Best Buy to Match Back to School Promo with $100 Store Gift Card

[maclaptop]

It was Jobs himself that made the deal with Best Buy, as Apples largest authorized reseller with over 1400 stores in the USA (Apple has 252).

They offer the same exact promotion with free printer, as Apple does, that's in their agreement with Apple. All Best Buy Stores have the same exact policies and procedures, as approved by Apple.

That said, many people feel better by spending more money in an Apple Store just for fun.

Whatever makes you feel good about yourself, it's only money.

 

[TsMkLg068426]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_7 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8E303 Safari/6533.18.5)

I think I'd rather have the apple gift card

I concur with you, **** Best Buy would never take the risk of buying a Mac from them and I worked there before. I rather take that iTunes/iBook/App Store gift card from apple buy a bunch of **** with no worries.

 

[charlituna]

Eventually I'd use this $100 (possibly $29 for Lion next month, but then that'd be a good reason to wait).

Unnecessary. If you are buying your computer during the promo you qualify for the 'up to date' free upgrade to Lion. Which I am not sure is available for computers bought at other retailers, so I would check that before going to Best Buy etc

As for the folks claiming that Best Buy etc have to match all Apple store promos such as the printer as part of their contracts, no they don't. You can sometimes get your local store to match it if you make it clear to them that not matching means you will walk out to another store to make your purchase, but they are not company mandated to offer you that pricing as standard form.

 

[DCJ001]

BB is an Apple Authorized Reseller ( just to keep the info honest and accurate). In fact, my local BB has an aapl corporate guy (aapl, not BB, employee) stationed in the store.

Pretty sure that they are. http://solutionprofessionals.apple.com/asc/

I was looking at a different list which, now that I look further, is a list of Apple authorized catalog and internet resellers.

I just wanted to ensure that anyone jumping to Best Buy didn't miss out on 10.7.

 

[brandnewfunk]

Best Buy had a sale on the 1799 MBP and it came out to 1705.
Almost an EDU discount.

Yeah, I was gonna mention this earlier. Their (BB's) sale prices are close to EDU as is. For instance, the iMac price is $1159 right now. EDU is $1149. So with the BB sale price, that only leaves you with one promotion to battle for matching: the gift card.

Also, in my area, there are three BBs. I know which ones aren't stingy. haha. And which ones who have the understanding, in-store Apple reps. ;-) If folks don't cooperate, I'll just save my 1,000 bucks and take my ass home. Hell, my computer still works... I'll live

 

[cfedu]

At best buy you can use the GC for a free ATV. It all depends on what you need. $100 off itunes or apps or 100$ off hardware. Not a bad choice.

 

[JamesGorman]

I know Best Buy/ Future Shop(Canada) will match the EDU prices, you just have to "insist" they do it..Trust me, they wont let you walk.

 

[silusesMac]

I rather have the best buy card than the itunes gift card, since i can actually buy things i might want such as a case for my new computer, the itunes card would mostly be useless for me only except the mac app store part.

 

[AmbiguousNinja]

I just bought my Macbook Pro from best buy yesterday I don't want to return my macbook pro just to get the promotion but does anyone think that I can still get it if I go into the store?

 

[mccldwll]

It was Jobs himself that made the deal with Best Buy, as Apples largest authorized reseller with over 1400 stores in the USA (Apple has 252).

They offer the same exact promotion with free printer, as Apple does, that's in their agreement with Apple. All Best Buy Stores have the same exact policies and procedures, as approved by Apple.

That said, many people feel better by spending more money in an Apple Store just for fun.

Whatever makes you feel good about yourself, it's only money.

Sounds good. Too bad not true. Here's BB's printer promo linked to MacBooks:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=pcmcat214300050019&type=category

But whatever makes you feel good about yourself, it's only money.

 

[eochs]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8J2 Safari/6533.18.5)

I can confirm best buy is doing the gift card. I bought my 13" MBP on may 29th, and as reward zone premier silver have a 45 day return period. My wife is a college student. I went in this afternOon with my receipt, and they did a quick return and repurchase giving md the $100 BB gift card! They did say they aren't supposed to do the education price + the card, but the manager did it for me anyway. Now I have a nice new apple tv to go with my MBP and iPad 2 . Btw, the reason they did both is because I had already bought at a lower price, and had I just returned the mbp and bought at the apple store to get both discounts, they would have had to sell my old mbp as open box

 

[brandnewfunk]

I just bought my Macbook Pro from best buy yesterday I don't want to return my macbook pro just to get the promotion but does anyone think that I can still get it if I go into the store?

Generally speaking, if it's their own promotion, you get 30 days after your purchase to receive any promotions/price for which you qualify. I would go in and see. If not the Apple promo, maybe they'll give you the $40/$60 printer thing. idk.

