Apple Store Dealmaking

[Sarcasmo]

Hello Forumers:
I just wanted to get a sense of people's experiences in the Apple retail store. Though Apple's pricing is pretty rigid, have people had any luck making deals for themselves in the stores, perhaps on accessories or RAM or anything like that?
I am in northern Virginia so there's 2 or 3 nearby that I can choose from, if that helps.
I know there's not a secret handshake or anything like that. Just wondering if there's any wiggle room, as I'm no longer a student and still poor. Thanks!

:apple:

[Neptunian]

Hello Forumers:
I just wanted to get a sense of people's experiences in the Apple retail store. Though Apple's pricing is pretty rigid, have people had any luck making deals for themselves in the stores, perhaps on accessories or RAM or anything like that?
I am in northern Virginia so there's 2 or 3 nearby that I can choose from, if that helps.
I know there's not a secret handshake or anything like that. Just wondering if there's any wiggle room, as I'm no longer a student and still poor. Thanks!

:apple:

Work for Apple....

[robbieduncan]

They don't make deals. At all. Basically they don't care if you just turn round and walk out without the product.

[Sarcasmo]

Work for Apple....

Helpful, thanks. I'll get right on that....

They don't make deals. At all. Basically they don't care if you just turn round and walk out without the product.

Well they might if I didn't pay for it... :)

[DeaconGraves]

Seeing that Apple Store employees don't make commission on sales (I believe) they have absolutely no reason to deal with you.

One thing I have seen on the forums though is people who leave purchases in their online Apple Store "shopping cart" have gotten phone calls from Apple with incentives to purchase (though I can't remember what those incentives were).

[Badradio]

When I bought an iMac about three years ago, I ordered over the phone (there weren't any Apple Retail Stores here at the time). The guy taking the order offered me a discount on .Mac, which I didn't want, and then said he had about £30 "to play with" in getting me to buy anything in addition to the computer. I'd assume they have the same option available if you call, but I'm not sure that £30/$60 is worth waiting for delivery.

[koobcamuk]

Seeing that Apple Store employees don't make commission on sales (I believe) they have absolutely no reason to deal with you.

One thing I have seen on the forums though is people who leave purchases in their online Apple Store "shopping cart" have gotten phone calls from Apple with incentives to purchase (though I can't remember what those incentives were).

I did this. It was a $20,000 Mac Pro setup. I did it as a joke. :rolleyes:

[bailey35mm]

At the Nagoya, Japan Apple Store I got 1 year of free Procare when I bought my Macbook Pro back in August. Think it's worth around $90usd.

[rotlex]

They don't make deals. At all. Basically they don't care if you just turn round and walk out without the product.

I guess it depends on what you consider a deal. I was recently given a free HDMI and Component cable set along with a 2nd free Leopard T-shirt when I simply asked after purchasing an external drive for my new iMac. I ordered the iMac in store, from Apple's web site and the store got "credit" for it. Don't know if that had anything to do with it, but hey, it NEVER hurts to ask for stuff. :D

(I know, just cables and a T-shirt, but still)!

[Surely]

They don't make deals. At all. Basically they don't care if you just turn round and walk out without the product.

They do make deals. Sometimes. If you live in Canada.

I'm looking to buy a new MacBook in the next day or so, so I called 1-800-My-Apple yesterday. After asking a number of good questions, I told the rep that as a Canadian, it is my duty to complain about the pricing in Canada. He actually agreed with me, and offered me a $60 discount on any MacBook I buy, as long as it was through him. He gave me his extension #. Nice guy. It may not be a huge discount, but it is a discount.

I believe that this $60 discount may be a new unadvertised Apple policy that is offered only to those who complain about the pricing in Canada.

[TheDPR]

Can Americans complain about pricing in Canada, too?

[scienide09]

Can Americans complain about pricing in Canada, too?

Yes! Please do. Tell your rep that you're tired of paying less than consumers anywhere else in the world for Apple products, and demand that Apple lower their pricing structures in other countries to reflect the fact that the US dollar is no the leading benchmark.

[MovieCutter]

Helpful, thanks. I'll get right on that....

As a former Apple retail store employee, that's the only way you're going to get a deal...:rolleyes:

[roland.g]

As a former Apple retail store employee, that's the only way you're going to get a deal...:rolleyes:

Or be in the inner circle of an Apple retail employee. As a former employee that can help when you go back to your friends who still work there. Me, I waited too long, when I was ready to get my new iMac my last Apple co-worker had just left. They get some turnover.

