Best Buy no longer allows customers to buy the iPhone X outright after the retailer recently generated controversy by adding $100 on top of the smartphone's already expensive $999 price tag.
The backlash that the retailer received for the overpriced iPhone X has forced Best Buy to only sell Apple's premium smartphone through carrier-specific monthly billing plans.
Best Buy Charged Extra $100 For iPhone X
Complaints flooded Best Buy for its decision to charge an extra $100 to customers who were looking to purchase the iPhone X outright. The overpriced iPhone X made the device even more unreachable for some customers, as the $999 model was being sold at $1,099, and the $1,149 model was being sold at $1,249.
According to a Best Buy spokesperson Danielle Schumann, the added cost was due to the flexibility that purchasing the iPhone X outright gives to customers. The $100 extra charge also applied to full-price purchases of the iPhone 8.
Customers can now only buy the iPhone X from Best Buy under monthly plans with either Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint. The premium smartphone will launch in stores on Nov. 3.
Best Buy No Longer Sells Overpriced iPhone X
It appears that Best Buy has now succumbed to the customer backlash, as the retailer has decided to stop offering outright purchases for the iPhone X and the iPhone 8.
Best Buy further explained why it decided to add an extra charge of $100 to iPhone X units being purchased outright. It said that by not being tied to a carrier, customers will be able to replace broken devices or upgrade to new models easily.
Best Buy said that there is a "cost" to the different purchasing options for the iPhone X, which led to the $100 premium. The retailer receives payments from carriers whenever it sells a smartphone under a monthly plan, and it does not receive them when it sells devices without carrier activation. The $100 charge is seemingly to cover for the payment that it would not receive from outright purchases.
What Best Buy has done is to eliminate a purchasing option for its customers in acquiring the iPhone X, as it looks to steer customers to purchase the smartphone with carrier activation. However, with the Apple Store and other retailers offering the iPhone X for outright purchases with no extra charge, Best Buy likely lost customers that were willing to pay at least $1,000 each to its competitors.
