iPhone "Ready To Ship", "In Stock", Claim Dubious Sellers On Froogle

After being pulled from eBay, dubious iPhone sellers (the iPhone isn't even yet commercially available!!) seem to Thrive on Froogle, Google's price comparison engine. Froogle's current dubious iPhones mostly come from users of smaller auction sites that list their items on Froogle.

"Ready To Ship!"
The eBay iPhone seller(s) back in March used a pretty vague wording, describing the iPhone but never clearly claiming that what they were selling was the actual phone. But these new "sellers" are going a step further. "APPLE IPHONE IN STOCK! GET THIS PHONE BEFORE IT COMES OUT!", yells "blahdidblah75", a seller with just one positive feedback on ioffer.com.

Another one claims "READY TO SHIP" with a buy now button on eCrater.com -- yet shows a photo of the iPhone behind a glass display, probably taken at a trade show recently. And how about this even more business-minded guy who sells nothing but a full lot of 10 iPhones for a starting price of only $3600 on inetBid.com. The seller goes as far as to show a (very low resolution) picture of the iPhone sitting in a box that seems made right for it.

Of course, all of this is practically impossible. How would the average Joe get a hold of some iPhones before the Amazons of this world do? Beware!

Variation: The Pre-Order Approach
Another more legitimate but nonetheless worrying approach is the "pre-order" system some other sellers are using. There is nothing wrong in selling you something in advance, for example many well known stores offered WIndows Vista in Pre-order but how about a lesser-known e-commerce site?

The million of inquiries AT&T had so far on the iPhone and the general buzz hovering the Internet suggests that the iPhone's release day will be rock-star style, with fans lining up early in the morning, or at midnight, to get theirs before others. How can a small web site, in these conditions, secure enough units for you to get your iPhone in a reasonable time, considering you paid in advance... Delays, very long delays, could be the trick here. So why pay in advance if you may still have to wait?

There are reassuring ways to pre-order:
If you want to make sure you will get an iPhone as soon as possible, there are safer ways to go. Cingular has a "Be the first to know" email service and so does Apple.

There is also another way to be almost certain to be among the first to get an iPhone: Relax. Apple knows the iPhone is going to be a hit. They might be tempted to create a shortage to further increase the hype and boost the legendary status of the iPhone but they may also just be tempted to profit from the iPhone as much as possible and they may currently be producing many iPhones to meet the initial demand.

Finally, the iPhone looks like a promising machine but it is not the only great phone on the market. Take my complete 20-question Cell Phone Chooser Test and find out which is the best cell phone for you.