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macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
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During the new year in Japan, retailers often offer a Fukubukuro, or "mystery bag," which is a grab bag that is filled with a random assortment of products sold at a steep discount.

Apple has participated in this tradition for several years, and will once again be offering its "Lucky Bag" in seven different Japanese Apple stores on January 2.

luckybags.jpg
Lucky Bags, which Apple sells for 33,000 yen or $390, traditionally contain items like iPods, headphones, and t-shirts. A few fortunate folks, however, have received big ticket items in previous years, like MacBook Airs or iPads, which have made Lucky Bags ultra popular in Japan.

Apple's grab bags are sold as is, and returns are not accepted unless a product is defective. Still, the bags have been quick sellers in previous years.

According to Tech in Asia, people begin to line up the night before in order to get their hands on a bag, as the sale is similar to Black Friday.
Unfortunately, you'll have to get in line very early if want one of these Lucky Bags. People typically begin lining up at the Apple store on the night before, so if you show up in the morning, and still manage to secure a bag -- well, consider yourself lucky. I tried a couple of years ago, but walked away disappointed.
Like Apple's 12 Days of Christmas, this promotion is regionally limited to Japanese customers, though other countries, like China, may see the same traditional Apple Store sales during the new year.

Article Link: Annual 'Lucky Bags' Coming to Japanese Apple Stores on January 2
 

TheHateMachine

macrumors 6502a
Sep 18, 2012
846
1,354
Wonder what the odds are on these things. I bet Apple makes a killing off of this gambling system.
 

xFerrr

macrumors member
Jun 2, 2011
39
7
yeah! page updated again!
And, I don't believe in this "gift", of course they did math to get way more income than they should.
 

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,544
6,042
It would be interesting to hear how many people just end up with gift cards or other it-cost-Apple-less-than-$400-to-make-the-contents bags.

I would imagine that many customers win. Apple is banking on the halo effect - if you own one Apple product, you're likely to buy more from them. Easy example: if you end up with an iOS device in your bag, you're likely to purchase media for it from iTunes. Apple collects 30% of each purchase you make on the store.
 

BlueParadox

macrumors 6502
Sep 3, 2010
306
331
Melbourne, Australia
With everything so very globally connected these days, this could no doubt be popular outside of Japan - Australia, for example.

A win win, in a way, as one could be after one or all of the items contained within the bag, or one could use the contents for gifts, or one could sell some or all the stuff within a bag.
 

weckart

macrumors 603
Nov 7, 2004
5,834
3,509
Such a cool idea, wish they did them elsewhere!

Apple did one when it opened the first few Apple Stores. I queued up for one when Regent St opened. There was a predictable surge and I lost my place and missed out by about one or two places in the end.

I felt a lot better when I saw the contents of the lucky bag (holdall) as it was full of crap. Hardly anyone got an iPod and most just got the JBL OnStage iPod dock, T Shirt, random software nobody wanted (guide to London, I think) plus unmemorable small bits of tut. All that for the best part of £300.
 

puma1552

Suspended
Nov 20, 2008
5,559
1,947
most people here forgot that this isnt an apple only thing, but rather common practice for many japanese retailers.

when in rome...
 

edwurtle

macrumors member
Apr 13, 2010
86
43
Most states will not allow such a grab bag offer. It's a form of gambling and states tend to try to control gambling. This is why all those US promotions must have a mail in "no purchase necessary" option. Even then some states don't allow promotions that involve chance.
 

zin

macrumors 6502
May 5, 2010
491
6,617
United Kingdom
It would be interesting to hear how many people just end up with gift cards or other it-cost-Apple-less-than-$400-to-make-the-contents bags.

If I remember from last year, the contents of the bags always are at least more than $400 if you were to buy them separately. So the consumer isn't losing out in any way.

But it probably costs Apple much less than $400 for the majority (if not all) of the bags.
 

Thunderhawks

Suspended
Feb 17, 2009
4,057
2,118
Apple did one when it opened the first few Apple Stores. I queued up for one when Regent St opened. There was a predictable surge and I lost my place and missed out by about one or two places in the end.

I felt a lot better when I saw the contents of the lucky bag (holdall) as it was full of crap. Hardly anyone got an iPod and most just got the JBL OnStage iPod dock, T Shirt, random software nobody wanted (guide to London, I think) plus unmemorable small bits of tut. All that for the best part of £300.

According to an analyst there were two lines:

1) Lucky Bag

2) Unlucky bag
Are you sure you didn't look into a bag from this queue?
 
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