A Market for Mobile Phone Boxes
“Boss, binebenta nyo ba po yung box?” (Translated: Sir, are you selling the box?)
These were echoed through the flea market where I waded through as a friend was trying to sell the boxes of some of the phones she used to have. Yup, you got that right. There’s a market for the boxes apparently. Just the box - and the styrofoam inside.
In this developing country where I reside, the selling of second hand mobile phones is quite a common practice. As people replace their phones every three to five months, the second hand cellphone market is teeming with hand me down pieces of technology for those who are looking for the next bargain.
Sometimes though, these hand me downs are acquired and sold by pickpockets. There used to be a huge demand for boxes to house second hand cellphones that were sold by the previous owner without the box but this further encouraged the shady folk to procure more phones and sell them, knowing that somehow, a box would be on the way somewhere in those hundreds of stalls.
The practice has been put to a stop by mall administration, but it still happens on some stalls - not that it encourages pickpockets to sell their latest acquisitions - it’s just a little questionable too. A box can rake in about $2.00 to $8.00 depending on the demand of the second hand phone market.
Tags: Accessories, Cell Phones, Mobile-Monitor, The Unwired Life, Unwired OdditiesRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Accessories, Cell Phones, Mobile Monitor, The Unwired Life, Unwired Oddities
1 opinion for A Market for Mobile Phone Boxes
shahzad iqbal
Nov 24, 2007 at 12:50 am
i have my mobile phone boxs business is in dubai
i need mobile phone boxs orignal or copy but same like orignal can u have if u have pls send me the price of 1112 orignal box and same like orignal copy box price 5000 pcs
ok
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