Buying Macbook Pro from a physical store in US

[emir]

Hey everyone, finally a friend of mine is going to USA on the 18th of June and i will ask for a Macbook Pro. My questions are;

1)He is going to Chicago, are there Apple Stores there? Sorry for ignorance i am living thousands of miles away from the states.

2)Where else can he buy for the exact same price except Apple Store? Best buy etc...

3) Can he use his credit card that is non-american. I mean the billing address and all is to Turkey, but it's international(visa,mastercard) You don't need an American citizenship or an american credit card to buy something from the Apple Store right? I heard you needed that on the iPhone forum. I am afraid that he will not be able to buy it.

FYI: He has both citizenships for USA and Turkey. He has two citizenships.

 

[old-wiz]

For buying a MacBook/MacBook Pro, no problem. BestBuy is a place to avoid. Plenty of Apple stores in Chicago - go to the Apple.com website and do store locator

 

[McMoronic]

Buying MacBook

Yes, your friend can but it from the Michigan Ave Apple Store if he wants. You could try for the education discount and BTS if you want. Best buy will take off $100 to match it but its not worth it. Sales tax is among the highest in Illinois so that's gonna suck for you. Good luck with your purchase

 

[flyinfry]

What is the reason not to buy from Best Buy? Unless you want to custom order one then you need to go through Apple. Besides Geek Squad is worthless. If it is the same price and Apple is providing the warranty what does it matter? One advantage I see is if you want 0% interest for 18 months Best Buy is the only place I have seen that offers that.

 

[emir]

Yes, your friend can but it from the Michigan Ave Apple Store if he wants. You could try for the education discount and BTS if you want. Best buy will take off $100 to match it but its not worth it. Sales tax is among the highest in Illinois so that's gonna suck for you. Good luck with your purchase

oh my, illinois has the highest tax rate? So how much is going to be the 1800$ Macbook pro gonna be?

by the way i found a free way to buy a free ipad You have to live in Turkey like i do though You are going to buy 2 iPads, 16GB Wifi only from Usa, which is 1000$ which is 1500 Turkish Liras. Then you are going to come back home to Turkey, use one and sell one on Turkish eBay(www.gittigidiyor.com) for 1500 Turkish Liras(they actually buy, go check it out) and voila, your iPad is free

if i ever go to USA for a vacation i will do this.

 

[bigjobby]

I heard you needed that on the iPhone forum. I am afraid that he will not be able to buy it.

I don't think purchasing a computer would be a problem with a foreign card. iPhones, I would have thought, would be different as you'd be paying for a pay-as-you-go or monthly contract on top of the phone so the retailer would need some kind of confidence they'll be getting all their future payments.

If you want confirmation, why not contact Apple?

 

[McMoronic]

haha congrats on figuring out a free iPad. Well the tax rate is about 8%. If your friend is in the US for a while, some states (not illinois but wisc) have tax free days so you can get it tax free but thats in like august i think.

 

[Aboo]

oh my, illinois has the highest tax rate? So how much is going to be the 1800$ Macbook pro gonna be?

by the way i found a free way to buy a free ipad You have to live in Turkey like i do though You are going to buy 2 iPads, 16GB Wifi only from Usa, which is 1000$ which is 1500 Turkish Liras. Then you are going to come back home to Turkey, use one and sell one on Turkish eBay(www.gittigidiyor.com) for 1500 Turkish Liras(they actually buy, go check it out) and voila, your iPad is free

if i ever go to USA for a vacation i will do this.

Yes, but the iPads are a hot commodity right now, so the likelihood that you or your friend will walk out of the Apple Store with 2 16GB WiFi iPads is actually quite slim. There is still a 7-10 business day lead time for them.

Regarding your initial questions - you can pay with any credit card, as long as its Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. I am not sure if Apple accepts Discover or Diners Club. If you are purchasing the item in the store, then your billing address is irrelevant. The employee will usually just check for identification and make sure the signature matches

Some other locations where your friend can buy the basic (i.e. non-custom configured macbook pro) would be Best Buy, Microcenter, etc. I know a lot of the forum members here don't like Best Buy, but this is usually because they have poor customer service and their sales people try to sell you a lot of things that you don't actually need. Moreover, Best Buy is also expensive (more so than other online retailers) and so people who live in the US have the luxury of being able to order electronics online for a lot cheaper.

