Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Apple Launches Improved Employee Hardware Discount Program for Mac and iPad
- Thread starter MacRumors
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
C
champ01
Guest
An employee buying a product (with or without discount) is also a customer.
Why should a employees be any less.
These employees are selling the products so for me as a boss I would love it if my employees would use these products all day long.
C
champ01
Guest
You clearly never worked in a restaurant. The chef probably gets his diner for free and he eats all day long because he has to know what he is serving the customers.
It's all about being a capitalist and has nothing to do with customer service.
Math time!
For a clarification on the prices people are putting here:
Applying the 25% off discount then the $500/$250:
Maxed out air (originally $2199): 2199*.75-500 = $1149.25
iPad 2 (originally $400): 400*.75-250 = $50
Applying the $500/$250 discount then 25% off:
Maxed out air: (2199-500)*.75 = $1274.25
iPad 2: (400-250)*.75 = $112.5
For a clarification on the prices people are putting here:
Applying the 25% off discount then the $500/$250:
Maxed out air (originally $2199): 2199*.75-500 = $1149.25
iPad 2 (originally $400): 400*.75-250 = $50
Applying the $500/$250 discount then 25% off:
Maxed out air: (2199-500)*.75 = $1274.25
iPad 2: (400-250)*.75 = $112.5
There are a myriad of reasons why employees should not be permitted to purchase newer items that are in limited supply at discounted pricing. It isn't fair to the ordinary customer, who doesn't have the advantage of grabbing a model before the store opens or when it first arrives. Additionally, this employee discount programme is a bonus offered to employees - it isn't a right. The refrain from newer products is merely temporary, so they aren't denying them anything or treating them as "lesser" customers.
Can't you see that further limiting the supply of these items by allowing employees to buy them at substantially discounted prices would damage ordinary customers? Thereby giving them poorer service?
I worked for Apple '08-'09 during my final year in Houston. Worked as a school teacher and part-time at Apple. Honestly I loved it there and was sad I couldn't transfer to a Chicago store because it was out of the district.
Honestly it was the best retail job I had: Great staff, mostly great clientele. We were instructed to promote the products and not upsell. That kind of respect turned me into a lifetime customer and supporter. Any place that treated me well as an employee during my teens/early 20s (Target, Apple) has earned THOUSANDS from me as a customer now.
This is awesome news for employees, especially when you consider how busy the stores are now.
Honestly it was the best retail job I had: Great staff, mostly great clientele. We were instructed to promote the products and not upsell. That kind of respect turned me into a lifetime customer and supporter. Any place that treated me well as an employee during my teens/early 20s (Target, Apple) has earned THOUSANDS from me as a customer now.
This is awesome news for employees, especially when you consider how busy the stores are now.
C
champ01
Guest
Again, If you're an employee then it makes perfect sense to be in the front row.
If customers don't get that then they are being egoistic.
Not every employee of Apple is buying the new product so giving the excuse that nobody else can have the new product is lame in my opinion.
Not to mention that it might entice less scrupulous employees to buy the hot new item(s) and then just turn around and sell them for a profit.
If an Apple employee wants to be first in line for a new product, they are more than welcome to do so. They will just have to pay full price like everybody else.
Any employee worth their salt knows that getting product into the hands of customers is more important than using their employee discount. It's a reasonable clause - if your product is already super constrained, do you really want 50,000 of your own employees snatching up discounted units before actual customers can get them?
----------
They'd have to be a really good friend to give you their once-every-three-years discount!
Otherwise they can get you a standard 15% on non-constrained items.
----------
iPad 2 = $399
iPad staff discount = $250
399 - 250 is not $50 the last time I checked....
I knew they should have put the calculator app on the iPad
Read the article. It is stacked ON TOP of the existing 25% discount. ($399*0.75) - 250 = $49.25.
C
champ01
Guest
Any employee worth their salt knows that getting product into the hands of customers is more important than using their employee discount. It's a reasonable clause - if your product is already super constrained, do you really want 50,000 of your own employees snatching up discounted units before actual customers can get them?
YES
Again.... Employees buying products are also customers. There's only less profit.
Those that don't agree with me talk about money and nothing else. (or its Apple's PR)
I may come of a little strong but it truly is that simple.
At the store I worked at, these two job paths happened fairly frequently:
Employee starts as a part-time Specialist (sales person).
Employee applies for/gets promoted to full-time Creative position (trainer).
Employee takes a position in training/corporate development at a non-retail company.
Employee starts as a part-time Specialist (sales person).
Employee apples for/gets promoted to full-time Genius position (technical).
Employee takes a position in IT at a non-retail company.
While the in-store career path may be limited by the number of different jobs (sales, technical, training, management), the pay/benefits is outstanding for a retail company, and having it on your resume can be a huge plus.
Nice to see this change. It nice to see how Tim is improving Apple for the better for its employees instead of SJ view that they should just be happy working for Apple.
I guess you clearly missed my point. The policy is there to keep customers from getting angry by employees hoarding products for themselves.
And again, there's nothing stopping employees from buying the retina macs. They just don't get a discount on it, which makes perfect sense for a product in short supply. I don't know why that's so hard for you to understand.
And once supply catches up and stores have the models in stock, and online orders ship right away, they'll probably add that model to this discount program as well. Having to wait a bit to get the discount really isn't a big deal, this program seems extremely fair and generous.
Just want to clear up a few things. I just left Apple a few months ago and was offered the $500 credit.
The $500 is stacked after the 25%. I won't explain why, but that's how it's done if the employee still has a 25% discount for the year.
Tim Cook has not made conditions better for employees. In fact, many of the people I know are leaving after they buy their computer with the $500 credit. They're tired of the launches, little pay and little hours. It's more than likely an attempt at hedging to keep their employees, which is what they're probably doing with the huge raises. Still, many people are tired of not being able to advance within the company. I'm glad I got out of there quickly.
The $500 is stacked after the 25%. I won't explain why, but that's how it's done if the employee still has a 25% discount for the year.
Tim Cook has not made conditions better for employees. In fact, many of the people I know are leaving after they buy their computer with the $500 credit. They're tired of the launches, little pay and little hours. It's more than likely an attempt at hedging to keep their employees, which is what they're probably doing with the huge raises. Still, many people are tired of not being able to advance within the company. I'm glad I got out of there quickly.
I'm saying 'good' because they can't buy them with the discounts, which would further restrain stock on top of them holding retinas for friends, like they're already doing.
I still think it's a dead end job because you can't really move up within Apple. In other words, you aren't going from a retail location to something more corporate. That may be the way Apple operates and of course we all have to advance our careers (which means leaving current companies), but that's what I meant.
Once the friend going to the USA pays import duty and all the taxes, how much do you think does it cost? And I don't know Apple's rules, but in many places you can and will be fired if you use your employee discount to buy for someone else.
Unless things have changed, in addition to 250/500 every 3 years, and 25% every year, they also have the option to buy more Apple kit at 15% discount.
I probably have 90+ days holidays coming to me at this stage.. I wonder...
I probably have 90+ days holidays coming to me at this stage.. I wonder...
I agree with this wholehartedly. I left my Specialist position many years ago feeling the same way. As my colleague once told me "just don't make a career out of it." Glad I'm out too. I couldn't get into PhD school in biosciences by working at an Apple Store. Lol.
Employees have always been required to prove that they still own the product up to a year after purchase, if requested by management. They can be fired if they can't produce the device.Acquire an iPad for under $200? Yeah, none of those are going to end up on eBay
When I worked for Apple retail, there as a huge yearly program Apple corporate did to pull interns in from Apple retail (for corp positions), many leading to corp hires.