[G4DP]

If you guys in Canada can gt a discount from complaining about you small price difference, I wonder if it would work for some of us in the UK?

Afterall even if we pay vat on the US price it still only comes to £1374. So that is a saving of £325 on our standard price.

And you can't say it cost more to move everything, they have a factory in Ireland.

[Grimace]

Small business customers spending over $5000 can sometimes get small breaks on things...but usually only when you are buying AppleCare with the machine. .Mac and Procare help too.

Retail stores are evaluated on their APP/.Mac/ProCare metrics so you can sometimes get a bit off of the CPU if you are willing to purchase those extras.

[Royale w/cheese]

The grove apple store (http://www.apple.com/retail/thegrove/) once gave me 10% off my total purchase in 2005, But I had bought quite a bit on one receipt. A 12" PB, 60 gb iPod video, 1 gig ram, a few cables, applecare on the PB and iPod and a couple other small things. I am not sure exactly why they did it, but when they offered it to me, why would I pass it up? I have pretty much only bought from the refurb store since then, and I have not been back to the grove for a while since I no longer live in LA, so I don't know if they still do anything like this anymore, but it would not surprise me if they do not. But that year alone, between my father and I, we spent around $25,000 at that store, so that may have quite a impact on their dealing.

[byakuya]

as some have already mentioned I have heard of few cases (in Germany) where buyer's got some deals on .mac subscriptions and on software (iwork).

[chelseasian]

I've bought over the phone before from Apple and I was able to get some pretty good discounts (about 17%) and some freebies- i.e. .mac thrown in. Your other option is to work with a company that has a deal with Apple that offers corporate employee discount. That way, all you have to do is show your employee ID at any Apple store and your discount will be applied to it. The discount varies from item to item.

[BenHoleton]

They'll cut a small deal for buying in bulk. I bought 3 computers recently. 2 MBP's and a MB. Got a 3% discount

[RichP]

Can Americans complain about Canada?

[thechidz]

Yes! Please do. Tell your rep that you're tired of paying less than consumers anywhere else in the world for Apple products, and demand that Apple lower their pricing structures in other countries to reflect the fact that the US dollar is no the leading benchmark.

Im no patriot but youre wrong. The US dollar is and always will be the benchmark as long as we hold military superiority. This has been the way the world has worked for millenea and the US caught on during the industrial revolution...:confused:

perhaps china will have a new point of view over the next 100 years but... do you really want to see that?

[GAS]

Im no patriot but youre wrong. The US dollar is and always will be the benchmark as long as we hold military superiority. This has been the way the world has worked for millenea and the US caught on during the industrial revolution...:confused:

perhaps china will have a new point of view over the next 100 years but... do you really want to see that?

Military superiority - Iraq...hmm. Debatable.
That's the way it's worked for millennia - Pretty sure the British Empire was bigger than the US up until the last couple of 100 years.
But you definitely don't set the financial benchmark, the dollars value is terrible.

[laravia18]

Seeing that Apple Store employees don't make commission on sales (I believe) they have absolutely no reason to deal with you.

One thing I have seen on the forums though is people who leave purchases in their online Apple Store "shopping cart" have gotten phone calls from Apple with incentives to purchase (though I can't remember what those incentives were).

I received one of those when the Macbook Pro first came out! I was creepied out and intrigued at the same time!!!

[DeaconGraves]

Im no patriot but youre wrong. The US dollar is and always will be the benchmark as long as we hold military superiority. This has been the way the world has worked for millenea and the US caught on during the industrial revolution...:confused:

perhaps china will have a new point of view over the next 100 years but... do you really want to see that?

I think perhaps better logic would be that Apple is an American company, incorporated and traded here, which would make the US$ benchmark more convenient/logical.

That being said, I really wonder how much Apple's pricing is based on currency rather than Apple determining that people will still buy their products at that price?

[thechidz]

Military superiority - Iraq...hmm. Debatable.
That's the way it's worked for millennia - Pretty sure the British Empire was bigger than the US up until the last couple of 100 years.
But you definitely don't set the financial benchmark, the dollars value is terrible.

I didnt mean the US had superiority for millenea, I meant the country with the military power...

And the US dollar will rebound, it has to, the world economy needs it to. Its just a fact and any economist will agree

[queshy]

The apple store's don't generally make deals...the salesmen aren't on commission so they probably couldn't care less about selling you something.

[scienide09]

That being said, I really wonder how much Apple's pricing is based on currency rather than Apple determining that people will still buy their products at that price?

Definitely the latter. Consumers vote with their wallets. As long as people continue buying the products, where's the incentive to lower the prices?