This article comes from the WeChat public account:AppSo (ID: appsolution), author: Altman, the subject map from: IC photo
Hainan Island has two kinds of fruits that are very fragrant, one is coconut and the other is “apple”.
But the “apple” mentioned here is not Red Fuji, Bingtangxin, but Apple products that have recently been included in the Hainan Islands tax exemption policy.
On June 29, the Ministry of Finance, the General Administration of Customs, and the State Administration of Taxation issued the Announcement on the Tax-Free Shopping Policy for Hainan Islands Travelers. In addition to the new policy, the annual tax allowance for island travelers is increased from 30,000 to 100,000 In addition, the duty-free commodities will be increased from 38 to 45.
Mobile phones and tablets are two of the seven new categories.
picture from: Xinhainan
In the past few days, I have seen a lot of articles titled “iPhone here is cheaper 2000” and “iPad discount 500” in the relatives and friends circle, especially including the words tax-free, direct drop, cabbage price Eyes, people really have the urge to go straight to Hainan to buy a happy.
However, although the tax-free iPhone looks very fragrant, as a budget-conscious consumer, I also picked up the calculator to compare the prices. After calculating the price difference of the tax-exclusive and tax-free iPhone, I also found some things that cannot be ignored. Details.
The quality of the National Bank, the price of the US version
Before the article begins, it should be noted that although the most frequently mentioned “duty-free mobile phone” is the iPhone, the duty-free shops are not the only mobile phones of the iPhone category.
In fact, duty-free shops also sell domestic brands of mobile phones, just because the price reduction is only about 200 yuan to 300 yuan after the tax exemption, which is smaller than the iPhone, and the pricing of domestic mobile phones is relatively cheap, and the people mentioned Not much.
Pictures from: People’s Network Hainan Channel
The iPhone’s price reduction after tax exemption is large because the iPhone is an imported product. Although both iPhone and iPad are domestically assembled, they still need to pay import duties, value-added tax and other taxes and fees to enter the market for sale. The total cost is about 10% to 15% of the value of the mobile phone.
Therefore, when we buy goods on the official website of Apple China, in addition to seeing the total taxIn addition to the price, you will also see a small list of remarks below the price: including VAT and other legal taxes: about RMB XXX‡.
The prices noted here are the VAT and import taxes paid by the iPhone when it enters the Chinese mainland market.
For example, an iPhone 11 at 5999 yuan has an additional tax of about 697 yuan, accounting for 11.6% of the total selling price; an iPhone 11 Pro Max at 12699 yuan has an additional tax of about 1467 yuan. It accounts for 11.5% of the total selling price; similarly, a 10299 yuan iPad Pro, its taxes are about 11.6% of the selling price.
The iPhone sold in duty-free shops is the same as Apple’s official website sold on the mainland, and it is a national bank model. However, due to the tax exemption policy, import duties, value-added tax and other fees are exempted. Compared with the ordinary national bank iPhone, it has a price advantage of about 11%, which is equivalent to a discount of 8.8% or even 8.5%.
In CCTV News’ live broadcast of the store, the 128GB iPhone 11 was priced at 5,105 yuan. On the official website of Apple China, the tax-included price of the same model is 5999 yuan, and the tax-free iPhone has a price difference of 894 yuan, which is equivalent to a discount of 15%.
In the duty-free shop, the highest-priced 512GB iPhone 11 Pro Max is 10,210 yuan. Compared with the tax-included model, the tax-free version even has a difference of up to 2,489 yuan, which is equivalent to 20% off the original price.
picture from: Tencent Technology
Combined with the current exchange rate, the price of the tax-free iPhone is much cheaper than that of the Hong Kong iPhone.
If we add the US version of the iPhone to the comparison, we will be surprised to find that the National Bank’s tax-free iPhone is only priced than the US version of the (tax-free state price) >A little more expensive.
Tax-free iPhone is cheap, but it’s not as good as you think
The price of the tax-free iPhone is attractive, but we can’t ignore some details. For example, the pre-sales and post-sales issues we often mentioned in the iPhone purchase strategy in the past are the precautions for our tax-free iPhone.
First of all, this tax-free iPhone is not made by the AppLe Store sells directly, but like other duty-free products, it is only sold in Hainan’s franchised duty-free stores, which means that there are at least two points that are different from the Apple Store’s sales policy: First, the duty-free stores’ sales varieties and The quantity is limited, and the second is that the returned goods are handled by the duty-free shop.
On the day the iPhone was launched in the duty-free shop, some netizens went to the site to learn about the categories of the products on the shelves. Basically, the products and models that are currently on sale in the store are currently selling better, such as iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPad, Apple Watch Series 5, AirPods are in the product list.
However, the less popular Apple products like iPhone 11 Pro and iPad Pro do not appear in the product list. And even for models available in stores, the available specifications are very limited. For example, neither the iPhone 11 nor the iPhone 11 Pro Max have 64GB, and the iPad only has a silver 128GB WiFi version.
Of course, it is normal for the duty-free shops to have incomplete stock models. After all, duty-free shops are not mobile phone shops. Picking up hot products and stocking not only meets the needs of most consumers, but also reduces the risk of unsalable backlogs.
Furthermore, these iPhones and iPads are just the first products on the shelves, and it does not rule out that more models will be available in the future.
iPhone counter in Haikou Riyue Plaza Duty Free Shop Picture from: Xinhua
But one thing that cannot be changed is that the duty-free shops are Apple product distributors in the sales process. According to Apple’s after-sales policy, the distributors are responsible for the return of goods sold by distributors, and Apple only provides after-sales maintenance services.
