Now that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus pre-orders have taken off in the first wave of markets, enterprising Malaysians have also begun setting up pre-orders of their own for eager Malaysians. Where our forums are usually filled with new iPhone sales threads with devices sourced from Singapore and the US, online marketplaces have begun leveraging on the iPhone hype as well.
This week, both 11street and Lazada have announced “pre-orders” for the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus. As both companies essentially run online marketplaces (though Lazada itself also sells many products), these so-called pre-order for the new iPhones are actually done by third-party sellers, using the platforms to gain exposure.
So while the new iPhones are indeed genuine from first-wave markets, you can expect to pay a handsome “reseller fee” for them. Where the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus retail in the US from $649 and $769 (about RM2,640 and RM3,130) respectively, 11street’s pre-order for the iPhone 7 starts from RM3,899, while Lazada’s one is slightly cheaper, starting from RM3,689.
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That said, the seller on Lazada charges an eye-watering RM6,199 for the 256GB iPhone 7 Plus, while a similar listing on 11street indicates a price of “only” RM4,882 (though that figure jumps to RM5,282 for the rarer Jet Black option). On the other hand, Lazada is promising deliveries on 20 September, while 11street will only ship the products from 28 September.
You could probably find better prices from individual sellers from our forums, but unless you really need the new iPhone within the next week, you’d be better off waiting for the official release. There’d be a lower premium to pay in exchange for a few weeks of waiting time, and there’d be less headache when it comes to warranty issues.
As a reference, Apple announced the official availability of the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus in Malaysia on 28 September 2015, with sales of the devices beginning 16 October – that’s almost exactly one month away. And, as an added bonus, here’s our article comparing iPhone 7 and 7 Plus prices from around the world.
