Apple prices, .edu discounts, taxes, and geography

[leecbaker]

Hi folks,

I've decided that I'm going to purchase a RMBP13 in the next month. I'm looking for your thoughts into the best/cheapest place to buy it.

Since it costs a fair bit of change, its in my best interest to try to minimize the amount of taxes I pay (and maximize discounts I get). Since I'll be going through quite a few places on the way back from Nepal, I do have some options for where to pick it up:

1 Apple stores (US) in LA, Albuquerque, or Dallas
2 Singapore Apple store
3 Apple.com/store
4 Shipped from Amazon (to NM, no tax)
5 Other online vendors (macmall et al)

The Apple .edu discount is also available to me- I'm assuming thats going to either bet $100 or $200, though we will know here in a few hours, so #1, #3 and possibly #2 have EDU discounts.

First off, MacMall doesn't really seem to be much cheaper than Amazon on the 15" RMPBs, so that's out. I trust Amazon more than Macmall.

Apple store in LA, ABQ or Dallas are all going to have about the same sales tax- 8%ish I'm guessing, and the online Apple store the same. This would probably cancel out any EDU discount I get from Apple, placing the price about the same here as well.

This leaves the final option of the Singapore Apple store, which for me is pretty much unknown. Do they have sales tax there? Do international Apple stores still honor the EDU discount?

Am I thinking through this right? Is there anything I'm missing? Are there any other secret discounts or places that I should be looking to buy Apple stuff?

 

[Bob Coxner]

There's a duty free Apple reseller store inside Changi Airport in Singapore.

http://www.singapore-shopping-guide.com/duty-free-shopping/istudio-t3-changi-airport.html

I have no idea how their prices will compare to elsewhere but it should be worth checking out.

 

[rmn1644]

Where did you end up buying? I recently read that Thailand is the cheapest place to buy Apple hardware in the world.

I used to ship my educational discount Mac to my aunt in Oregon to avoid the sales tax.

I'm looking forward to a new Macbook Air purchase soon and could use any buying tips for savings.

 

[AppleFanatic10]

Hi folks,

I've decided that I'm going to purchase a RMBP13 in the next month. I'm looking for your thoughts into the best/cheapest place to buy it.

Since it costs a fair bit of change, its in my best interest to try to minimize the amount of taxes I pay (and maximize discounts I get). Since I'll be going through quite a few places on the way back from Nepal, I do have some options for where to pick it up:

1 Apple stores (US) in LA, Albuquerque, or Dallas
2 Singapore Apple store
3 Apple.com/store
4 Shipped from Amazon (to NM, no tax)
5 Other online vendors (macmall et al)

The Apple .edu discount is also available to me- I'm assuming thats going to either bet $100 or $200, though we will know here in a few hours, so #1, #3 and possibly #2 have EDU discounts.

First off, MacMall doesn't really seem to be much cheaper than Amazon on the 15" RMPBs, so that's out. I trust Amazon more than Macmall.

Apple store in LA, ABQ or Dallas are all going to have about the same sales tax- 8%ish I'm guessing, and the online Apple store the same. This would probably cancel out any EDU discount I get from Apple, placing the price about the same here as well.

This leaves the final option of the Singapore Apple store, which for me is pretty much unknown. Do they have sales tax there? Do international Apple stores still honor the EDU discount?

Am I thinking through this right? Is there anything I'm missing? Are there any other secret discounts or places that I should be looking to buy Apple stuff?

Have you tried the refurb section of the Apple.com site? I think those are better deals than the student discounts, etc.

 

[Alex Meek]

Taxes have made so much disaster as sometimes it looks like that its not affordable... I used to ship my educational discount Mac to my aunt in Oregon to avoid the sales tax.