If I buy an iPhone at the mobile phone store downstairs, the mobile phone store will be responsible for the return; if I buy an iPhone at the vending machine, then the vending machine supplier will be responsible for the return ; Then the iPhone I bought in Hainan Duty Free Shop will naturally go to the Duty Free Shop to return and exchange the goods.
This means that if I buy an iPhone 11 in a duty-free shop, go home and unpack it to activate, and then find that the camera is malfunctioning, then I can only take the phone to a local repair point, or within a limited time, take The mobile phone was brought back to Hainan Duty Free Shop to negotiate after-sales.
Take Guangzhou as an example, if I want to bring this iPhone with a malfunctioning camera back to the duty-free shop for replacement, then I need to take two days off and then spend 286 yuan to buy a train ticket to and from Haikou in the car Sleep for 20 hours…
In comparison, the after-sales of iPhones sold in the Apple Store is much more convenient than that of dealers. Unconditional 14-day returns can save you a lot of trouble, and you can apply for returns even if the product is activated. This is more convenient than when I go to a duty-free shop, and it saves a lot of time and expenses when traveling.
After-sales is a relatively weak place for the tax-free version of the iPhone compared to the official direct sales version, but in fact, if we compare the tax-free version of the iPhone with the e-commerce platform, we will also find that the price is not the absolute advantage of the tax-free iPhone.
Taking Duoduo as an example, the 128GB iPhone 11 merchant price is 5199 yuan, which is only 94 yuan more expensive than the tax-free version of 5105 yuan; the 256GB iPhone 11 Pro Max merchant price is 8699 yuan, compared to the tax-free The version is only 74 yuan more expensive.
Moreover, merchants claim that there are occasional preferential subsidies, and the price after subsidy is even cheaper than the tax-free version.
On the other side, JD.com also distributes coupons in its own stores. Although the discount rate is not as large as that of other platforms, it also comes with a lot of services. Some services are indeed of certain value to users. In addition, JD.com also stated that the iPhone sold supports 7 days of no return. Of course, the premise is that the return service can only be provided without opening the phone.
I specially consulted the merchants on the two platforms for after-sale matters. If, after receiving the goods, you are lucky to “win the prize” and get an iPhone with defective parts, then I only need to send the phone back to the merchant and let the merchant be responsible for replacement or repair.
iPhone counter in Haikou Riyue Plaza Duty Free Shop. Picture from: Xinhua
Basically, the after-sales and tax-free versions of iPhones sold by e-commerce dealers are the same, and the dealers are responsible for the return and exchange. But because e-commerce platforms can passTo solve this problem, and duty-free shops have no clear after-sales methods for Apple products, so even though the e-commerce platform iPhone is slightly more expensive than the duty-free version, I still prefer the former, which is more convenient for after-sales.
Can I buy iPhone to make the difference?
However, although the tax-free version of iPhone does not have much advantages in terms of type and after-sales, it still has a big difference compared to the official sales of the National Bank pricing. Even if the price increase is changed, the purchase can make a lot of profit from it. .
So, can I bring the tax-free iPhone to other places in China? No. In fact, just one week after the implementation of the new tax exemption policy, the General Administration of Customs announced on July 7 the “Regulations on Tax-Free Shopping Supervision for Hainan Islands Travelers.”
The regulations clearly stipulate that for the purpose of profit-making, the purchase of duty-free goods for others or the sale of duty-free goods purchased on the domestic market will not be allowed to enjoy the island duty-free shopping policy for 3 years from the date of the customs decision, and Incorporate relevant credit records in accordance with relevant regulations.
So, Even if each person can buy four duty-free mobile phones at a time, the purchasers cannot resell these phones at any price.
The author believes that the purpose of adding mobile phones and tablets to the scope of duty-free commodities, in addition to attracting more tourists to Hainan and promoting the development of local tourism, (currently There are four duty-free shops in Hainan), which has also cracked down on the smuggling of mobile phones and tablets from other sales regions into the domestic market to a certain extent.
If the National Bank has an advantage over other regional versions in price, the “Hong Kong version” and “US version” that used to be cheaper than the National Bank will also be replaced by the National Bank with more preferential treatment.
Tax-free iPhone, is it worth buying?
At the end, are the tax-free versions of iPhone, iPad, and AirPods worth buying?
If you often shop online, or if you have an Apple Store near your home or company, then I believe you should not be the target customer of duty-free shops. Because you often buy online, the discount on e-commerce platforms may be lower than that of duty-free shops. If there is an Apple Store around, the shopping experience and after-sales of direct stores will be better than duty-free stores.
More importantly, the Apple Store now offers interest-free instalment services, both online and offline.
But despite this, I don’t think the iPhones sold in duty-free shops have any advantages. On the one hand, the tax exemption policy will not change at will. It is not a coupon that merchants can revoke at any time and grab on time, but a real tax exemption for Huimin;
On the other hand, for consumers who usually do not pay attention to promotional information and do not often buy online, duty-free shops actually provide a purchase channel that can access new products and have huge discounts.
Haikou Riyue Plaza Duty Free Shop. Image from: Economic Daily
I saw from a photo taken by a reporter from the Economic Daily at the Haikou Riyue Plaza Duty Free Shop that there are many customers who buy iPhones at the shop. According to the “Daily Economic News” report on July 2, the duty-free shops have begun to restrict the purchase of one person to one iPhone.
I call the duty-free shop that sells mobile phones a “physical version of Pinduoduo”. Although it is not entirely appropriate, under the tax-free policy, the price of the iPhone is indeed amazing.
Of course, duty-free shops want to attract more customers to shop, but still need to improve pre-sales and after-sales service, provide more categories and improve after-sales methods. So even me, I want to try it on Hainan Island when the new iPhone is on sale this year.
This article comes from the WeChat public account:AppSo (ID: appsolution), author: Chen Wenjun