I’ve purchased one iPhone in my life, and that was the first one that came out in 07.

Every year since then, when Apple releases a new iPhone, I buy it, then sell my previous phone unlocked on eBay. The first time I did it, I actually made a profit, and the other two times I just about broke even. So it’s awesome because I get the new iPhone every year, without actually having to pay anything (because I’m a broke college kid lololol)

It’s kind of crazy actually but I guess in some foreign countries, you can’t just go out and buy an iPhone like you can in the US. Or you can, and it’s just super expensive. So what a lot of people do is they’ll buy used, unlocked American iPhones on eBay so that they’re still getting a good deal, but also paying enough to cover the cost of my new phone. eBay can be annoying because you usually have to deal with people trying to scam you, but once you find a real buyer, it’s always totally worth it.

So anyway, as everyone knows the iPhone 4S was announced this week and pre-orders opened up today.

Pre-orders were supposed to start at Midnight Pacific time, which is 3AM over here on the East Coast. So I stayed up till 3 and waited, even though the site didn’t actually go live until 3:45. When it did, it was overloaded with customers and didn’t work right (this happens every year fghksjgdksdghkjgd). It just hits you with errors or would sit processing forever. At 4:30, I gave up and went to sleep.

A mere 3 hours later I got back up, and tried again. This time, the system was working, but it was only willing to ship my new phone to the “billing address” on my account. Well, first of all, my grandparents own the account, and second of all, the listed address was their old house from like 5 years ago. Nobody lives there anymore! And it doesn’t let you change the address. So. Frustrating.

So I tried to call Apple, but all the lines were clogged. Then I tried calling AT&T and amazingly I got through, and the guy was able to set up an order for the phone to be sent to me here in New York. Hopefully that all works out. 

Then I had to rush to be in class by 9:30. It lasted until 4.

Overall, not a great day. But new iPhone in a week! Whatuppp

I put my old iPhone 3GS up on eBay yesterday for an opening bid of $200 with a Buy It Now price of $450. Within a couple of hours of posting it, somebody bought it now! Which would give me a $150 profit… but I’m a little concerned.

The person who bought it is from Canada and has never used eBay before. She sent me an e-mail asking if she can use PayPal, so I sent her an invoice and haven’t heard from her since.

Technically she’s obligated to pay, but it’s such a hassle to go after someone for not paying. I mean, you have to wait 21 days before you’re even allowed to start the process so it’s usually easier to just re-list it.

This is the 3rd iPhone I’ve sold on eBay (in fact, the only iPhone I’ve ever actually lost money on was the original one) and once I’ve had somebody not pay. It’s just a hassle and I don’t understand why people do it. I guess they think stupid sellers are going to ship the product without getting the payment.

Whatever, I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Apple came out with a new iPhone just now, and you can video chat on this thing and shoot HD video and multitask and… Basically what I’m trying to say here is that I need this phone.

But I’m faced with a dilemma,

I’ve had every iPhone so far, and whenever a new one comes out, I just sell my old one unlocked on eBay and usually make a profit. I’m sure I could do that again this time, but getting a new iPhone means signing another two year contract. In case you haven’t known me long enough to hear me complain: AT&T SUCKS IN NYC.

It works fine in Florida, but New York is a nightmare. So do I just stick with AT&T and continue not having the ability to make phone calls in New York, or do I jump ship now and get something on Verizon?

Yeah, iPhone it is. Who makes calls these days anyway?

(Image Courtesy: Apple Inc.)