Want an Apple Watch now? It’ll cost you a bundle of cash — and a trip to Times Square.
A ramshackle electronics shop in Times Square has been selling what it claims are genuine Apple Watches for the past several weeks, despite the fact that Apple’s own stores aren’t slated to sell them until June 26.
What’s more, employees at the shop, an aging 7th Avenue storefront called “Cameras & Computers,” were demanding cash for the watches on Friday at a markup that was twice the suggested retail price.
“You probably just want to wait,” the store manager said, acknowledging the sticker shock. But “we’ve been selling a lot of these to customers from China, Nigeria — they don’t want to wait.”
The entry-level Apple Sport watch, advertised at $349 on Apple’s site, was priced at $699, employees at the store said. The standard version of the watch, which retails for $550 and up, was available at markups as high as $1,399, according to a man behind the counter.
To date, the only stores Apple has authorized to sell the new watch are a handful of swanky shops in Europe and Asia, along with Maxfield, a chic boutique in LA. Online orders of the watches from Apple’s Web site have been dogged by delays.
Shortages, reportedly worsened by manufacturing flubs, have pushed back the retail launch and limited Apple’s own stores to merely displaying and demonstrating the watch until the end of this month.
Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment.
At the Times Square store, a glass case behind the counter contained stacks of sleek, white Apple Watch boxes that looked genuine. Store employees declined to open them for inspection for a prospective buyer.
Asked how the store obtained the watches ahead of their official release, the manager replied, “From China.” Justifying the stiff markup, he said the store had paid above retail for the watches it was selling.
There have been reports of Apple Watch knockoffs circulating in China, but those mostly have been cheap imitations priced as low as $30. Employees at the Times Square store assured customers that the Apple Watches behind the counter were the real deal.
Philippe Moser, a tourist from Switzerland, was lured inside by a sandwich board posted on the sidewalk advertising that the Apple Watch had “just arrived” and was “in stock.”
“It’s too much,” Moser told The Post, after asking the price. “I’ve got the iPad, the iMac and the iPhone at home, but I guess I will have to wait (for the Apple Watch).”
