Google is playing it tough for anyone who had plans to benefit off the Pixel and Pixel XL phones by reselling them.
In what appears to be a tax loophole, some Google Pixel buyers have found themselves in trouble after they tried to purchase the flagships and in the process save a few bucks. According to reports, the Google accounts of about 200 people were closed by the search engine giant with respect to this matter.
This meant that the affected people could not access a number of core Google services, including Gmail and Photos. Interestingly, the people affected purchased the Google Pixel phones through the company’s carrier, Project Fi, and shipped them to New Hampshire – a region with no sales tax. Apparently, the original buyer passed on the devices to a reseller who in turn sold them and shared the tax-savings benefits with the former.
The report further confirmed that this was not the first time the reseller was doing such business with Google and in fact, it has been happening for several years. The dealer is reportedly happy to return the Pixel phones if that’s what it takes for Google to re-enable user accounts.
Unveiled just last month, the Google Pixel and Pixel XL have been making headlines in the country for selling faster than any other previous Google phone. This is thanks to the facts that the phone is the first pure Google flagships that carry high-end hardware and the latest, albeit customized, software. This has elevated the Google Pixel to the same levels as the Galaxy S7 and iPhone 7, something the Google Nexus 6P somehow struggled to match in a way or the other when compared to the iPhone 6S and Galaxy S6.
In terms of prices, you get the smaller Google Pixel for $649 while the larger Pixel XL costs $769 for the base models.
As noted earlier, the dealer has made more than enough similar transactions with Google in the past, but this is the first time such a case has occurred. Interestingly, it is also the first time the dealer made the purchases through Google Project Fi. However, this has nothing to do with this problem.
Google already warns that the Pixel and Pixel XL are not meant to be resold, instead, they can be offered as a gift, if personal use is not the intention. There is no room for buying a Pixel phone and then resell it to make a profit, something that appears to be the case with the now banned Google accounts.