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Best place to buy a new iMac?

S

stanw

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 29, 2007
842
5
I qualify for an education discount from Apple, though I do not think it comes out to much. Besides buying directly from Apple:

1. Are there other reputable places I can buy it for less money?
2. Are there any advantages to buying directly from Apple?

Thanks.
 
You can always look at the refurb section on the apple site. That is where we bought our 2 27" 2011 iMACS. They were like new and have the same warranty. And we saved I want to say close to 800 for the two of them.
 
Short of going refurb, the price should be about the same no matter where you go. So if there's a place you can go and not pay tax, then that would be good. But then they probably won't honor the edu discount (I qualify for educators discount, too).

I'm going to just buy through the online Apple store. And I'm going to use PayPal's Bill Me Later. You get 6 months no interest, no payments. I've bought my past two cameras ($2,500 to $3,000 cameras) for work using it, and it's an awesome service. Doesn't go on your credit report, either, from what I understand.

Using the online Apple store, I like that I can go back and pull up my previous purchases. It makes it a little more convenient. This will be the fourth Mac that I've bought (the first one was late 2007).
 
stanw said:
I qualify for an education discount from Apple, though I do not think it comes out to much. Besides buying directly from Apple:

1. Are there other reputable places I can buy it for less money?
2. Are there any advantages to buying directly from Apple?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

The nice thing about buying from Apple is that you can customize it to the max. I always order from the online store because no retail store sells maxed-out Macs.
 
If you plan to order any of the standard configuration models I would recommend Amazon.com. If you are looking for a BTO option then Apple or B&H Photo are your best bet in my opinion. That's one thing I really like about B&H, that you can find custom build units. Both will be tax free purchases as long as you live outside of Washington or New York respectively. This alone offers considerable savings.

Also, with B&H Photo you are unlikely to find lower priced Applecare outside of the Education Discount at Apple (or Ebay, which I would not recommend).

Oh, I see no advantage of buying directly from Apple (other than BTO options, obviously) and you'll always pay sales tax.
 
In the UK, Amazon is offering £109 off the base 27" model.

Which education discount do you qualify. I think mine equated to about 12% - not too bad considering how little Apple usually offers you off the consumer price.
 
Dekard said:
Although no returns on ANY PC or MAC purchases from B&H. So, if you fancy a possible return, don't go through B&H.
Click to expand...

OMG, I'm glad you mentioned this! I had no idea and I bought stuff from them before!

This, in my opinion, eliminates B&H Photo as a viable option.
 
TheyCallMeBT said:
Short of going refurb, the price should be about the same no matter where you go. So if there's a place you can go and not pay tax, then that would be good. But then they probably won't honor the edu discount (I qualify for educators discount, too).

Using the online Apple store, I like that I can go back and pull up my previous purchases. It makes it a little more convenient. This will be the fourth Mac that I've bought (the first one was late 2007).
Click to expand...

I bought a refurb from Apple, and Ididn't pay tax in the end (refunded). If you're tax exempt then you're tax exempt.
 
Oldmanmac said:
I bought a refurb from Apple, and Ididn't pay tax in the end (refunded). If you're tax exempt then you're tax exempt.
Click to expand...

You're not saying that refurbs are tax exempt, are you? So you're tax exempt for some reason?

Granted, I'll get to write this off as a business expense. Which honestly, I still don't fully understand how that works. lol. My brain wants to make me think that it essentially means, once it comes time to pay taxes, that about the same amount as the sales tax that I paid on the item will be deducted from what I owe (unless it reaches $0, which it won't). Anyone want to tell me if I'm more or less on the right track? And yes, I do pay someone to do my taxes. lol.
 
I bought my first Mac on Amazon.com. The computer is exactly the same in any store, so free to get the store that offers the best discount.

On Black Friday, Apple Store matches the price other authorized resellers already give. And there mgiht be even more discount from the resellers...
 
stanw said:
I qualify for an education discount from Apple, though I do not think it comes out to much. Besides buying directly from Apple:

1. Are there other reputable places I can buy it for less money?
2. Are there any advantages to buying directly from Apple?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

Small Dog computer in VT, Expercom in UT ,
 
One advantage of buying from Apple is that you have two weeks to return it even if it is a BTO. I believe no one else will allow a return on a BTO Mac.
 
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