Apple Beginning Back-To-School Promotion Monday?

[Collin973]

Nice. I'm glad to see this again. Hopefully I'll be able to use it this year.

 

[devilot]

I looked at the rebate form; the ONLY PPC machines that qualify are iBooks and 12" PowerBooks.

 

[Danksi]

Mail-in rebates are usually a pain. You pay the full-tax at purchase and then risk loosing your rebate form (with original proof of purchase) in the post.

Also, since this promo run until Sept 16th and the PowerMac G5 is part of the promo, does this mean the new Intel Mac Pro's won't be available until sometime after Sept 16th?

 

[jb84]

i pray it begins in australia

It's timed for the start of the university/college year, so you're 3 months too late 🙂

I used it earlier this year (it ended 28th March) -- a new MacBook Pro for me, and a 4gb nano for a mate, who'd been wanting one for a while. So on top of the edu discount we had a nice $200 to split between us.

 

[devilot]

You pay the full-tax at purchase and then risk loosing your rebate form (with original proof of purchase) in the post.

But that's why one should always make photocopies of everything you send in. Just in case.

Also, since this promo run until Sept 16th and the PowerMac G5 is part of the promo, does this mean the new Intel Mac Pro's won't be available until sometime after Sept 16th?

Not necesssarily. If you'll recall, the Nanos were released in time for the promo last year, but they just weren't qualified for the rebate. So there is still the possibility of Intel Mac Pros... they just might not qualify. 😛

 

[StoneWolf]

iCan, 'cause I don't...

http://www.idont.com/

I did a whois on idont.com and it came up with this:

Registrant:
SanDisk
111 Java Drive
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
US

 

[Danksi]

I did a whois on idont.com and it came up with this:

Registrant:
SanDisk
111 Java Drive
Sunnyvale, CA 94089
US

That's because SanDisk are pushing the iDon't promo, to sell their own MP3 players.

 

[Cinch]

Cheap sales tactic

Why do Apple have to do this cheap mail-in rebate sale tactic? Going down the path of Dell and Best Buy, Ford etc. You know what this tells me as well as a lot of other people? Gee, I have to mail in a rebate coupon abiding to its legalistic rules and wait a year before I will get anything. Why bother? And of course a few people at the sales department is hoping that I won't go through with this, thus, buying the MacBook and Nano at regular price (student price). Enough with the mail in rebate gimmick. Sell your product for what it is worth, and people will buy it. Don't resort to this cheap sales tactic.

hedging agrument..people who attempt to rationalize this sales gimmick has probably worked at Best Buy😀

Cinch

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

MacRumors defeats Think Secret...oooooo (in terms of predicting the 179 pricing)...

Anyway, I think it's funny that it says "Office-Running" MacBook in the advert. Hehe....

 

[celebrian23]

You sound pretty angry. I just think mail-ins are the easiest way to do it.

 

[AvSRoCkCO1067]

I looked at the rebate form; the ONLY PPC machines that qualify are iBooks and 12" PowerBooks.

Is this for this year? Aren't PowerMacs qualified too 😕 .

 

[celebrian23]

Powermacs are most certainly included 😛

 

[jimsowden]

You can submit the rebate online as well. That should speed things up. Did somebody say graduation present macbook pro?

 

[itcheroni]

Why do Apple have to do this cheap mail-in rebate sale tactic? Going down the path of Dell and Best Buy, Ford etc. You know what this tells me as well as a lot of other people? Gee, I have to mail in a rebate coupon abiding to its legalistic rules and wait a year before I will get anything. Why bother? And of course a few people at the sales department is hoping that I won't go through with this, thus, buying the MacBook and Nano at regular price (student price). Enough with the mail in rebate gimmick. Sell your product for what it is worth, and people will buy it. Don't resort to this cheap sales tactic.

hedging agrument..people who attempt to rationalize this sales gimmick has probably worked at Best Buy😀

Cinch

I read an article that stated about 79% of mail-in rebates never get filed although they are a strong deciding factor at the time of purchase. So it's a good way for companies to push a sale without following through because the majority of customers don't go through the trouble to collect. Most people would procrastinate and probably go over the 30 days.

 

[Multimedia]

Now Amazon gives you $100 back plus no sales tax and Apple is instituting a new Educational Discount program Monday. So the deals are on. 🙂

The promo is only for a free iPod Nano or $179 credit toward another iPod. So the Amazon way still looks like the cheapest if you live where there's sales tax and you don't need an iPod.

Now after looking at the Apple offer again, it excludes an Amazon combo purchase. But with no sales tax the Amazon deal is better. And Amazon doesn't require you to buy a printer to get the $100 back either.

Sorry, I'm confusing the $100 printer rebate with the iPod $179 rebate. My bad.

Offer ends September 16 which is the last day of the Paris Apple Expo. 🙂

Powermacs are most certainly included 😛

Yes and Mac Pros are conspicuously EXcluded. 😱 Looks like a pre-Core 2 Duo flush out program which would lead one to suspect - Pre-WWDC August 7 SteveNote - Core 2 Duos won't ship until September 19 (Tuesday) after the offer is over on Saturday.

 

[elfin buddy]

For a lot of people, rebates like this are bonus. When I started university, I was going to by myself a 12" PowerBook no matter what. They decided to give me $275 back for the iPod+PowerBook, and I was a happy camper!

