Luciana, 2013. "Reviews, Prices and Endogenous Information Transmission," Economic Research Papers 270430, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.

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