Apple Axes 'No Cash' Policy for iPad Sales

[Balin64]

Not to be offensive, but what in the HELL does this woman need with an iPad? Am I missing something? This report makes it sound like she was denied the purchase of some essential house-hold product.. not an arguably luxury product.

Right. Insert just about anything in this phrase: "Not to be (blank)." Seriously? One short look at her home from a local newscast makes you believe she does not need an iPad? Listen to yourself: it's her cash, her decision. The point of the story is that Apple's policy reversal was hinged on this woman's experience. End of story.

Let me spell it out: according to some of you, an older black woman in an urban neighborhood, on a fixed income and without access to a credit card, must obviously be on the dole and how dare she save for an iPad?

Yes, you are missing a lot: she needs an iPad: and it's none of your business why; or, how she pays for it, or how YOU think she should spend her own damn money.

What the hell is wrong with you people?

 

[rdlink]

I'm filing this story under "Good for you, I don't care about this bull crap."

Yet you took the time to post to tell us you don't care. Amazing.

 

[wizard]

It isn't just your grandfather, credit cards are evil.

A lot of people still don't believe in debit cards or technology. My grandfather doesn't have one and does everything with cash and checks. He even drives to the airport when he needs to buy an airline ticket to buy it in person with cash (or check if they accept that, but I don't think they do).

It isn't just an issue of technology, credit cards strip people of much of their potential wealth. I have one but I do everything possible to minimize it's use. It took awhile to wise up to this fact too.

Lack of a debit or credit card does not equal lack of a checking account.

I'm actually disappointed with the number of people here out of touch with reality here. One of the best things one can do for their fianacial health is to minimize the use of credit cards or to eliminate them completely. The credit economy mentality is directly responsible for our current economic climate.


Dave

 

[Xtremehkr]

As a customer I'm usually very happy because it means I don't have to win the 'click lottery' for hard to get tickets. I can go out and buy tickets at their actual market price. Keep in mind that scalper IS selling the tickets and the scalpers goal is to sell all the tickets that he has. Any ticket left in his hand is lost money.

Another fun thing to do is simply to wait outside the venue (this works well for sporting events...especially things like mid-week games with less demand) and hit the scalpers up once the game starts. I've paid well below the listed ticket price to every basketball game I went to this year. Funny how that supply/demand equation works just as well in the opposite direction.



Cornering the market is hard to do in general and nearly impossible to do on a non-time sensitive item that you don't control the production of. Apple is making more iPads so people can wait it out if they don't want to incur the extra cost. Those who bought them all up are taking a huge risk that they are over estimating demand. There is nothing corrupt about doing this, and for it to really work you would need a buyer who was buying thousands and continued to buy thousands as they were released. On the flip side you would need demand that kept buying them at the increased cost. Neither of those things would happen for very long and the market would quickly equalize to Apples set price.

In your opinion, anything goes.

In my opinion, it's a complete corruption of the Apple - Apple User arrangement. Damaging, even, to the word of mouth created by putting a good product into customers hands.

I don't care if scalper's get burned, they're attempting to be little monopolists, why would I care about people who concentrate their efforts on exploiting shortages instead of concentrating their effort on doing something more productive?

 

[iJon]

It's sad to hear some of you guys berate this lady for having a cash only lifestyle. Regardless of reason there shouldn't be any reason this lady can't go to an Apple Store and pay cold hard cash for any product, including an iPad.

Other than Apple's obscure rule I can't imagine anything else in my daily life that I cannot pay cash for.

It's good to see Apple change this rule since it would be very illogical if they didn't.

 

[shigzeo]

Sending cash to Apple

In Korea, there is no iPad in sight. Can I send money to Apple in exchange for an iPad? Do you they'd add shipping? What to do?

 

[Dayv]

Now before you defend this lady left, right and sideways, your issue was unique. I worked for a bank for 5 years and we saw many people come in on weekly basis to open checking accounts and they were on ChexSystems. Most of them were due to the customer writing bad checks, plain and simple.

By the same token, before you make any assumptions of poor behavior on the woman's part, maybe you should step back and mind your own business. She might just not *want* a checking account. There's no law that says you have to have one to be a part of this society. Some people just don't like or trust banks.

