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Buying a mac with uni discount

R

ri0ku

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Mar 11, 2009
952
0
Is it illegal to buy a mac for someone (my girlfriend) using HER uni discount but me paying with my money?

The guy from apple on the phone didn't seem to say anything when I said I would be buying it for her.

If I did this using her uni discount, would I be able to use the machine too? or in a years time could she give it to me if she got a newer model ? or is that illegal?
 
If you qualify for the education discount, you can do anything with your Mac after you buy it. The discount applies to purchasing only, not selling or giving a Mac to someone else. Once you own it, you own it.
 
lol, its not illegal. There are no Apple police that are going to arrest you for this.
 
If you want to make it perfectly legal, there should be an agreement that she will be the full owner of the computer. But I don't think they will make a big fuzz about it ...
 
TjeuV said:
If you want to make it perfectly legal, there should be an agreement that she will be the full owner of the computer.
Click to expand...
No such agreement is necessary. There is nothing in Apple's policies that restrict a buyer from giving or selling their Mac to anyone. It's perfectly legal and ethical to do so.
 
GGJstudios said:
It doesn't matter. There is no "contract" between a Mac buyer and Apple that says anything about what they will do with their computer.
Click to expand...

Ok, I'll try to explain it to you ...
Person A wants to buy a computer for B from C

C offers a student discount to students.
B is a student and has right for a student discount.
A is not a student and has no right for a student discount.

A is possible to fund B a computer with discount if B is going to be the full owner. When you want to make it perfectly legal, there's a simple contract for that.

but again ... I'm talking strictly legal but I guess you missed that in my first reply. As I also stated in my first reply: They won't make a big fuzz about it ... but as it turns out, you will.
 
TjeuV said:
A is possible to fund B a computer with discount if B is going to be the full owner. When you want to make it perfectly legal, there's a simple contract for that.
Click to expand...
There is no contract. Period. Parents pay for Macs bought by students under the EDU discount. Students buy Macs under EDU and give them to parents or sell them when they're through with them. It makes no difference at all. The only requirement Apple makes is that you qualify for the discount at the time of purchase. It makes no difference where the money came from or where the computer goes or who owns it or who uses it. None. There is no contract of any kind involved. There is no legal issue involved, whatsoever.
 
GGJstudios said:
There is no contract. Period. Parents pay for Macs bought by students under the EDU discount. Students buy Macs under EDU and give them to parents or sell them when they're through with them. It makes no difference at all. The only requirement Apple makes is that you qualify for the discount at the time of purchase. It makes no difference where the money came from or where the computer goes or who owns it or who uses it. None. There is no contract of any kind involved. There is no legal issue involved, whatsoever.
Click to expand...

Ever heard that a contract isn't required to be a piece of paper ?
I'm mastering in Law and studied the three party contracts very well. So please ... give it a break
 
TjeuV said:
Ever heard that a contract isn't required to be a piece of paper ?
I'm mastering in Law and studied the three party contracts very well. So please ... give it a break
Click to expand...
I figured you were a law school student, trying to display what you're beginning to learn. :rolleyes: There is no law or contract, verbal or written, express or implied, involved in this thread's topic. So please, go back to your homework.
 
http://store.apple.com/us_edu_29846/open/salespolicies/edu

Higher Education - Faculty and staff of Higher Education institutions in the United States; and students attending, or accepted into a Higher Education institution in the United States are eligible to purchase. Purchases from the Apple Store for Education Individuals are not for institutional purchase or resale.
Click to expand...

A little ambiguous if that means purchases can't be resold by institutions only or by the education individual who did the original purchase... but regardless, there is a sales 'contract' and they reserve the right to audit your purchase.

But then again, I've never heard of anyone getting audited and people abuse the system all the time.
 
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; CPU iPhone OS 5_0_1 like Mac OS X) AppleWebKit/534.46 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.1 Mobile/9A405 Safari/7534.48.3)

Guys I spoke with Apple, they confirmed someone can buy the mac using student discount and give the machine to someone else who is not a student etc.
 
KylePowers said:
Purchases from the Apple Store for Education Individuals are not for institutional purchase or resale.
Click to expand...

A little ambiguous if that means purchases can't be resold by institutions only or by the education individual who did the original purchase... but regardless, there is a sales 'contract' and they reserve the right to audit your purchase.
Click to expand...
That is not what's being discussed in this thread. That simply means an institution or reseller business can't hide their purchases behind a student, to gain the discount. It does not in any way restrict a student from giving or selling their Mac to anyone. Apple can audit the purchase only to the extent that they ensure that the buyer meets the qualifications for the discount. It doesn't give them the right to audit what the student does with their computer, once the purchase is completed.
ri0ku said:
Guys I spoke with Apple, they confirmed someone can buy the mac using student discount and give the machine to someone else who is not a student etc.
Click to expand...
Exactly!
 
GGJstudios said:
The only requirement Apple makes is that you qualify for the discount at the time of purchase. It makes no difference where the money came from or where the computer goes or who owns it or who uses it. None. There is no contract of any kind involved. There is no legal issue involved
Click to expand...

To caveat this slightly, UK students should note this is not the case here. There is a requirement in Apple's UK T&Cs that the device is intended to be used by a student at the time of purchase (they can sell on later though). If a student purchased a device knowing it would immediately go to a friend then that would breach the terms. What Apple would do, if anything, if they found out is another matter.

More specifically on the OPs point, another person can by on a student's behalf though (eg parents, for a gift etc). Best to do over the phone in the UK to get the benefit of the three year warranty. Details in my sig.
 
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Depending on the employees and the buyers, they might not even bother checking for a school ID. It's also not entirely unusual for people to haggle non-EDU purchases down to the same price :)
 
Do it.

ri0ku said:
Is it illegal to buy a mac for someone (my girlfriend) using HER uni discount but me paying with my money?

The guy from apple on the phone didn't seem to say anything when I said I would be buying it for her.

If I did this using her uni discount, would I be able to use the machine too? or in a years time could she give it to me if she got a newer model ? or is that illegal?
Click to expand...

Not at all.

I did exactly this when getting my new iMac. My girlfriend came with me to the Apple Store, she presented her student ID to get the discount and I paid for it.

Don't feel bad or worry about it - I saved a fortune doing this, and the Apple Store staff didn't seem to mind at all.
 
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They also don't really verify online purchases, although they did verify ADC student memberships lol.
 
I don't know anyone personally who has paid full price for a Mac. Either haggle on phone or get someone with a Student card to help buy you one.

I bought my last Macbook at the local store, took my student friend along and told the Apple guy I was buying for myself and got a nice discount. He didn't care one bit.

I just don't get the RAGE displayed by those who feel ethically superior who say its wrong. Why do you care at all?
 
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