Some advice that I can give you is the following - will your friend be staying at a hotel for the duration of his trip? (i.e. will he have a mailing address in the US where he can recieve packages?) If so, the cheapest way for you to buy the macbook pro might be from Macmall or Amazon. I know Amazon accepts international credit cards (i.e. those with billing addresses outside the US). So you may be able to just have the item purchased online and shipped to his address. Amazon's price is usually cheaper than Apple's own price, and usually online retailers don't charge tax unless they have representation in that state.

For example, from the Amazon.com website,

"Items sold by Amazon.com LLC, or its subsidiaries, and shipped to destinations in the states of Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, or Washington are subject to tax."

This means that if you buy from Amazon.com and ship it to an address in Illionois, you don't have to pay sales tax.

You can check out the AI pricing guide here to find the cheapest price from an Authorized Apple Retailer:

http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/

 

[aznguyen316]

What is the reason not to buy from Best Buy? Unless you want to custom order one then you need to go through Apple. Besides Geek Squad is worthless. If it is the same price and Apple is providing the warranty what does it matter? One advantage I see is if you want 0% interest for 18 months Best Buy is the only place I have seen that offers that.

I don't see a problem buying from Best Buy either. You get the same applecare warranty, if you're buying at a B&M retail store tax is the same as in BB or apple store.

My GF bought her MB from a Best Buy and with us being Premier Silver members, we got 45 day return window + no restocking fee -- which we put to use 42 days later to return the old plastic whitebook to the newer "unibody whitebook" when it released, no restocking fee, no problems. Also you get reward points.. Spending $1000 gave us another $25 to spend a month later.

When we have a problem, then we just go to the local Apple Store for the genius bar. Haven't had issues with that!

 

[emir]

Yes, but the iPads are a hot commodity right now, so the likelihood that you or your friend will walk out of the Apple Store with 2 16GB WiFi iPads is actually quite slim. There is still a 7-10 business day lead time for them.

Regarding your initial questions - you can pay with any credit card, as long as its Visa, Mastercard, or American Express. I am not sure if Apple accepts Discover or Diners Club. If you are purchasing the item in the store, then your billing address is irrelevant. The employee will usually just check for identification and make sure the signature matches

Some other locations where your friend can buy the basic (i.e. non-custom configured macbook pro) would be Best Buy, Microcenter, etc. I know a lot of the forum members here don't like Best Buy, but this is usually because they have poor customer service and their sales people try to sell you a lot of things that you don't actually need. Moreover, Best Buy is also expensive (more so than other online retailers) and so people who live in the US have the luxury of being able to order electronics online for a lot cheaper.

Some advice that I can give you is the following - will your friend be staying at a hotel for the duration of his trip? (i.e. will he have a mailing address in the US where he can recieve packages?) If so, the cheapest way for you to buy the macbook pro might be from Macmall or Amazon. I know Amazon accepts international credit cards (i.e. those with billing addresses outside the US). So you may be able to just have the item purchased online and shipped to his address. Amazon's price is usually cheaper than Apple's own price, and usually online retailers don't charge tax unless they have representation in that state.

For example, from the Amazon.com website,

"Items sold by Amazon.com LLC, or its subsidiaries, and shipped to destinations in the states of Kansas, Kentucky, New York, North Dakota, or Washington are subject to tax."

This means that if you buy from Amazon.com and ship it to an address in Illionois, you don't have to pay sales tax.

You can check out the AI pricing guide here to find the cheapest price from an Authorized Apple Retailer:

http://www.appleinsider.com/mac_price_guide/

omg thank you very very much. If i get it from Amazon it is 1730$ whereas if i get it from Apple Store Chicago it is 1950$ with tax. I save 220$!! You are sure Amazon accepts cards with billing information to Turkey?

