Best Buy Eliminates $100 iPhone X Premium Following Backlash

The iPhone X is one of the most popular smartphones at the moment, and the 5-6 week shipping estimates we’re seeing is a pretty good indication of that. This is why one could hardly fault retailers such as Best Buy for trying to get in on the action by charging customers a $100 premium on the price of the phone.

Unfortunately for Best Buy this has led to some pretty bad backlash, although the good news is that the retailer has since had a change of heart and has removed that option for customers, according to a report from Bloomberg. According to Best Buy spokeswoman Danielle Schumann, “Although there was clearly demand for the un-activated iPhone X, selling it that way cost more money, causing some confusion with our customers and noise in the media. That’s why we decided a few days ago to only sell the phone the traditional way, through installment billing plans.”

For those hearing about this for the first time, Best Buy had started to charge customers a $100 premium on the already-expensive iPhone X. However this was a premium that was only applicable to those who wanted to buy the phone outright, versus buying it from a carrier via installment plans, in which Best Buy was pretty much offering the iPhone X for the same price as on Apple’s website.

Best Buy claimed at that time that customers told them that they would like the option of buying a phone that is not “activated”/tied to a carrier. Schumann at that time had said, “Our customers have told us they want this flexibility and sometimes that has a cost.” In any case it looks like the option is no longer available, so it’s back to business for now.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Apple, Cellphones
Tags: iPhone X, Social Hit