Try second-hand market for cheaper iPhones

BANGALORE: If you find that paying over Rs 30,000 for an iPhone does not make sense, may be you should look at the used market in mobile phones. You are likely to find attractive high-end phones that are barely a few months old at a price that is a fraction of the original cost.

Srinivas Venugopal, proprietor of a mobile phone shop in Jayanagar, says a threemonth-old original iPhone is available for a 20-30% lower price than a new phone, and a six-month-old handset is available for 50% less.

���That is a huge saving and it makes sense for people who love to experience different models of high-end phones. Many of these are sold in exchange for old, low-end phones,������ he says.

A brand new iPhone 3G 8GB is priced at Rs 31,000, and an iPhone 3G 16GB at Rs 36,000. The used market even has iPhones embedded with diamonds which originally cost Rs 2-3 crore.

A new Nokia N97 is priced at Rs 33,000, a Sony Ericsson C095 at Rs 23,000, a Samsung Omnia series is available from Rs 29,000, HTC Touch HD is at Rs 40,000, and an exclusive Nokia Vertu at Rs 4 lakh. Secondhand versions of these can be had at 20-50% of these prices.

A mobile phone is the most ���flauntable��� personal accessory today and a high end cellphone continues to be a style statement for students, entrepreneurs and professionals. But few want to show-off the same handheld for more than 3-6 months. This has spawned what is now a popular used mobile phone market, on a par with the used cars mart.

���At least a lakh of high-end mobile phones are sold in Bangalore a month. And 90% of these are sold via second hand markets,��� says Hassan Sahah, a mobile phone dealer at Bangalore���s National Market, a second-hand hub.

A second hand phone sold in its original packaging (box piece) with original software, data cord, manual, charger, battery, etc, can fetch a premium of 10-15%.