Apple Pulling iPad 2 from Best Buy?

[kiljoy616]

You really think Best Buy needs to help create a demand? Seriously?

Yes they do, its a company not a religion. Well ven a religion need to hype up the fantasy so why would best buy be any different. Apple does it all the time not with their products but how secretive they are before the program comes out. But once the product is announced they are very good at not causing any artificial shortage. (good boy apple good boy)

On the other hand take your pick of companies from say Cisco to Sony we know months and months ahead what is coming.

Look at HP they put out a really nice UI and interesting tablet probably the only one I really see as wanting yet we have to wait almost 6 months before it comes out. Have you ever seen Apple do something that dumb?

HP should have been ready to sell their product a week or two after announcing and not do the MS$ in the future check out this cool vapor-ware we have coming.

 

[Marlor]

I do not intend to be rude, but there is a difference in HDMI cables, no matter what the Internet tells you. Conductors, shielding materials/layers and the way the connectors are put together are a few differentiators. An AudioQuest Coffee cable, for example, which is several hundred dollars ($600 I believe for a 1.5m) is made of pure silver starting with the tips and going the length of the cable. This is not the same as a no name $5 dollar HDMI cable from Amazon.

That would only make a difference if you are experiencing data corruption on the cheaper cable. However, if a $5 cable transfers all the data without corruption, then the end-result would be no different to what is offered by a $600 cable. Bits are bits, and if they all arrive intact, the cable is, by definition, perfect.

On the other hand, if you have some sort of special needs (e.g. needing a long cable in an area with lots of interference while transferring data with a high bandwidth), then a $5 cable might not be up-to-scratch. But it that is unlikely, so it's worth trying the $5 cable first.

 

[fullmanfullninj]

Did it ever occur to you that perhaps BB take a cut of Apple's share of the profit when they sell an iPad?

Based on what I've seen, BB doesn't take a cut of the profit.

Look at it this way - Apple has to approve a certain retailer to sell their products. Why would they then pay that retailer that they have approved? I admit this isn't a very compelling example.

My point(s) remain that managers are not hoarding iPads to meet their daily budgets and I do not believe BB gets any sort of money from Apple for every sale. Even then, that would not explain the stop-sale. In fact, that would encourage BB to go through their stock...

 

[AlligatorBloodz]

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!

This is not entirely true. The apple tv2 best buy sells for $99 and best buys cost is around $90. Also, best buy honors student discounts on apple products. Apple does not reimburse bby for that. You really think bby is going to pay customers to buy apple products?

Anyway, I hate bby. I used to work there. Few of the employees give a **** about the customer.

 

[fullmanfullninj]

This is not entirely true. The apple tv2 best buy sells for $99 and best buys cost is around $90. Also, best buy honors student discounts on apple products. Apple does not reimburse bby for that. You really think bby is going to pay customers to buy apple products?

Anyway, I hate bby. I used to work there. Few of the employees give a **** about the customer.

Well right now I'm looking at both their online stores. Both sites have the Apple TV @ $99, so... uh.. Lol.
Wait ... I don't think I mentioned Best Buy paying customers to buy Apple products. I don't fully understand your post :/

 

[gnasher729]

So quotas are done on a daily basis and not a weekly basis? WOW. And I thought the quarterly earning reports made companies make bad decisions.

You have to remember that the people setting up these quotas are not the brightest. We had reports here of sales people who would not sell you stuff because selling it means they miss their quota.

Say the quota is "you have to sell one extended warranty and one HDMI cable for every PS3 sold". If the sales person is just reaching his quota, and you want to give the store real money for two PS3 without any warranty and without any HDMI cable, that sale would make him miss his quota, so he'll pretend the devices are not in stock. What's to blame is the guy setting up idiotic targets, where the sales person has to do things that are bad both for the shop and the customer to meet his targets.

