This article was published on May 9, 2010

Just how successful has the iPad already been abroad? Ask eBay.


Just how successful has the iPad already been abroad? Ask eBay.

Editors Note: This is a guest post by Dennis Goedegebuure, Senior Manager & Team lead SEO at eBay. He’s kindly agreed to share some of the interesting statistics behind the international iPad marketplace prior to its launch at the end of this month.

With Apple selling more that 1 million iPads just in the US, many of you were wondering how many have been sold on the global eBay marketplace to buyers not located in the US. Essentially we’re talking about free market forces that are at work, determining the price of an iPad on the global marketplace through matching demand and supply.

The World is Flat

Of all the iPads sold in the first two weeks on eBay, the majority went to buyers outside of the US. Just 35% of the iPads sold on eBay in the first two weeks, were sold domestically. The low percentage of domestic sales probably has got to do with the fact Apple did a great job keeping all the stores fully stocked. There have not been widely reported shortages for iPads across the US. In the past, any shortages in products have always been a reason of increased sales on eBay of the product!

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The Brits imported the most iPads, where 550 iPads were imported. Of the top 20 importers of iPads, the small city state of Singapore imported 77 iPads in the first two weeks.

Premiums Paid for iPad

From the data, we can see who is more prepared to pull their wallet to buy an iPad.

Buyers from the United Arab Emirates were prepared to buy the 64GB iPad model at a premium of more than $500 over the normal retail price.

The announcement of the delay in International Launch of the iPad had a shock effect on the demand on the iPads sold on the US eBay website. Number of iPads sold to International countries jumped. The price for an iPad on April 14th skyrocketed for buyers outside of the US.

International launch of the iPad

for the International launch of the iPad, we will be keeping a close eye on the numbers. What the data from the first two weeks is tells us, is that the iPad is going to be a big success in the European countries.

By that time, we will keep you posted with an update to these numbers.

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