Now my sister is in the same boat as I was two years ago (going to buy herself a MacBook for school in the Fall), so hopefully this will open up in Canada soon and she can capitalise on it. Just in time too, since the iPod I gave her (the one I ordered for free with my PowerBook) just gave out on her. Free iPods for everyone!!! 😛

 

[Makosuke]

You know, having just filled out the rebate for the free printer (which is the same process-same fulfillment house), I can say that it really is pretty lame Apple doesn't have a more convienent system for this. Any informed consumer knows that the whole concept of mail-in rebates is somewhere between shady and an outright scam depending on how it's handled, and as much as I'd like to think Apple is "better" than that, they're not.

What burns me most is that they KNOW the exact computer you bought from them, including the serial number--it's on the invoice. Yet you must cut out the entire product code label from the box--those beautiful boxes Apple spends so much time and effort developing--and physically mail it to the rebate house, even after you've filled out the online portion of the form. I could care less about cutting up my printer box, but the MacBook Pro box is another matter. Not to mention that they tell you to send in copies of your recipts, but don't make it at all clear what this means if you order online and the only recipt you get is via e-mail.

If they really wanted to give an honest discount, they'd just make it an "instant" iPod discount when you bought the two together at an Apple Store or the online store. Or, if that's just too much "free" for the bottom line to handle (the whole point of the mail-in hassle, after all), they could AT LEAST let you just register the whole thing online using the serial number of the computer they know you bought, and maybe force you to mail in a signed form just to increase the hassle (and, ostesibly, to have a signature to "prove" that you really did buy the stuff).

It's ironic trying to "prevent fraud" by making you hack up your box when they know better than you do the serial numbers of the computers (and I expect even printers) you bought from them.

 

[celebrian23]

I agree with you multimedia. I think this could be a sign about when the powermacs are coming- after this promo.

 

[elfin buddy]

I hope this doesn't also signal that it's gonna be a long time before new iPods are here. I want an 8GB Nano, and I want it NOW!!! 😀

(and yes, I know you can mod 4GB Nanos to make them 8GB or even 16GB, but I'd really just rather something manufactured that I wouldn't be responsible for breaking)

 

[Cinch]

I read an article that stated about 79% of mail-in rebates never get filed although they are a strong deciding factor at the time of purchase. So it's a good way for companies to push a sale without following through because the majority of customers don't go through the trouble to collect. Most people would procrastinate and probably go over the 30 days.

Exactly! And most people including myself will have a bad buying experience from this regardless if they follow through on the rebate. All-and-all it is a cheap sales gimmick that a profitable and respectable company should not engage in. Rebate in general is a sign that your product is not in demand. Maybe Apple is not as reputable as people think. It tells me that they just want to make a sale instead of earning your business.

Cinch

 

[DTphonehome]

Now Amazon gives you $100 back plus no sales tax and Apple is instituting a new Educational Discount program Monday. So the deals are on. 🙂

You can still qualify for this if you buy from Amazon. Any Apple reseller works, as long as both the Mac and iPod are on the samae receipt. So you can get no sales tax, AND the Amazon rebate, AND the iPod rebate.

And please, for the love of God, change your avatar...it scares me.

 

[Core Trio]

Yes and Mac Pros are conspicuously EXcluded. 😱 Looks like a pre-Core 2 Duo flush out program which would lead one to suspect - Pre-WWDC August 7 SteveNote - Core 2 Duos won't ship until September 19 (Tuesday) after the offer is over on Saturday.

The Mac Pro doesnt exist (atleast not yet) why would you expect it to be included? Even if they were going to be announced tomorrow, they still wouldnt be in the promotion today, thats the way secrecy works.

 

[Multimedia]

Apple Reseller Purchases Are EXcluded From This Offer

You can still qualify for this if you buy from Amazon. Any Apple reseller works, as long as both the Mac and iPod are on the samae receipt. So you can get no sales tax, AND the Amazon rebate, AND the iPod rebate.

Nope. I just read the rebate form and it specifically excludes all Apple Resellers from qualifying for this rebate. "Reseller purchases do not qualify." it says. Only online Apple Store, a retail Apple Store, or through Apple Telesales located in 50 US States & DC.

I am quoting the $100 off printer offer. My bad. Confusing offers.

"Buy a qualifying Mac and an iPod from Apple or a participating Apple Authorized Campus Reseller from June 5 through September 16." are the limiting words on the Back To School iPod deal. So it's even more restrictive than the printer rebate.

Perhaps most interesting is that this makes it look like the Apple line-up is locked in until after September 16, 2006. So whatever Steve shows us August 7 may not ship before September 17th. Those are the tea leaves I'm reading here. Anyone care to agree or not? I suppose the Mac Pros could just not be included in this offer and ship sooner. Oh well. T-Minus 63 Days and counting... 🙂

 

[mattcube64]

You can still qualify for this if you buy from Amazon. Any Apple reseller works, as long as both the Mac and iPod are on the samae receipt. So you can get no sales tax, AND the Amazon rebate, AND the iPod rebate.

And please, for the love of God, change your avatar...it scares me.

Yeah? How do you then prove if you are a student?

 

[cyberdogl2]

Students have things such as a college id, tuition bill, etc.