Xiaomi's Redmi 1s sold out in 4.2 sec

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All those who lost out on buying Xiaomi Redmi 1s, which vanished online on Tuesday within seconds, have a second chance at buying these on eBay, at a premium.

As many as 40,000 units of the much-hyped handset launched exclusively on Flipkart, was sold out within 4.2 seconds, said company head Hugo Barra on Twitter. About 300,000 people had registered for the Android handset that comes at an attractive price of Rs 5,999 a unit. About 30,000 people had shared reviews for this handset on YouTube.

"I had been waiting to buy the handset and had logged into Flipkart over two hours back. But, by the time I could click buy, it was already sold out. I had been working on 3.1 mbps speed broadband connection," said Avinash Dikshit, an engineering student. The flash sale had seen many enthusiasts sitting ready in front of their computers, trying their luck.

The handset re-appeared for sale on eBay less than an hour after the Flipkart flash sale ended. A little more than 400 pieces of this handset are being sold on eBay at a premium of around Rs 3,000 apiece. Those who have been selling the handset are asking for pre-payment of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000 to be paid upfront, with a promise of shipment two weeks later. Flipkart itself will deliver the piece in five to seven business days.

The handset is being perceived as a steal by many. "Currently, the only Android handsets we can buy at that price are low-end models by Samsung, Micromax and Karbonn, apart from Chinese makers. Those phones do not have the features that Redmi has. If we want to buy handsets with the advanced features, it will cost around Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000," said Naresh Kumar, a software engineer and a tech blogger.