Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Any tips for scoring and iPad 2 in a retail store?

J

jameskohn

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Sep 11, 2006
342
0
Connecticut
I was late to the party, and didn't get to order my iPad 2 until March 17th. Now I'm getting antsy. Thinking about trying to get one in a retail store (preferrably an Apple store, but BestBuy, Target or WalMart would do.) Not crazy about the idea of driving an hour to the "local" Apple Store, waiting on line for a couple of hours, then being told they don't have them. If anybody has any helpful ideas, I'd sure love to hear them!
I'm in CT, and ideally I'd like to get a white 32GB AT&T. Thank you!
 
Good advice ... Use the inventory trackers. Last week I saw availability @ the North Haven CT Target (about 20 min from me). Got there & they had 4 32GB black WIFI's. Bough 2 ... 1 for me & 1 for a buddy.
 
Just FYI -

I ordered March 17 as well (with an estimated shipping of April 21). But when Apple changed the estimated shipping for orders from 4-5 weeks back down to 3-4 weeks, those that ordered after you and I (and during the 4-5 week estimate) were moved up to our shipping estimate of April 21. I've seen orders placed a week after mine (March 24) who have the same April 21 shipping date so of course ours are going to go out MUCH earlier.

Someone on appleordertracker.com ordered theirs on March 21 and they have the same 4/21 shipping estimate. They spoke with Apple and were told it would probably ship on April 14.

So with the way things are moving along and the info I'm finding, I honestly wouldn't be surprised to see March 17 orders start shipping as early as next week so if you don't want to hunt the stores, rest assured in knowing that your Apple order will probably be here within a couple of weeks.
 
I checked the Best Buy inventory trackers, saw one that had "In Store Only" so I called when I got off of work noting that I saw they were available on the website.

They had 4 and I was able to snag one. Good luck!
 
I just walked into Best Buy one day (even though the tracker showed they had none) and just asked if they had any in stock. I was told they had some at customer service. They had the exact one I wanted - Black 32gb Verizon. She pulled a post-it off the top & threw it away. I guess they were ones that had been reserved, but were not picked up in time.
 
First, keep checking the inventory trackers as mentioned. And then, if you see any iPads available, even the ones you don't want, call the store. There's a chance that the store just received a new shipment and was going through putting them in the system. If you luck out, you can get to the store before anybody snatches them. Based on my experience and some reporting, Bestbuy seem to get their iPad shipments at around 1pm so it could be something to keep in mind. I scored an iPad model that I wanted this way and could have bought more if I wanted to. Hopefully this will work for other people as well.
 
I scored my iPad2 today because of the radioshack. I was not ready to stand in line for a toy, so till yesterday, I was just thinking that one day I will get a call for my BB reservation. But it has been so many days so when I heard yesterday that RAdioshack is going to sell them, I thought ok I will give a try at a local radioshack around the time when they open. When I got there, I saw two people inside for iPad2 and found out they only got 2 and the model I wanted, they didn't even got. So then I decided to go to pentagon city mall (VA) in Arlington because they have a big apple store and radioshack. I was thinking about going to radoshack first but figured that it was on 3rd floor, while apple store was on 2nd. So changed my mind and went into the apple store at 10:10 AM (with no hope because I saw a notice outside the store that they are sold out). I asked if they have any and guy told me they only have 1 64 GB white wifi. I could not believe it because that is what I wanted even the color so I told him give it to me and walked out of apple store in 5 min with my iPad2. Big thank to radioshack lol.
 
Best Buy's worked solid for me. The one I went to in Charlottesville, va said they had them. Went around 11 and they said they had gotten some in and just to wait a bit and they would bring them out. Sure enough, guy comes out with 15 or so and 10 go to front for preorders and 5 came back to the cage. My advice is follow the tracker and when you see some stock, if it's convenient head over just to see if that stores tracker is right. Then at least you'll know if you're chasing something legitimate from that store.
 
Reserve online.

I checked the Apple website at around 5 past 9 in the UK as it said you could check back after 9PM to see if there were any available to reserve and collect the next day.

Managed to reserve a 32GB White Wifi only one and going to pick it up tomorrow from the store :)
 
inventory tracker ftw. target gets them pretty often. It sucks camping out at an apple store early in the morning only to find that they didnt get any in....
 
Also, if you go to BestBuy stores, make sure you check with someone in customer service and not the front man.

I was lied to by him days ago when I asked a CS person after asking him and they did have a few in the store. Also, numerous stories in here if the same thing happening. Some employees just don't want to check
 
RossMc said:
Reserve online.

I checked the Apple website at around 5 past 9 in the UK as it said you could check back after 9PM to see if there were any available to reserve and collect the next day.

Managed to reserve a 32GB White Wifi only one and going to pick it up tomorrow from the store :)
Click to expand...


To the best of my knowledge there is no way to reserve online at the Apple Store U.S. If anyone knows of a way I sure would like to hear about it. Also, I've checked the Target and BestBuy inventory trackers repeatedly over the last several days and have yet to see any indication at all that they have any 32gb AT&T models, white or black.
 
jameskohn said:
To the best of my knowledge there is no way to reserve online at the Apple Store U.S. If anyone knows of a way I sure would like to hear about it. Also, I've checked the Target and BestBuy inventory trackers repeatedly over the last several days and have yet to see any indication at all that they have any 32gb AT&T models, white or black.
Click to expand...

sorry to be the party pooper, but the AT&T's are probably the most sought after of all the iPads.
 
From my experience, check Target around 4pm, I got my AT&T there, they seem to show inventory at a number of local stores in NJ and sell through quickly.
 
Check out small- to medium-sized towns near you (if you are in a big city). I went to Corpus Christi (pop 280k) on business and the Best Buy had 32 iPad2's in stock. I didn't get one, but one of my customers bought two.
 
Within the past week I have used the Target tracking links and have been able to find and purchase 6 64 gig atts. Just check the tracker and go to the store. Simple. I have 2 white ones left if anyone is interested. I'm outside Philly and would be willing to let them go for a nominal
profit. Make me an offer. Otherwise I'm just going to return them to target. The other advantage of Target is that they have a 90 day return policy. If I can't sell these I plan to open them and pick the one with the least light leakage. I already have one that I ordered from Apple store that has moderate leakage.
 
Piece of cake

Drove over to the Apple store this morning, and arrived just a few minutes before they opened. There were about 20 people in line. At 9AM they handed out tickets, and in about 20 minutes I was all done. They had them all, and still had plenty when the line was gone. If I wanted another one I would just go at 9:15, as there doesn't appear to be any reason to wait in line.
 
Target stock checker worked for me. You have to be ready to move. I found two close to each other that showed stock, and the first one paid off.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back