The annual 618 e-commerce shopping festival is a day not to be missed for digital enthusiasts, on the one hand, the mobile phone release in the first half of the year is similar, and it is close to the edge of price reduction, on the other hand, major mobile phone manufacturers also need a suitable time to maintain their popularity in the market.
(Image source: Jingdong homepage screenshot)
According to Xiaolei's observation, the prices of many popular products have been reduced, coupled with various subsidies from e-commerce platforms, it can be said that the party is still the ultimate winner.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xiaolei will explain in detail to you which brands have significantly reduced prices during the current 618 period and are suitable for products that start now. On which platforms can we buy our favorite mobile phone at the most affordable price?
After collecting a lot of information, Xiaolei locked his eyes on the two models of the Xiaomi 13 and iPhone 14 series, after all, these two models are the two most popular models in the first half of this year, and they are also "price reduction" regulars.
"Cat fights dog", who is the "roll king" of mobile phone prices?
Since we want to compare the preferential prices of different platforms, of course, we still have to start with the most important price, starting with the iPhone 14 series. As one of Apple's "loyal fans", Jingdong has long come up with the "tens of billions of subsidies" policy, and even opened an Apple zone for Apple, which shows how big Apple's face is.
(Image source: Jingdong official screenshot)
As for the preferential strength, Jingdong's subsidy is very large, on the iPhone 14 starlight color 256G version, Jingdong directly subsidized 1070 yuan, the price is only 5729 yuan, if you choose the purple version, you can also be 50 yuan cheaper. It is worth praising that we only need to click the purchase button to get the machine directly at the lowest price, neither need to pinch or grab any coupons, very caring for those middle-aged and elderly people.
(Image source: Taobao screenshot)
If we search for iPhone 14 directly in the search bar, only a large number of third-party stores and the original price of iPhone 14 will appear, and only after adding the "618" character in the search bar can we get the results Xiaolei wants.
In terms of price, in the case of the same version and color, Taobao gave a preferential price of 5688 yuan, which looks more cost-effective than Jingdong, but you need to grab the coupon within the specified time. For troublesome consumers, Taobao's priority may not be as high.
Finally, Pinduoduo, we only need to search for iPhone 14, Pinduoduo will directly jump to you to a shopping guide page, various configurations, colors and corresponding prices will be listed at the top of the search page. Let Xiaolei have to marvel, worthy of being Apple's number one fan, the shopping guide page is dozens of times more intimate than Apple's official website.
(Image source: Pinduoduo screenshot)
As for the price, the iPhone 14 with the same version and color is 5679 yuan, and you don't need any operation to receive coupons, just place an order directly.
OK, followed by the second player Xiaomi 13, the prices given by the three are completely consistent, the white 12+256G version is priced at 4299 yuan, and all three platforms support 24 periods of interest-free. However, Taobao said that it is possible to get a Tmall supermarket shopping card when paying the final payment, but this depends on luck and rush to buy quickly.
(Image source: Lei Technology Mapping)
To summarize simply, if you look at the price alone, whether it is iPhone 14 or Xiaomi 13, Taobao's hand price is the lowest, but users need to pinch and snap up coupons; JD.com's iPhone 14 is the most expensive of the three, but combined with JD.com's perfect after-sales mechanism and logistics speed, it is still worth buying; Pinduoduo has nothing to say, and the most detailed and thoughtful purchase page and good discounts are also quite trustworthy.
It seems that the price of "real fragrance" is somewhat "tricky" behind it
In the seemingly beautiful price, there are actually a lot of tricks.
First of all, logistics, in our cognition, JD.com's logistics speed and service level are first-class among many e-commerce platforms, and most of the products can be ordered today and delivered to your home tomorrow. But in this 618 event, most of the participating stores are third-party merchants, in other words, most of the 618 goods you buy may be shipped by the store itself, if you are lucky, you may be sent a SF Express or Jingdong Express, and the bad luck may be the traditional "several chases".