 

[Black Macbook]

There is nothing corrupt about doing this, and for it to really work you would need a buyer who was buying thousands and continued to buy thousands as they were released.

And if it were fully legal to do this, then what is to stop microsoft, dell or any other big company or really anybody with cash to invest from buying up thousands or even tens of thousands and marking up the price? Thus taking control out of Apple's hands. And if there's one thing that Apple likes, we all know that is control.

It's not like they would be stuck with an unsellable product, such as might happen to a scalper with unsold tickets. Apple will be selling millions of iPads in the near future.

Even now with the 2 iPad limit, there is not nearly enough to go around. And you think people should be able to buy as many as they want? LOL

 

[rdlink]

In Korea, there is no iPad in sight. Can I send money to Apple in exchange for an iPad? Do you they'd add shipping? What to do?

Send it to me. I'll deposit it in my checking account, buy the iPad, and send it to you. The 64GB wifi is $829, so just send an even $900 to cover shipping. Don't mind the scratches on the back and the fingerprints on the front. They come that way...

 

[Dayv]

2. At least our taxes took care of the rest of her living expenses so she could save up for an iPad.

Stop whining. Maybe she's going to use it to apply for jobs online. Maybe she's disabled and can't work. You don't even know whether her fixed income is from taxes, it could be from a private pension or something. People who take offense anytime they hear about someone they assume to be on welfare having anything other than bread and water and a roof over their head deserve to spend some time experiencing poverty.

 

[Dayv]

Yes, you are missing a lot: she needs an iPad: and it's none of your business why; or, how she pays for it, or how YOU think she should spend her own damn money.

What the hell is wrong with you people?

Thank you, I was starting to feel like I was the only one here with a shred of respect for this woman.

 

[tribalogical]

maybe someone should have stopped her from buying one as her first computer, bc u actually need a computer to use the thing. Atleast thats what a mac sales person told me. They said its in an agreement that u sign that u have to have a computer b4 buying an IPAD.

What? You're making that up!

I didn't have to sign any damned agreement to buy my iPad.... that's ludicrous!

You need a computer to ACTIVATE it. You can do that at the store when you buy it, if you don't own a computer. Beyond that, well...

If you have a WiFi or 3G connection you can buy/download/update apps without iTunes on a computer... you can do email, web etc. without a computer. Hell, pretty much anything really...

You can't back up the iPad via iTunes synch without a computer, but... there's whispers that the Camera Connection Kit could be used to back up to an SD card in the future (iPhone OS4)... we shall see.

SO, yeah.... ludicrous. Whoever that "mac sales person" was that told you that sadly misinformed you... er... "u"...

peace.

 

[mojoxp]

I'm just shocked to find out that Apple accepts cash at all. I just assumed they didn't.

 

[mdatwood]

In your opinion, anything goes.

It's called a market.

In my opinion, it's a complete corruption of the Apple - Apple User arrangement. Damaging, even, to the word of mouth created by putting a good product into customers hands.

I don't care if scalper's get burned, they're attempting to be little monopolists, why would I care about people who concentrate their efforts on exploiting shortages instead of concentrating their effort on doing something more productive?

Where is the corruption? And monopolist? LOL. No one is forcing anyone to buy at the higher price. The fact that people DO buy at the higher price means the current supply/demand curve is out of whack with respect to price. Believe it or not the scalpers are doing something productive. They are giving the opportunity to people to buy an item that otherwise they couldn't buy for whatever reason. For their service the sellers charge a higher price. If you don't want to pay the higher price then order online directly from Apple or wait.

What I'm surprised companies haven't done yet is emulate the resellers. When an item first comes out, raise the price so that the item stay just on the edge of a shortage, but anyone who wants one at that price can walk in and buy one. Over time as production ramps up slowly drop the price until it gets down to the price they want it to stay.

Another option would be to use a dutch auction system for each batch for say the first 90 days.

With either of those options the company would completely cut out resellers and maximize profits with the price almost exactly matching demand at the time each item was sold. Plus there would be no shortages since everyone who wanted one at the given price would get one.

Come to think of it, I think Ticketmaster is experimenting with an auction style system.