 

[gnasher729]

On the other hand, if you have some sort of special needs (e.g. needing a long cable in an area with lots of interference while transferring data with a high bandwidth), then a $5 cable might not be up-to-scratch. But it that is unlikely, so it's worth trying the $5 cable first.

Well, I can't run my 1920x1200 monitor at that resolution on my MBP with a £5 mini-dvi to DVI adapter, only up to 1600x1200 Had to buy the Apple one. Still worth the attempt.

 

[AlligatorBloodz]

Well right now I'm looking at both their online stores. Both sites have the Apple TV @ $99, so... uh.. Lol.
Wait ... I don't think I mentioned Best Buy paying customers to buy Apple products. I don't fully understand your post :/

What don't you get. Best buy gets the ATV2 from apple for $90, then sells it for $99. The same price apple sells it for. Best buy makes $10 or less on every atv2 they sell.

Also my point about the student discount was it wouldn't make sense for best buy to honor it if they lost money. It would make more sense not to sell it.

 

[Ivan P]

Well right now I'm looking at both their online stores. Both sites have the Apple TV @ $99, so... uh.. Lol.
Wait ... I don't think I mentioned Best Buy paying customers to buy Apple products. I don't fully understand your post :/

I think what they're saying is it costs Best Buy (and I guess other resellers) $90 for each AppleTV unit they order in - and they sell it for Apple's set price of $99, meaning they make a measly $9 profit from the sale of one unit. They didn't mean that they are selling the unit to the consumer themselves for $90.

Edit. Original poster replied saying the exact same thing

 

[remboursemoi11]

I heard galaxy tab is better than Ipad. Is it true??

 

[HBOC]

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

Really? C'mon. Most Best Buys don't even have an employee maning the Apple section.

Not saying this story is true or false but Best Buy employs non-commissioned based sales staff. There are no quotas to speak of. This is a public company and sales quotas would be accessible to stockholders.



I do not intend to be rude, but there is a difference in HDMI cables, no matter what the Internet tells you. Conductors, shielding materials/layers and the way the connectors are put together are a few differentiators. An AudioQuest Coffee cable, for example, which is several hundred dollars ($600 I believe for a 1.5m) is made of pure silver starting with the tips and going the length of the cable. This is not the same as a no name $5 dollar HDMI cable from Amazon.

That is a little extreme. I can see perhaps there is a difference in a cable that is longer than 10 feet, but really I will not spend more than $4 on a cable. If you can afford a $600 HDMI 3 FOOT cable and are conscious when you buy it (meaning you are willingly being bent over w/o lube), than who cares. Most people that buy those cables have a theatre room, and I am not talking 20x15 rooms. Monster needs to go out of business...

 

[AlligatorBloodz]

I heard galaxy tab is better than Ipad. Is it true??

Technically it is a safer product. No one is going to mug you for your galaxy tab.

 

[AppleScruff1]

I heard galaxy tab is better than Ipad. Is it true??

It's way better. Better get one while you still can.

 

[fullmanfullninj]

I think what they're saying is it costs Best Buy (and I guess other resellers) $90 for each AppleTV unit they order in - and they sell it for Apple's set price of $99, meaning they make a measly $9 profit from the sale of one unit. They didn't mean that they are selling the unit to the consumer themselves for $90.

Edit. Original poster replied saying the exact same thing

Hm, I see what you're saying. I will have to double check for iPad sales. As far as I know, however, they do not contribute toward meeting daily budgets.

 

[weckart]

Really? C'mon. Most Best Buys don't even have an employee maning the Apple section.

Our local BB has an Apple employee looking after the Apple section. There is no way it could pull any stunt in breach of Apple's agreement with BB without Apple's finding out.

Maybe things are different in the US.

 

[EvilEvil]

Why anyone would buy anything from Best Buy (no matter what they purchase there) is beyond me.

 

[indisguise]

Hmm

Many Best Buys with Apple Shoppes have Apple representatives who work right at the store, I doubt they would let this happen at their store. I wonder how many Best Buys have done this

 

[rfahey]

Wow. I bought mine at Best Buy on opening day and they sold out of them. Why in anybody's right mind would best buy not sell what they have?

You only "think" they sold out. If this is what they were practicing all along they probably had like 3 weeks rations.

 

[ServiceTag]

These BB guys were making some odd and strange excuses for low stock. Made me run around on many occasions. They shouldn't be allowed to sell iPad. Apple take them away from these jack**s. You deserve it!!!!

Agree 100%. I wish BB goes out of business. Went 3x into different stores after I called and got confirmation they got shipment. Every time same stupid excuse - we can't sell it because of pre-orders, however we don't take pre-orders any more!?
In my area most BB managers are just bunch of corporate wanna be idiots....

 

[chrono1081]

This is a victory for all the elitist fanboys who think that Apple products should only be sold in Apple Stores in upscale shopping areas.

You know that no one thinks that way right? I never understood all of these "fanboy" posts saying things that these mysterious "fanyboys" that I've never seen supposedly say.

 

[camelsnot]

You know that no one thinks that way right? I never understood all of these "fanboy" posts saying things that these mysterious "fanyboys" that I've never seen supposedly say.

You must not frequent Apple forums. There are quite a few people who think Apple can do no wrong and twist their own morals and thoughts to justify things that Apple does in these forums. They think they are Apple's personal crusaders. It's sad really, that some people can't think for themselves and they're so blinded by a tech company who could give two craps about them at the end of the day. While Apple does some good things for customers, it's not because they care. It's because they know by doing that, these customers will return. It's simple business, and $teve Job$ is a business and marketing god.

Good on Apple for keeping people so mentally invested in their company. It's a testament to the power of perception and lack of mental clarity from some of its consumers.

Charge on, Apple.

 

[Yorr]

Every day Apple stores get shipments of iPads....but they don't sell them when the arrive. They hold them for the line that forms the next morning.

Seems odd to me. Like they are purposely making a spectacle in front of the store every morning.

This morning the store I went to had NO AT&T models?!?!?! So tomorrow morning there will be yet another line of those that failed today (including myself).

On topic, I called Best Buy and was told that unless I pre-ordered before the day of the sale, I could not get an iPad 2. My co-worker walked in last week off the street and purchased one. Why the inconsistent message? I don't get it.

That is the marketing strategy of Apple, right? Like they spread rumors so news websites / forums like this spread the fire. Great technique for just a few bucks of marketing. Very interesting! Looking at myself.. i am waiting for the new iMac. I do not know if it will come, I only know that they update the models somewhere in May. They haven't done anything yet to turn on the marketing machine for the new iMac, but there are already people thrilled to buy one becouse all the rumors and waiting without having any information.

We are the marketing of Apple. They know how to do this as no other company can. It is a choice if u want to be a part of it.

 

[Michael383]

Many Best Buys with Apple Shoppes have Apple representatives who work right at the store, I doubt they would let this happen at their store. I wonder how many Best Buys have done this

The Best Buy I bought my MBP at was in an Apple Shop and had a great representitive in it. Dan was great and could not have been more helpful. I hope the first time I visit a Apple store I have a similar experience.

 

[Dalton63841]

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

This guy has a firm understanding of how retail chains work. This is EXACTLY the case and how MOST major chains operate.

 

[KnightWRX]

So no one is questionning this rumor at all ? We're just to accept as fact that "apparently" based on the sayings of "one guy who works at BB with pimples on his face says" ?

Before everyone jumps the gun and says "BB sucks! They deserve this!" can we at least get some kind of confirmation ? After all, they still advertise them on the web :

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Apple&#...hite/2341061.p?id=1218321299972&skuId=2341061

Or since there's a rumor these guys might have "slighted" Apple, we are to immediately and blindly follow in the witch burning ? Macrumors, the objectivity astounds.