 

[slffl]

Apple deal is definitely better, especially since you get educational pricing. And for the ignorant, iTunes gift cards can be used for anything in the iTunes store, doesn't matter what it says on the card. It's basically money going into your iTunes account.

 

[iMikeT]

Looks like the whambulance came to the rescue of all the whiners.

When I ordered my iMac this week from Apple I got: BTO options, education discount on the iMac itself and on the BTO options (~$130 discount), $100 App Store gift card, and free printer (after rebate).

If I purchased from Best Buy: No BTO options, no education discount, no free printer, and only a $100 gift card that I can use only at Best Buy. Sure, I could use the BB gift card to buy another gift card but the lack of BTO options and no education discount is the deal breaker for me.

I'm still glad I ordered through Apple, with or without any bonuses.

 

[Vudoo]

If you are buying the standard configuration, then Best Buy is better than the Apple BTS deal.

Student Discount Pricing - I have bought a MacBook Pro from Best Buy where they price matched the student discount. If on associate says no, goto a manager or a different store. By the way, Best Buy had a sale last week that almost match the student discount price if you are not a student. I'm sure that they will have that sale again.

Tax - I have to pay tax if I buy it from Best Buy. You will have to pay tax if you buy it from Apple unless you live in a state that has no sales tax.

Free Printer - Best Buy currently offers promotions on discounts on printers so it's almost free. But how many people really need a printer? And technically Apple is offering you a rebate. You have to purchase the printer and pay sales tax on it so it's not really free.

AppleCare Discount - But it separately from Apple

Software Discount - Buy it separately from Apple

I am not a Best Buy employee, but I am a Silver Member and I shop there often because they will price match competitors so I get the price I want and my reward points. Best Buy doesn't install additional software on the Macs as well. I am just surprise that so many people don't do their research.

By the way, I've bought 2 MacBook Pros and one MacBook Air from Best Buy. I've gotten about $300 in reward certificates from Best Buy on those purchases. I've bought one BTO MacBook Pro through Apple and I only got a $100 App/iTunes card.

 

[MarximusMG]

Would take the Best Buy gift card in a heartbeat as opposed to the iTunes one.

 

[londonhogfan]

I can also confirm this is working. I purchased my iMac about 2 weeks ago... I took my receipt to the local store, the transaction was edited and they gave me a $100 best buy card.

 

[surfergirl]

I got the education discount when I purchased my MacBook Pro 13 inch at Best Buy last week ($1099) AND I got the $100 gift card today when I brought my receipt in today.

I think the Best Buy offer is more desirable, personally.

 

[Yumunum]

Apple:

-$50-$200 of the computer
-$100 rebate on printer
-$100 giftcard towards iTunes/iBookstore/Mac AppStore

Best Buy:

-$100 Best Buy giftcard
-???

Do we get anything else? Are there any other factors that should make me want to buy the computer at Best Buy?

 

[neech7]

Hopefully amazon is next.

Apple Store - 10% sales tax
Best Buy - 10% sales tax
Amazon - 10% sales tax

Either I go to an Apple Store in Oregon or it's MacMall on eBay for me. Price I pay for living in the same state as Amazon's headquarters.

 

[Yumunum]

Apple Store - 10% sales tax
Best Buy - 10% sales tax
Amazon - 10% sales tax

Either I go to an Apple Store in Oregon or it's MacMall on eBay for me. Price I pay for living in the same state as Amazon's headquarters.

Haha that's my same situation. I'm going to Oregon because the gas money will still be less than the sales tax. It's worth it if you save $$$

 

[winston1236]

waaa

Thats worse than apple's offer. what does 100 dollars at best buy get you like 1/4 of a printer?

 

[doctor-don]

Hey guys, Ive been following this site since the beginning of the year. First for the mbp, but decided to hold off on that when I heard the new air would be coming out. At first I was happy to hear the best buy promo, but I'm hoping one of the baseline 13" airs is what I want or else I will have to BTO from apple. If the base 13" has 4gb ram and backlit keyboard (not sure it will be included, but if it is I'm hoping for it to be non-bto). Processor and hard drive I don't care about, the 1.86/128 now is fine for my needs and apple won't lower that.

Back on topic, I would much prefer $100 for best buy over $100 in apps.

MacBook and MacBook Pro have $100 educational discount plus free delivery from Apple, MacBook Air is $50 off. The $100 gift card from Apple may not cover all the items one would like to purchase, but BB does not have the education discount.

If the base 13" has 4gb ram ... Check the Apple site for info on what is available on MBA. $100 more for the upgrade to 4GB RAM, $100 more for the upgrade to 1.6GHz processor

 

[craighton]

Is this only if you buy a Mac at BestBuy or what if I purchase from Apple's site?

 

[wilymon]

does this mean I could use the gift card towards Applecare? I need that more than an iPod or a bunch of Mac Store apps.