Also what may be the possible disadvantages in buying from amazon? He will be there between 18th of June to 30th of June. So he can get it delivered to his hotel. I would love to save 220$. Please i need answers.

 

[Aboo]

omg thank you very very much. If i get it from Amazon it is 1730$ whereas if i get it from Apple Store Chicago it is 1950$ with tax. I save 220$!! You are sure Amazon accepts cards with billing information to Turkey?

Also what may be the possible disadvantages in buying from amazon? He will be there between 18th of June to 30th of June. So he can get it delivered to his hotel. I would love to save 220$. Please i need answers.

Yes I am sure Amazon accepts international credit cards, I have bought tons of stuff from them with my international credit card. Just enter your Turkey billing address and enter the shipping address of your friend's hotel (make sure you address it to him so that the hotel will accept the package). Also, have you friend call the hotel and let them know that he is expecting a package. Most hotels will be willing to sign for the package even if it gets to them earlier than the check-in date of your friend. Generally Amazon ships stuff pretty quickly (as long as they are in stock), so you should be good to go.

If you run into any issues with amazon, their phone number is 1800-201-7575 and they will take care of issues for you very quickly. I am positive that you shouldn't have any problems.

There are no disadvantages from buying from Amazon. Amazon is an authorized Apple retailer. You are going to be getting the exact same product as you would get in the Apple store. Since they are an authorized retailer, the Apple warranty, etc. is all valid from the invoice date. Enjoy your $220 savings and use it towards getting Apple Care for your MBP (the Apple Care is valid throughout the world as long as there are Apple Authroized Repair Centers in Turkey, you can get your computer fixed/serviced there if needed)

 

[emir]

Yes I am sure Amazon accepts international credit cards, I have bought tons of stuff from them with my international credit card. Just enter your Turkey billing address and enter the shipping address of your friend's hotel (make sure you address it to him so that the hotel will accept the package). Also, have you friend call the hotel and let them know that he is expecting a package. Most hotels will be willing to sign for the package even if it gets to them earlier than the check-in date of your friend. Generally Amazon ships stuff pretty quickly (as long as they are in stock), so you should be good to go.

If you run into any issues with amazon, their phone number is 1800-201-7575 and they will take care of issues for you very quickly. I am positive that you shouldn't have any problems.

There are no disadvantages from buying from Amazon. Amazon is an authorized Apple retailer. You are going to be getting the exact same product as you would get in the Apple store. Since they are an authorized retailer, the Apple warranty, etc. is all valid from the invoice date. Enjoy your $220 savings and use it towards getting Apple Care for your MBP (the Apple Care is valid throughout the world as long as there are Apple Authroized Repair Centers in Turkey, you can get your computer fixed/serviced there if needed)

thanks again, can i have an option to ship later on amazon? I mean for example buy on 14th, deliver on 20th or something like that?

 

[Jazwire]

Dont buy it in Schamburg (Suburb of Chicago) Sales tax there is over 10% think its 10.25%. Its insane, its a nice area , with a huge mall.

Honestly, since Chicago is close to both Indiana and Wisconsin, if i was going to be near that area Id go there. If you really just sticking close to downtown Chicago just stay away from Schamburg. Get it on Michigan Ave.

I live in Illinois, but near Missouri, I never buy anything in this state that I don't have too.

 

[Aboo]

thanks again, can i have an option to ship later on amazon? I mean for example buy on 14th, deliver on 20th or something like that?

No unfortunately, that may not be possible. Amazon usually quotes a shipping time of 3 to 5 business days. If you friend is in the US between the 18 and the 30, I would order the unit on the 15th or so. Have him call his hotel in the US and let them know that he is expecting a package from Amazon. The hotel may not accept the package otherwise. Also, make sure you ship it to his name or attention because again, the hotel may not accept it otherwise.

 

[Restinbeast]

First of all Best Buy is fine, I don't know what the one guy is talking about. It is a great store. I would go the Amazon route as well, especially b/c of some of the limitations of the specs at the Apple store.

They drive me nuts with this but for some reason they only stock the best MPB models with 5400 rpm hds.

There may be some exceptions but this is the case with all the configurations I was interested in.