It has long been speculated that a mysterious eBay store selling only refurbished Apple products was actually owned by the company themselves however, the store vanished in 2013, only to return now with new prices and an Apple certified label.
The somewhat secret Apple refurbished eBay store began back in 2012 offering prices lower than Apple’s own refurbished store however the store vanished last year.
It is now back and is offering “Apple Certified” iPhone 5 devices from $449 to $499. The devices are available in both black and white in 16GB, 32 GB or 64 GB and are sold unlocked for GSM networks.
They also come with a one year Apple Warranty and have been inspected by Apple.
On Apple’s own refurbished site they don’t have any iPhone 5 models at present which is further adding to the speculation that this mystery refurbished stores may indeed be owned by Apple.
The fact that iPhone 5s are now also available refurbished, with Apple’s permission, it must mean that they are getting ready to launch the iPhone 6.
While Apple has not commented on whether the store is owned by them, eBay did stated that the store was a “low profile test site that could open to much bigger things.”