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Apple Pulling iPad 2 from Best Buy?

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Well what happened is the following. They received ipads earlier this week. Didn't sell them because the Sunday ad has that Best Buy will have them in stock. Due to bait and switch laws if the ad has it they have to have a certain amount of stock. Apple didn't like it that we didn't sell through them any way and pull the add.
 
notjustjay said:
I wouldn't be surprised. The quota explanation was given already, but they might also be holding back stock of the cheaper models in order to drive more sales of the higher end ones. "Oh, you wanted the 16 gig wifi model? Sorry, all sold out. But we do have this lovely 64 gig 3G version. If you really want the iPad 2, this is your big chance... it's only a little bit more..."

That happened to me, almost, when I bought the original iPad from Best Buy here in Canada on our launch day last year. The guy almost smirked when he said, sorry, the 16 gig ones were all sold out, but they had plenty of the 64 gig models. Luckily I persisted and he managed to find one more 16 gig, the last one! How lucky was that! :rolleyes:
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Was able to get 16gb at Best Buy, CANNOT get 64gb here.
 
Best Buy is a strange store. It is the only place where you can be told a computer with an i3 and 8 gbs of ram is better then a MBP simply because it has a picture of an alien on it. Best Buys tech people are fun to talk to because they are normally so wrong and they are the reason for the stupid PC and Mac "Fanboy" arguements. When they want to sell a product they will do all that is in their power to do so.

If the store favors apple they will tell people that every single PC will get a virus and they will need to get really expensive anti-virus that needs to be updated five times a day. If the Store is Bias against apple then macs are incapable of doing PC things such as Word processing. Got to love Best Tards
 
To be fair - Apple themselves were doing the same thing - in the UK at least.

I experienced, on a number of occasions, Apple Stores actually had stock in store available for reservation, but were forcing an entirely unnecessary, half an hour 'unboxing and setup' appointment.

With only a few of these slots available - more often than not - the store would have plenty of iPad 2 stock available, but no appointments, so reservations were stopped and Apple Staff denying (and laughing in my face) that they had any remaining stock.
 
matt.smith said:
To be fair - Apple themselves were doing the same thing - in the UK at least.

I experienced, on a number of occasions, Apple Stores actually had stock in store available for reservation, but were forcing an entirely unnecessary, half an hour 'unboxing and setup' appointment.

With only a few of these slots available - more often than not - the store would have plenty of iPad 2 stock available, but no appointments, so reservations were stopped and Apple Staff denying (and laughing in my face) that they had any remaining stock.
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I dislike Apple staff everywhere except Japan.
 
matt.smith said:
To be fair - Apple themselves were doing the same thing - in the UK at least.

I experienced, on a number of occasions, Apple Stores actually had stock in store available for reservation, but were forcing an entirely unnecessary, half an hour 'unboxing and setup' appointment.
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That just defies all reason. I mean it's not like they need to create more demand for these things.
 
Wal-Mart

As long as Wal-Mart still carries the iPad 2... all is right with the world...

Oh, and Toys-R-Us... I think there is one of those around me.

:D
 
also

bestbuy (and futureshop..same company) insist apple purchasers buy their own over priced ****** extended warranty on apple products. I'm not sure its allowed by apple or not but it seems a bit shady. I hate shopping in those places.
 
What happened wasn't something Bestbuy corporate said to do. It was something each stores individual manager decided to do. Why? Who knows.

Most BestBuy stores who have a SWAS (Store within a store) Apple Store also have a representative from Apple manning the area. This Rep. sells their product and has knowledge on inventory. I would imagine that their improvement rate depends on how much Apple product is sold through their location. Possibly how this got back to Apple....
 
I also don't think brick and mortar stores are dying, just certain types that are easy to purchase same product online like movies, toys, known products that don't need to be checked out.

The average person buying a computer is still not that computer bright like the average Macrumors member.

And there will always be people looking to check out and play with new technology in person.

When Amazon can pull that rabbit out of a hat then I'll admit brick & mortar is done. So far brick and mortar is only done for content sales which can be checked out online and various new ways.

I don't think anybody's going to be buying a lawn tractor or big screen TV on Amazon anytime soon.

Hell, even my success rate buying computers on Ebay has always been sketchy even. About 30% of the time, the items showed up damaged in shipping due to poor packaging. That's why I believe most general consumers will always go brick and mortar for more expensive things that could easily be damaged in shipping.
 
Best Buy made reservations on the iPad. When I went in and said they have several instock, he checked on the computer. They said they had 5 but it was all for reserved customers that put $100 down in the first place.
 
