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Apple Watch Pre-Order Charges Showing Up From Apple Online Store, Some Watches Ship For Friday

By JC Torpey
Published on: 13:10 PST, Apr 21, 2015

Apple Watch pre-order charges started showing up on buyers’ credit and debit card accounts yesterday, April 20, according to MacRumors. So far, the charges for the Apple Watch, which runs on Apple’s iOS platform, have been seen in the United Kingdom, Germany and France, according to MacRumors.

News of Apple charging customers for their pre-ordered watches came just hours after MacRumors confirmed that Apple had started shipping the Apple Watches to distribution centers in the United States in bulk yesterday morning.

Some of the Apple Watches are said to be shipping for an expected arrival date of April 24, according to Angela Ahrendts, Apple’s retail chief via MacRumors, though they could show up as late as May 8.

The charges show up on credit and debit card statements as being from the Apple Online Store, and any accessories purchased the same day will likely show up as separate charges.

Three Apple Watch versions are available. These include the Watch Sport, Watch, and Watch Edition, all of which are priced starting at $349, $549, and $10,000 respectively, depending on which of the watch face sizes, band, and finish styles the buyer chooses.

A number of consumers who pre-ordered the Apple Watch tweeted copies of the charges made to their accounts.

One customer tweeted a receipt that shows Apple charged the account for $423.94, while another tweeted a receipt that shows Apple charged $646.92.

The receipt MacRumors published on its website shows Apple Online Store charged someone over $700 for their Apple Watch, which would suggest that the person behind the receipt had bought the Watch version. Another Apple Online Store charge for $61 was on the same receipt.

The different pricing would appear to confirm that Apple is indeed getting ready to ship several versions of Apple Watch this week – the Watch Sport and Watch at the very least.

When Apple made all 38 versions of its Watches available via pre-order on April 10, they sold out within hours – the Watch Sport within seconds.

Even the luxury $17,000 Apple Watch Edition that comes with an 18-karat gold case, a real leather band and a brass buckle sold out within a single hour, according to the Financial Post.

The”custom-made, golden Apple Watch” that Beyoncé wears, and the red Mickey Mouse Apple Watch that Katy Perry wears are both beautiful, and according to MTV, both Apple Watch Edition versions cost $13,500. Lucky for them the price tag meant they didn’t have to wait for shipping.

However, even though Apple started collecting payment for Apple Watch pre-orders, “31 out of the 38 Apple Watch variations won’t be shipping until June or later,” according to BGR.

What’s more is that Apple only planned for a few of its Watch devices to be available for April 24 launch date, none of which was planned to be sold in any of Apple’s brick and mortar stores, according to Ken Segall, former advertising executive for Apple.

Consumers who pre-ordered an Apple Watch after April 10 will likely have at least another four weeks left until the device ships, and those ordering now have wait times up to two months.

Those who wish to purchase Apple Watch in store instead of online might be able to do so in June, according to BGR.

Those who pre-ordered on April 10 can look for an Apple Online Store charge on their credit or debit card over the next few days.

Once it shows up, watch for the “Processing Items” message to turn into “Preparing for Shipment” message, which is confirmation that an Apple Watch pre-order is finally shipping.

[Photo Credits: Apple Inc.]

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