(Image source: Jingdong screenshot)
The second is the various trade-in activities on the mobile phone purchase page, taking the iPhone 14 as an example, the highest subsidy price given by JD.com, Taobao and Pinduoduo is 600 yuan, unspecified and 618 yuan. Xiaolei also experimented with his iPhone 13 Pro three times, the highest bid was Pinduoduo, giving a recovery price of 4670 yuan, while JD.com and Taobao prices were 4300 yuan and 4451 yuan respectively.
(Image source: Lei Technology Mapping)
However, according to the rich recycling experience of Xiaolei and his friends, JD Recycling is the only merchant among the three families that rarely "gets the knife" (after receiving old products to lower the price for various reasons), so Xiaolei suggests that in the case of little price difference, you can give priority to using JD.com's trade-in activities, at least the probability of subsequent rip-offs will be much lower.
Finally, there is the after-sales problem, as mentioned earlier, Jingdong's merchants participating in 618 promotional activities are basically some third-party stores, so users basically bid farewell to the perfect Jingdong after-sales service, even if you are a noble Jingdong Plus member, you are not entitled to enjoy the worry-free and labor-saving Jingdong after-sales service.
Taobao and Pinduoduo are the hardest hit areas, due to the low entry threshold, Taobao and Pinduoduo have many unscrupulous merchants selling three-nil products or mixed fish beads, and various consumer complaints and reports do not have much effect.
To sum up, the current safety of the three major e-commerce platforms in after-sales is not bad, if you are unlucky to buy a post-sealing machine (returned to re-sealed products after being unboxed) or products with quality problems, it is estimated that it will be somewhat difficult to deal with, but these problems are small probability situations, everyone can still rest assured when placing an order.
"Cat and dog" is still expensive? Might as well take a look at second-hand platforms
Some readers may think, since 618 has so many discounts, wouldn't it be more economical for me to go to the second-hand platform to buy a second-hand mobile phone in good condition? If you don't have enough budget, you can really consider receiving a decent phone from an individual seller. But the water in the second-hand mobile phone market is much deeper than you think.
(Image source: Lei Technology Mapping)
Because there are a large number of second-hand dealers in the second-hand market, they will buy a variety of second-hand mobile phones, and then slightly refurbish the appearance to the outside world to advertise that it is 98 new, excellent condition, and when the user gets it, they find that the original components inside have been replaced. Even some scammers will give you a white wolf with empty gloves, after the user and the seller reach a transaction desire, the seller asks the buyer to retake a new purchase link for various reasons, once you click on this link will steal all kinds of information and money on your phone.
Of course, these second-hand dealers and scammers are not stupid, in order to confuse buyers, they will also create a number of trumpets to disguise themselves as individual sellers, and when the "East Window Incident" happens, they will decisively sell and run away.
Therefore, when users buy mobile phones on second-hand platforms, they must not buy products that are much cheaper than the market price, which is likely to be the bait that seduces you into the bait.
Conclusion: The price power of Pinduoduo is difficult to shake, and the service shortcomings need to be strengthened
After some experience, Xiaolei believes that Pinduoduo may be the best platform for you to buy mobile phones during 618, after all, Pinduoduo is famous for daring subsidies, and its core competitiveness will become larger and larger after more and more brand authorized merchants settle in Pinduoduo.
Although Jingdong is much worse than Competition in terms of price and recycling price, JD.com still has irreplaceable advantages in after-sales rights protection. As for Taobao, it may be the most mediocre choice of the three, the price and recycling price are not particularly conscientious, and there is no full reduction activity at present, if Taobao does not put more effort into this area, its performance in the field of digital 3C will be further expanded by JD.com and Pinduoduo in the future.
As an ordinary consumer, Xiaolei's biggest concern is definitely whether these merchants can show enough sincerity, if they have to engage in some targeted snap purchases, receive a lot of bells and whistles coupons, then this 618 discount activity will be completely tasteless.
For e-commerce platforms, in fact, no one will have any loyalty, and the same goods naturally choose the channel with the lowest price. Of course, we welcome JD.com and other e-commerce companies to join the tens of billions of subsidies and other profit activities, no matter how they are involved, making decisions after shopping around is still the best choice for consumers.
Warm reminder to everyone: 618 shopping festival, major platforms have been opened one after another, see the picture: