is it possible to bargan with the sale people at the retail stores or on the phone? will they give you a discount
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barganing with sales peeps
- Thread starter dudewheresmymac
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I was able to negotiate a price match with CompUSA. I went to go see the new powerbooks at the time and told them I plan to purchase from Apple using my wifes teacher discount. The manager then told me he would match the price to buy from him. Wasn't a bad deal, but i didn't necessarily get a better price. Just got my powerbook faster.
whenever i go i make an attempt to bargain..always denied. Or I'll ask if there are any unmarked boxes in the back, again denied.
Do the words "carved in stone" mean anything to you?
You might be able to get a deal from a reseller given the right circumstances. If you were buying in bulk (think Virginia Tech) you might get a deal from Apple.
You might be able to get a deal from a reseller given the right circumstances. If you were buying in bulk (think Virginia Tech) you might get a deal from Apple.
Yeah, Apple is firm on their price. However, you can bring in adds from MacMall or MacZone or any of these other resellers with "free" RAM offers and Apple sometimes will try and throw something extra in. Just don't go in expecting it.
thats strange because i read a post about a guy who was able to get a refurb price on a new g5... it went something like him asking when refurbs were coming in and the saleslady giving him a new one for the same price
I sincerely doubt it
I think he was just yanking your chain, trying to make it look like he got a better deal than he did (or you could). I got a refurb G5, and were it not for the plain brown box instead of the really cool box, you would never know. The keyboard, mouse and manuals were all wrapped like new, no scratches, dings, fingerprints or any other signs of being "used." Even the machine booted with the "first time boot" stuff.
I would ask if you can have a copy of his invoice so that you can use it to get someone to match the deal. That will call him out without making it look like you don't trust his word.
I think he was just yanking your chain, trying to make it look like he got a better deal than he did (or you could). I got a refurb G5, and were it not for the plain brown box instead of the really cool box, you would never know. The keyboard, mouse and manuals were all wrapped like new, no scratches, dings, fingerprints or any other signs of being "used." Even the machine booted with the "first time boot" stuff.
I would ask if you can have a copy of his invoice so that you can use it to get someone to match the deal. That will call him out without making it look like you don't trust his word.
inside advice from ex-CompUSA rep
Worked at CompUSA for 2 yrs. Here's some inside advice:
You will only be able to negotiate on discontinued models or refurbs/demos. A new system that id not EOL has on average a $50-100 markup (Apple is slightly higher, but not much... in fact an EDU discount price is probably equal or less than what CompUSA pays as COST for one of these machines).
Even on demos/refurbs/EOL systems they will not budge on the price by much. Odds are they will throw in their extended warranty for free instead, since the sales people get a higher commission off the warranty than the computer (6% vs. 1%... they end up taking the price of the warranty off the computer, but you must buy both... so you get a computer for $200 less, but you have to buy a $200 warranty).
Sometimes they will throw in a free surge protector or laptop bag because they have more markup than the computer.
Discontinued systems at CompUSA are marked as D65 or D66 in their system as an inventory code. But really old discontinued systems get changed to a P99 status (a new system is usually A01, A02, A05). A P99 system is one where the retail cost of the system has been changed in their computer to $0.01. They can sell it for whatever they want. They will usually sell these to a liquidator twice a year for about $0.20 on the dollar of the original cost. Employees get first pick at these, so if you get a job at CompUSA you can buy these uber-cheap. My Dual 450 G4 cost me $600 (with a free 3 yr extended warranty) only 1 year after it came out.... hell, it is faster now with OS X than the new 667 and 733 single processor systems Apple was pushing at the time. They usually won't sell these P99 systems to the public, but if you know the salesperson pretty well then it never hurts to ask if they have some. Hell, ask anyway... the worst they can do is say NO.
I quit CompUSA 2 years ago so this might have changed. Walked in there a few months ago and had trouble even finding a computer... "Where did all these TVs and DVD players come from? I didn't know this was Best Buy!"
dudewheresmymac said:
Worked at CompUSA for 2 yrs. Here's some inside advice:
You will only be able to negotiate on discontinued models or refurbs/demos. A new system that id not EOL has on average a $50-100 markup (Apple is slightly higher, but not much... in fact an EDU discount price is probably equal or less than what CompUSA pays as COST for one of these machines).
Even on demos/refurbs/EOL systems they will not budge on the price by much. Odds are they will throw in their extended warranty for free instead, since the sales people get a higher commission off the warranty than the computer (6% vs. 1%... they end up taking the price of the warranty off the computer, but you must buy both... so you get a computer for $200 less, but you have to buy a $200 warranty).
Sometimes they will throw in a free surge protector or laptop bag because they have more markup than the computer.
Discontinued systems at CompUSA are marked as D65 or D66 in their system as an inventory code. But really old discontinued systems get changed to a P99 status (a new system is usually A01, A02, A05). A P99 system is one where the retail cost of the system has been changed in their computer to $0.01. They can sell it for whatever they want. They will usually sell these to a liquidator twice a year for about $0.20 on the dollar of the original cost. Employees get first pick at these, so if you get a job at CompUSA you can buy these uber-cheap. My Dual 450 G4 cost me $600 (with a free 3 yr extended warranty) only 1 year after it came out.... hell, it is faster now with OS X than the new 667 and 733 single processor systems Apple was pushing at the time. They usually won't sell these P99 systems to the public, but if you know the salesperson pretty well then it never hurts to ask if they have some. Hell, ask anyway... the worst they can do is say NO.
I quit CompUSA 2 years ago so this might have changed. Walked in there a few months ago and had trouble even finding a computer... "Where did all these TVs and DVD players come from? I didn't know this was Best Buy!"