Retina MacBook Pro listed at nearly double retail price on EBay

By Salvador Rodriguez

June 15, 2012 12 AM PT

Anyone in the U.S. who wants a MacBook Pro with Retina is going to have to wait a couple of weeks for it to ship. That is unless you go on EBay and spend a couple thousand more bucks than it’s worth.

Apple’s brand new computer has been a hit with users, and it’s already sold out. But as any economist will tell you, when the demand for a limited supply rises, so do prices, and that’s what happened on EBay.

From my search, the highest-priced Retina MacBook Pro model on the site is going for $4,000, which is nearly twice the version’s retail price of $2,199. There’s six days left on that auction, and at least one person has placed a bid confirming a willingness to pay that much for the computer Apple says is the greatest it has ever built.

And while that’s the only item that has hit the $4,000 mark, a lot of other EBay sellers want to get in on the resell opportunity and are offering the computer in the $3,000 range.

Coming up behind the $4,000 auction is another Retina MacBook Pro that’s listed for $3,995, and right behind it is another listing with two units available, each for $3,898.

But not every person on EBay selling the Retina computer is hiking the price up to ridiculous amounts. Some sellers have it listed just above its retail price, including this one for $2,299.

And, in fact, if you search well you can find the same computers on EBay for prices that are actually lower than the retail price.

I found one model going for $1,999.99 with $150 shipping and another for $2,125 with free shipping. Of course, when an Apple product goes on EBay for less than its retail price you have to question its legitimacy. But with these two items, it’s probably a matter of their sellers letting the market drive the price on its own. And sure enough, both have received at least one bid and have a couple days left before the auction ends.

But if you think you can beat the system, here’s one Retina model that’s currently listed at $760 with free shipping. Of course, before I opened the link it was only in the $400 range, so all I can say is, good luck.

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