Flipkart, which is one of the most popular e-commerce sites in India recently teased their upcoming Big Shopping Days Sale in which they were teasing OnePlus 3 and asked people to guess the price, and it was totally clear that they would sell the phone for just around below Rs. 20,000 which is a massive discount from the original price as listed on Amazon India, which is Rs. 27,999.
This spread heavily via social media and finally OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei tweeted directly to Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal asking about what’s happening.
.@_sachinbansal brother, what’s this? We’re exclusive with @amazonIN pic.twitter.com/0QBoyagoXz
— Carl Pei (@getpeid) December 16, 2016
.@ssaikiran92 We only work with Amazon, maybe it’s second hand?
— Carl Pei (@getpeid) December 16, 2016
He further added that OnePlus is Amazon exclusive. However, we have not received any statement from Flipkart co-founder yet.
Many fans were angry after they saw this massive price drop as many of them were hardcore fans and had paid a price of Rs. 27,999 and this huge price drop is just disappointing. OnePlus has always been an Amazon Exclusive brand and after the invite system was lifted, the OnePlus 3 is available via open sale on Amazon India and OnePlus 3T is also an Amazon exclusive device.Well, when this issue got discussed heavily we took a look at the import data of the OnePlus 3 and seems like Flipkart has imported a lot of units of the phone from China last month, which cost Rs. 22,745. Also, the total cost may be even more when import duties and tax are added to the cost. However, we are not 100% sure about who imported them a month ago. However, as OnePlus 3T was not launched at that time, neither we heard about anything related to Flipkart and OnePlus partnership all we can do is to wait for a statement from Flipkart. However, it is completely in dark how Flipkart can sell the OnePlus 3 for under Rs. 20,000 whereas it costs around Rs. 23,000 and extra import duties and taxes.
So, Flipkart is either doing this to create buzz depending on a very popular brand or else they are selling refurbished phones.
That’s not the end. Some OnePlus fans also pointed out the fact that Flipkart is misleading people by mentioning wrong information in the specifications table on the OnePlus 3 listing page. The specs sheet clearly mentions that the OnePlus 3 has a dedicated MicroSD slot.
I won’t be surprised if they import OnePlus 3 look-alikes from China as some Chinese companies are the masters of making exactly same look-alikes for almost any flagship and we have already seen such models which look exactly same as iPhone 6S, Galaxy S7 Edge, etc.
However, OnePlus has just released an official statement discouraging consumers saying that they should avoid buying OnePlus 3 from elsewhere as they can not guarantee the authenticity of the products. Here’s the full statement.
“OnePlus is focused on creating premium flagship smartphones. We have an exclusive partnership with Amazon in India. We advise customers to purchase OnePlus products only through official channels as we cannot guarantee the authenticity of the products sold elsewhere.”
OnePlus has recently launched the OnePlus 3T which is just another upgraded OnePlus 3 with a better Snapdragon 821 processor clocked at higher speed, a 16MP front shooter. Currently, the OnePlus 3 is being sold in India, though it has been officially discontinued in Europe and the US. The OnePlus 3T starts at Rs. 29,999 and is a sweet deal for anyone who was planning to grab OnePlus 3. OnePlus 3 is being officially sold via Amazon India for Rs. 27,999 without any price drop or offers.