 

[Balin64]

Most people that don't have a checking account either are an illegal alien or have BAD CREDIT. When you have a bankruptcy or other types of bad credit banks can refuse to give you a checking account. Your employer pays you with a check, you pick it up, and you take it to a check cashing place. THE END. God, what planet are you from to not have known this?

Sigh. Again, why?

So, most people that choose not to have a checking account are woefully unaware that they are "illegal aliens." And about bad credit: there are banks (TCF National for example) that prey on people with bad credit.

Look, generalizing is not very polite and part of why our national discourse is so damaged when it comes to immigration reform. The symbiotic relationship between the Western way of life and immigrant labor is very intertwined. So, the result is that, yes: just like undocumented workers can get jobs and hold those for years, there are banks willing to open accounts for those workers. There is a lot of money to be made in taking advantage of the hugely under-represented.

Now, back on topic: a woman tried to buy an iPad with cash. She was turned down. Apple fixed it.

 

[Papajohn56]

I can't imagine why Apple wouldn't accept cash. Debit/credit processing fees are anywhere from 1.9%-3% per transaction, they're throwing potential money out the window.

 

[Yr Blues]

Good. I was afraid that kind of policy might lead to a cashless society.

Lots of "poorer" people are interested in Apple products and doing the most prudent thing by saving real money instead of using credit—even though they do accept debit, but who wants to pay all of those bank charges when one slips up, esp. on a fixed income.

 

[mdriftmeyer]

Why does a nice gesture by Apple lead to do many negative comments? This has nothing to do with the need for a checking account, a computer, or other things she could/should have purchased.

It's a simple story of a company with an outstanding product trying to keep people from buying and reselling them thus keeping them from honest buyers. Faced with a real example of unintended hardship their policy caused, they came up with a workaround and offered up a free iPad to the woman whose story prompted the change.

Good for her, and good for Apple.

Because most people feed off of misery--they love the company. Perhaps it has to do with their own lives being so humdrum they have to drag the rest of the world down to their level?

 

[tribalogical]

this is what I don't get... you can still find cheap or free checking accounts that come with a debit card. She could have deposited her money and went to the store and got one fairly easy.

I don't understand where you are at in life that getting an iPad is so important but you don't have a credit card.

You can't even buy any apps.... It just seems silly.

Not to take away with the policy change, but this was a non-story to begin with...

I guess she could buy itunes cards for apps.

Yes, Itunes cards for Apps, or just go with free ones (plenty of great free apps too). We are conditioned to think of handing our money to a bank as "perfectly normal". After the great bailout of 2009, you still feel that way, huh?

And after the great privacy debacles and identity thefts... you don't think twice?

Most banks say "free checking" but like "zero interest" it always has fine print... there are no "free" bank accounts...

I don't use checks ever. I use "virtual card numbers" with any online purchases. I limit my exposure with my bank... I understand the system.

She's on a fixed income. Cash is her way of life. Nothing wrong with that!


I do wonder though, which model did Apple giver her for free.....? 64Gb WiFi + 3G maybe? Or the 16Gb WiFi-only model?

One I'll say "wow, generous!", the other I'll say "cheapskates!"

Hopefully it was a model the same or higher than the one she originally wanted!

 

[archurban]

Earlier this week, the spotlight was put on Apple for its policy prohibiting customers from purchasing iPads with cash by a report from KGO-TV in San Francisco noting the case of a woman on fixed income who had saved up cash over a period of weeks to purchase an iPad as her first computer.With no credit or debit card in her name, she was unable to purchase her iPad, the victim of an Apple policy designed to help prevent customers from circumventing purchase limits in place to deal with tight supplies of the popular device.

Apple initially stood by its policy, but today Apple Senior Vice President for Retail Ron Johnson announced that the company has changed its policy to allow customers to purchase iPads with cash if they set up an Apple account in the store at the time of purchase.As a gesture of goodwill toward Diane Campbell, the woman whose experience brought the issue considerable publicity, two employees visited her home today to offer her an iPad free of charge.Apple's "no cash" policy was not unique to the iPad, as the company has introduced it in October 2007 for the iPhone in order to deal with high demand.

