Apple sells refurbished iPhones

Yes, they've been on sale for only two months, but refurbished iPhones are now available for purchase on Apple's Web site. You can get both versions at a $100 discount with free shipping. That puts the 8GB model at $499 (17 percent off the original price) and the 4GB model at $399 (21 percent off). All the features are the same, including that required AT&T two-year contract, unless that is, you can get around it.

While the $100 discount may be good news to wannabe iPhone owners with smaller budgets, it sparks a interesting question. Just where are the refurbished iPhones coming from? Is Apple getting enough returns so they can resell them at such a volume so soon after the phone's release? Or are Apple employees refusing their free iPhones? Or is this just a clever marketing ploy, the kind at which Apple excels? I bet on the latter.

Source: The Unofficial Apple Weblog