I paid a lot of money for the privilege of getting a new Apple Vision Pro in February. In total, with optical inserts and taxes, I financed a little over $3,900 for the 256GB version of the headphones. About a day ago, I made a mistake that I'm sure many early adopters are familiar with: I looked up how much it was selling for on eBay.
On Wednesday, a 1TB Vision Pro, complete with all the included gear, Apple's $200 fluffy travel case, $500 AppleCare Plus, and claimed to have been “used for maybe about an hour.” sold for $3,200 after 21 offers. The shipping estimate listed was $20.30. Brand new, that combination costs me $5007.03 on Apple's site. Another eBay listing, this one with my headphone setup (but no optical inserts) It was only $2,600. – again with most, if not all, accessories included. Various others 256GB and 512GB Models sold for around that amount this week.
So, of course, is the story for early adopters, especially when very expensive technology is purchased before the mainstream catches on. Apple's pricing doesn't help, especially when the next competing headset, the Meta Quest 3, costs just $500. It's a shame even if they are ultimately not that comparable, at least in terms of target audiences and goals for their platforms.
But it still hurts, doesn't it? Knowing I could have saved several hundred dollars and I got the highest storage configuration, AppleCare Plus, and a storage case is particularly painful. I really like Vision Pro, maybe more than any other writer on The edge – but if I hadn't missed the return window, I'd send mine back to Apple in a heartbeat so I could get one of these deals. Fortunately, when I wear headphones, no one can see my tears.
