Apple Limits Sale of iPhones: Two Per Person and No Cash
Apple no longer accepts cash for iPhone purchases and now limits sales of the cellphone to two per person in a move to stop people from reselling them. — The new policy started Thursday, said Natalie Kerris, an Apple spokeswoman.
Context & Ripple Effects
Per Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris, the new policy took effect Thursday: iPhones are capped at two per customer and Apple no longer accepts cash for them, with resale cited as the reason. It lands on a crowded day for the company — OS X Leopard shipped the same week, with early upgraders already flooding Apple's support forums over installation errors.
The story travelled fast for a retail-policy tweak: Engadget ran its own pickup the same day, reflecting how much attention the iPhone's distribution was drawing months into launch.
First-order effects
- Bulk buyers lose the anonymous cash route entirely — every iPhone sale at an Apple Store is now tied to a payment method and capped at two units per person, shutting down walk-in volume purchasing.
Second-order effects
- With retail supply throttled at the register, whatever stock still reaches resellers commands a larger premium in the gray market the policy targets — Apple is constraining quantity rather than eliminating the resale incentive itself.
Third-order effects
- If other high-demand device makers copy the structure, direct retail becomes a governance layer: manufacturers deciding who may buy, in what quantity, and by what payment method, trading customer anonymity for control of where their hardware ends up.
The trend: Consumer-hardware companies are tightening direct-retail controls — payment restrictions and per-customer quotas — to police unauthorized resale of scarce flagship devices.