Ipad2 = huge demand, people keep calling, going into best buy daily to check to see if any r in. BB maybe is hoping while your there u will buy some games, blu rays, etc. Then come back when the iPad is in stock, the higher demand, the more likely people will get down and pissed and spend money on other items to take their mind off of waiting for their iPad 2. You create a demand that's already there (key apple stores and website delays) and make the delay longer, customers will keep coming in! Look at the Wii when it first was out and people lined for one! And the whole bb quota I truly believe, the higher ups want to see the daily numbers and if they see an average of let's say they sell 20 a day plus other crap, the higher ups r happy, who knows I could be completely off, but thats just my 2 cents. Either BB has always been shady!
 
brewser said:
You are an idiot to believe any of that. BB wants to save stock for their Sunday ads. That is the drive to bring customers in. They do this with any limited product. It's their nature. They need a certain number that matches their ad. They will tell you they are out of stock but they are waiting for Sunday.
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Oh, so I'm an idiot to believe any of that and you're an idiot to believe OTHER chains don't do the same thing?

HAHA! Thank You! You made me laugh. :D
 
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I was at BB yesterday and inquired about buying one. They has them but the manager wouldn't sell me one. He refuses to tell me why and I was told that he was instructed to hault sales temporarily. Hmmm
 
CIA said:
As best as I can figure, it works like this. Managers get good grades if they sell certain amounts of products.

I'll use low numbers here. Let's say BB corporate wants you to sell at least 5 iPads a day to make your "Quota". One day, 10 iPads come in. You sell all ten, yay, you made quota for the day.

But the next day, none get shipped to the store. So, boo, you didn't make quota, since you didn't have any to sell.

So, if you get 10 the day after that, & not knowing if more are coming tomorrow, you sell 5, make quota, and hold the other 5 for the next day when, low and behold, none get shipped to the store. You still have 5 left over to sell, which you do, and again you make quota for the day.

Basically the more days you make quota, the happier BB corporate is, and the better chance Mr. Manager gets a bonus down the road.

Mr. Manager
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This plus...

If you sell X amount of product in the 1st quarter of this year your target for 1st quarter of the next year is based upon the previous years take, so say next year a large product is not released in the first quarter your sales year on year will be down.

By easing product out across the days and weeks the best Buy managers are securing their target figures for the following years year on year targets.

The managers bonus's are based upon % performance above sales. So if you are able to massage your sales you are effectively able to manage your expected performance against target figures.

It's called cooking the books, and technically it is illegal.

I used to be in management for HMV so I know of what I speak.
 
jdminpdx said:
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I was at BB yesterday and inquired about buying one. They has them but the manager wouldn't sell me one. He refuses to tell me why and I was told that he was instructed to hault sales temporarily. Hmmm
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He does not have to tell you anything... in fact if he did his job would be on the line.
 
WTF??? I have a ********** credit I've been wanting to use at BB for an iPad2 since before it even came out. They sold out so fast I've been waiting for the restock, and now this? F%*$#!!!!:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:
 
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Amazing Iceman said:
Weird... I think there's more involved in this than we can imagine.

One thing that comes to my mind is the possibility they were holding their stock to sell it outside the country, as there's been a high demand and higher value to sell overseas.

Or... a competitor made an arrangement with Be$t Buy to sell a minimum quota a day (well... very odd, but possible) for who knows what reason.

It's a strange concept on BB's part, but if I had a store I would sell all my stock if there's a demand for it. If I hold off, my customers would be driven away to a competitor and I would loose both present and future sales.
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When Apple tv2 came out, google paid bby to not sell it so google tv could get a head start
 
coolbreeze said:
I'll pile on here.

I hate Best Buy.

I miss Circuit City.

I wish there was a Frys in Utah.

There, I feel better. I hope this place suffers. I hate Best Buy.
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Fry's is way WORSE than Best Buy. All those tools are on commission, whereas BB they are not, although BOTH locations have equally clueless people. And their prices are not that great, and there is NO sales tax here in Oregon. They won't even match Amazon or Newegg. No one sells for less than those two... Not missing much my man.. and don't get me started on the "build it yourself PC section and TV section...
 
Just to let y'all know, unless someone else knows otherwise, Best Buy makes zero off Apple product sales (that haven't been marked up).

I read this thread and I noted that someone pointed out that BB apparently marks up some items -Airports, Time Machines, etc. I found this odd since Apple controls all the pricing, but eh, not going to question that since those are the facts I'm assuming (can't be bothered to go on a comparing spree).

Anyway, the iPad 2s aren't marked up, thus they make zero.
Each department should be meeting their budget daily. How do they do that? By selling products they make notional margin and that allows that department to meet their budget. On a slow, sh-tty day, a department may only be 70% to budget; on a fast, awesome day, a department may be 110% to budget.

But when you make zero off iPad sales, keeping them away from customers does not help notional margin. Doesn't bring them any closer to hitting budget. The only way they'd make money on that iPad sale would be selling accessories or the Black Tie protection. But that's entirely something else.
Best Buy makes zero notional margin on iPad sales, so they're not withholding stock to meet daily budgets.

I can't explain why they're doing this, but given my knowledge, I can invalidate the claim that managers are hoarding iPads so that they can meet budget every day.

Cheers! :D
 
fullmanfullninj said:
Anyway, the iPad 2s aren't marked up, thus they make zero.

Best Buy makes zero notional margin on iPad sales, so they're not withholding stock to meet daily budgets.
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Did it ever occur to you that perhaps BB take a cut of Apple's share of the profit when they sell an iPad?
 
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