Article Link: Apple Axes 'No Cash' Policy for iPad Sales

now what? they just can't take cash anymore? we have right to pay whatever it is cash or credit card. what a bull **** like that? you guys think if apple makes a rule, it would be cool? NO this time. it's just ridiculous. no comment. just play idiot. I see when Apple would be going back to 1997.

 

[mdatwood]

And if it were fully legal to do this, then what is to stop microsoft, dell or any other big company or really anybody with cash to invest from buying up thousands or even tens of thousands and marking up the price? Thus taking control out of Apple's hands. And if there's one thing that Apple likes, we all know that is control.

It's not like they would be stuck with an unsellable product, such as might happen to a scalper with unsold tickets. Apple will be selling millions of iPads in the near future.

Even now with the 2 iPad limit, there is not nearly enough to go around. And you think people should be able to buy as many as they want? LOL

Sigh. Think about what you just all the way to the end result. At some point MS would have to SELL them in order to get their money back. Keep in mind while this is going on Apple is continuing to produce them. Each one that gets sold lowers demand. Lower demand lowers the price. Eventually the price would go through Apples floor of say $499 and MS would be sitting with a ton of iPads that they either have to sell for the $499 or below in order to get rid of them (most likely before the next version came out).

Even in this completely unrealistic hypothetical, no matter how many MS bought Apple is still making them providing a near infinite supply to the market. Even if MS managed to keep the price slightly above Apples price for a period of time, as soon as Apple announced the next version MS would be buried with iPads that they couldn't sell for what they paid.

 

[Dayv]

Anyone walking with 500 bucks in their pocket doesnt have that much common sense. What if you get jumped (Im from Brooklyn), robbed? At least with a Checking card you get the money back. What if it falls out while your runnin for the train or simply drops from your hands... too much risk.

And what's the difference between going to the store with $500 and coming home from the store with your new iPad? I'd say you're in more danger of getting robbed of the iPad, since it's less easily concealed.

But don't let me stand in the way of you looking for any flimsy position from which to negatively judge this woman.

 

[Xtremehkr]

It's called a market.



Where is the corruption? And monopolist? LOL. No one is forcing anyone to buy at the higher price. The fact that people DO buy at the higher price means the current supply/demand curve is out of whack with respect to price. Believe it or not the scalpers are doing something productive. They are giving the opportunity to people to buy an item that otherwise they couldn't buy for whatever reason. For their service the sellers charge a higher price. If you don't want to pay the higher price then order online directly from Apple or wait.

What I'm surprised companies haven't done yet is emulate the resellers. When an item first comes out, raise the price so that the item stay just on the edge of a shortage, but anyone who wants one at that price can walk in and buy one. Over time as production ramps up slowly drop the price until it gets down to the price they want it to stay.

Another option would be to use a dutch auction system for each batch for say the first 90 days.

With either of those options the company would completely cut out resellers and maximize profits with the price almost exactly matching demand at the time each item was sold. Plus there would be no shortages since everyone who wanted one at the given price would get one.

Come to think of it, I think Ticketmaster is experimenting with an auction style system.

Companies have the right to limit sales per customer, and Apple did. I'm happy with Apples decision. End of story.

We disagree on the ethical morality of scalper's actions. I see scalper's as short sighted opportunists who accomplish nothing productive through becoming exploitive middlemen. I can live with defending that position.

 

[archurban]

this is what I don't get... you can still find cheap or free checking accounts that come with a debit card. She could have deposited her money and went to the store and got one fairly easy.

I don't understand where you are at in life that getting an iPad is so important but you don't have a credit card.

You can't even buy any apps.... It just seems silly.

Not to take away with the policy change, but this was a non-story to begin with...

I guess she could buy itunes cards for apps.

No, that's not a point. most people have credit cards. what do you think? sometimes paying cash is feeling good. I usually pay cash for product if it is less than $1000. by the way, what's wrong with paying cash, huh?

 

[Dayv]

Honestly, I would love to aim a Private Investigator at this lady to see how really "poor" she is and who she associates with on a regular basis.

Great attitude there. May you get strip-searched on every flight, audited every tax year, and pulled over at every sobriety checkpoint for the rest of your life, since you love investigating people so much.