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Strange prices for Aussie Refurbs?

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P2 Shooter

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 10, 2010
15
0
Gold Coast, Oz
Hi Guys,

1st post virgin here, Been lurking a while to research a computer to kick start editing from home and have used this site as a great resource to both inform and entertain. Cheers! :)

Just a quick question. With the computer I'm about to buy (mac pro, dual processor either refurb or new after the processor updates), Im pretty much going to religiously scour the refurb site here in Oz for any bargains.

Only thing is, there isn't often much about and when there is- this just popped on this afternoon:

http://store.apple.com/au/browse/home/specialdeals/mac/mac_pro

The value of the refurb is often more than configuring the machine to the exact same specs in the online store.

http://store.apple.com/au/configure/MB871X/A?mco=MTM3ODQ5MTM

Refurb price: A$5699
Online Store: A$5118.99

Am i missing something here, or is this pricing all out of whack?:confused:

(and yes, i realise that this machine is a single processor in case anyone asks!)

Cheers
 
mickbab

mickbab

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2008
1,136
2
Sydney, Australia
The pricing on the Australian refurb store never seems to be right.

At times I've found old 1.6GHz MBA's for more than brand new 2.13GHz models for example.

Old MacBook Pros seem to have strangely high prices.

Also these old generation iMacs for example:
4 extra inches, twice the RAM, twice the harddrive, extra 0.27GHz...same price.
2YRE


I don't think they pay much attention to the Australian website.
(On the apple.com/au/mac page they still show a picture of the old MacBook which was replaced in October last year)
 
P

P2 Shooter

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 10, 2010
15
0
Gold Coast, Oz
Ah, so this must be the much publicised apple tax that I've been reading about in other threads.

Still, machines seem to disappear after a few days, sometimes even hours. Would love to meet the people that buy them. :D
 
mickbab

mickbab

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2008
1,136
2
Sydney, Australia
P2 Shooter said:
Ah, so this must be the much publicised apple tax that I've been reading about in other threads.

Still, machines seem to disappear after a few days, sometimes even hours. Would love to meet the people that buy them. :D
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say it is Apple Tax.

But it was at one point - now it is just Apple Laziness, which leaves us with old Apple Taxes.
 
P

P2 Shooter

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 10, 2010
15
0
Gold Coast, Oz
My bad, poor attempt at humour on my part. I realise that this isn't an "apple tax" as such- thats another argument for another thread.

But still, money is being made through Apples "laziness", and customers are being ripped off. And, my little business can't pick up a cheap(er) refurb from the official site.
 
H

hosko

macrumors newbie
Mar 4, 2010
21
0
P2 Shooter said:
Ah, so this must be the much publicised apple tax that I've been reading about in other threads.
Click to expand...

We do have an "Australian Tax" here thanks to Apple.

A base SP Quad core 2.66Ghz MP is A$ 3,271.82 while the same unit in America is $2,499.00 or A$ 2,728.41

I don't know who Apple use to ship products from America to Australia (I'm sure they would ship directly from Asia where there made which would be cheaper anyway) but it doesn't cost $550 to ship a single unit.
 
S

SmellyTofu

macrumors member
Feb 23, 2010
34
0
Sydney, Australia
Just read your post on the 2010 MP thread.. I'll respond here.

There's no secret.. In the 2 months I've been hunting MP either on Ebay, Gumtree and the refurb shop, there's really only one place to buy reliably and that is the Refurb shop given that it gives you the same warranty as new without the new price tag.

That one you posted above is a weird one coz there's no discount on that one and probably sit there for a while until some poor someone goes and needs one in that exact spec.

The best way to hunt down a MP is to be online between 12:50-1:10pm (Sydney time in my case) and that's when they seem to appear online but I have seen it come up on Saturday morning (when I bought my Mini) so it might not be as regular.

http://store.apple.com/au/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=OTY2ODY3Nw
Go here and keep pressing <Ctrl>+<F5> to make sure you are refreshing off the cache.

At this moment, the ones coming online seem to have the same dollar value as the ones that are on the US refurb shop so they are treating A$ the same as US$... absolutely amazing for the first time!

Btw, yesterday there was the same 2x2.26 MP that went in 20mins again popping up at 1pm.
 
G

grue

macrumors 65816
Nov 14, 2003
1,233
37
Somewhere.
hosko said:
We do have an "Australian Tax" here thanks to Apple.

A base SP Quad core 2.66Ghz MP is A$ 3,271.82 while the same unit in America is $2,499.00 or A$ 2,728.41

I don't know who Apple use to ship products from America to Australia (I'm sure they would ship directly from Asia where there made which would be cheaper anyway) but it doesn't cost $550 to ship a single unit.
Click to expand...

It's not just shipping. You also have to account for the Aussie government taking a cut of the import. Furthermore, Apple Australia has to be funded, which doesn't come out of the general Apple coffers. So on, so forth…
 
P

P2 Shooter

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 10, 2010
15
0
Gold Coast, Oz
Ahh, thanks for getting back to me! It's great to hear that the refurb site here does throw up some bargains- to tell you the truth, I thought I'd start to look second hand, 'til this nugget popped up.:D

Also good to have a tactic at that seems to work for someone. I'll let you know if/when I have any success and I hope that the '09 works out well for you.

Oh, and that expensive quad I linked has just been removed or bought. I pity the poor soul that just overpaid by $500 for a second hand reject:eek:
 
Chundles

Chundles

macrumors G5
Jul 4, 2005
12,037
493
The refurb prices are based on discounts on the machine's ORIGINAL price.

In most of 2008/09 when the Aussie dollar was down against the US, the prices of Macs was much higher than it is now. As such when a discount is applied to a machine sold at that higher price it can often be more expensive than a new machine.

It's weird but that's what happens.
 
S

SmellyTofu

macrumors member
Feb 23, 2010
34
0
Sydney, Australia
It's not overpriced. When you look at the spec, it's got some upgrades hence the price up on it. According to refurb.me, it's off 13 days ago which is pretty much how long that MP was up for.

Looks like today's addition is just the 1Tb Time capsule which I also got a few days ago (but sort of regret given the bad history with it running full time). Guess it'd be my true backup I use occasionally only for backup purposes or flog on Ebay.
 
P

P2 Shooter

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 10, 2010
15
0
Gold Coast, Oz
Success! Just purchased the same bargain basement priced 2.26ghz octo for $2800, with a whopping $2000 discount. Happy as a pig in muck! Now I've got the rest to purchase- extra RAM, Dell monitors, GPU upgrade when they are released, MXO2, Broadcast monitor. Mmmm, the list is not going to end there methinks:eek:


Chundles said:
The refurb prices are based on discounts on the machine's ORIGINAL price.

In most of 2008/09 when the Aussie dollar was down against the US, the prices of Macs was much higher than it is now. As such when a discount is applied to a machine sold at that higher price it can often be more expensive than a new machine.

It's weird but that's what happens.
Click to expand...

This makes a bit more sense to me now as the prices here did fall by around $1000 back in November. So maybe the overpriced quad I saw, and others with it, were bought from before the price drop, returned and released onto the refurb store after this. Still, it doesn't help those that don't do their research though!

Oh, and before I forget, thanks to all those that helped out. Happy days!!!:D
 
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