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benlee

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 4, 2007
1,246
1
not sure if this is the right place for this so feel free to move it. I have been going to Comp USA every week now for quite some time because the one near me is going out of business and every so often they raise their percentage off. right now it is at 50-70% off everything. Now there is not much left but i just go there to try and find a deal on something. Today i was there and a 20inch apple display was marked at 50% off. you think that would mean it would cost $250....nope $350 because they had the before price marked as $700. thing is a couple weeks ago the before price was marked $600....i cant believe they get away with this. they trick people into thinking they are getting a deal.
 

PlaceofDis

macrumors Core
Jan 6, 2004
19,241
6
did they have the price listed as the old one? if so, whats the problem? i don't see it at all.
 

benlee

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 4, 2007
1,246
1
did they have the price listed as the old one? if so, whats the problem? i don't see it at all.



a 20 inch doesnt cost $700. never has. never will. last week it was marked at $600....when the discount increases the before price raises.
 

jimN

macrumors 6502a
Jun 23, 2005
941
17
London
a 20 inch doesnt cost $700. never has. never will. last week it was marked at $600....when the discount increases the before price raises.

At any rate it's a good discount, stop whining and start buying (and be the envy of everyone here).
 

plinden

macrumors 601
Apr 8, 2004
4,029
142
The full price of the ACD 20" is $600, and they're offering it for $350? Is it new (not ex-display)? It sounds like a steal to me - 41.6666% off rather than 50%.

It may be misleading, but it looks like a deal to me, whether or not it's really 50% off. If I were you, I'd swallow my pride and buy it. And print out the Apple online store page and try to get $50 off.

Incidentally, the Dell widescreen 20" is currently $340 ($59 off list price).
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
they trick people into thinking they are getting a deal.

Aside from the fact that 50% of $600 is $300 and not $250, you're denying that $350 for a 20" ACD is a deal?

Besides, this isn't something new to CompUSA or retail in general. "Compare to" prices are almost always inflated.
 

zephead

macrumors 68000
Apr 27, 2006
1,574
9
in your pants
i cant believe they get away with this. they trick people into thinking they are getting a deal.

Been there. I bought a 160GB LaCie desktop Firewire drive from them in March. It had a "$109.99 $99.99" sticker on it, so I thought it was a good deal. Out of curiosity, I checked the LaCie website afterwards and saw that they were selling it for $99.99 regular price. Now, however, the same one on the LaCie website is $94.99 regular price. :mad:
 

EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Apr 27, 2005
10,724
265
San Francisco, CA
Sure, it's a great deal, but it's very misleading. What's stopping CompUSA from advertising 75% off every 24" iMac while still charging the retail price $1999 because the "before" price was marked up to $2665?

I'd talk with the manager.
 

benlee

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 4, 2007
1,246
1
The full price of the ACD 20" is $600, and they're offering it for $350? Is it new (not ex-display)? It sounds like a steal to me - 41.6666% off rather than 50%.

It may be misleading, but it looks like a deal to me, whether or not it's really 50% off. If I were you, I'd swallow my pride and buy it. And print out the Apple online store page and try to get $50 off.

Incidentally, the Dell widescreen 20" is currently $340 ($59 off list price).


thats the thing its not a new one...its a display that looks ok but by the looks of everything around it, it must have taken a little beating. I'm not whining. nor buying. Just thought it was bull**** that they are tricking people
 

emw

macrumors G4
Aug 2, 2004
11,172
0
thats the thing its not a new one...its a display that looks ok but by the looks of everything around it, it must have taken a little beating. I'm not whining. nor buying. Just thought it was bull**** that they are tricking people
If it was a display, it could have been purchased before the price dropped to $599. Weren't the ACDs $699 not all that long ago?

I understand that it is misleading, but it's common practice, unfortunately, and not limited to CompUSA.
 

macdaddy121

macrumors 6502a
Jan 8, 2003
758
31
Georgia
Where was this located? It might have been used a little while but it is still a good deal? If it is near me I would buy it? Where is it? Thanks.
 

Mr. MacBook

macrumors 6502
Feb 28, 2007
337
0
yeah so what

It's a marketing plan. Look on ebay and you'll find tardfaces selling playstation 3s for 750 dollars and saying that "if you buy on ebay somewhere else, it'll cost 1000!" even though the price is 550 for the 60gb model.
 

WildCowboy

Administrator/Editor
Staff member
Jan 20, 2005
18,358
2,769
If it was a display, it could have been purchased before the price dropped to $599. Weren't the ACDs $699 not all that long ago?

I understand that it is misleading, but it's common practice, unfortunately, and not limited to CompUSA.

Yes, the 20" was just dropped from $699 to $599 last month.

Go to Apple's refurb site: They cite the original price for the 20" ACD at $1299. Makes it look like an awfully good deal when they sell it for $499.
 

livingfortoday

macrumors 68030
Nov 17, 2004
2,903
4
The Msp
At my local CompUSA I've found that the discounts they're offering make them almost competitive... now that their prices are cut by 60%. They had ludicrously high prices on everything, so I'm amazed they haven't gone out of business much sooner.

I did however pick up a nice cheap CoolerMaster case from there, and almost got a copy of the 60% off Vista... but no. Even at that price it's too much for it.
 

erickkoch

macrumors 6502a
Jan 13, 2003
676
0
Kalifornia
One of my local CompUSA's has two 20 inch ACD's for $420 sans the power supply. They were displays models. Still not a good deal, they looked worn. If the 20 inch ACD is still in the box I'd buy it in a snap for $350.

They also had a MacBook Pro for $1600, an "open box" but it was still in the box. It was tempting but I passed.
 

Lancetx

macrumors 68000
Aug 11, 2003
1,991
619
a 20 inch doesnt cost $700. never has. never will.

Actually they used to be quite a bit more than $700, Apple has steadily lowered the price over the years from $1,299 to be exact.

While I'm no fan of CompUSA, they're actually not doing anything wrong here in this instance. It's 50% off the original CompUSA price which was indeed $699.99. The retail price wasn't reduced from $699 to $599 by Apple until well after their liquidation sale was already underway, so actually $350 would be the correct price. I'm sure if it's in good shape, somebody will be happy to take it at that price anyway.
 

bearbo

macrumors 68000
Jul 20, 2006
1,858
0
Yes, the 20" was just dropped from $699 to $599 last month.

Go to Apple's refurb site: They cite the original price for the 20" ACD at $1299. Makes it look like an awfully good deal when they sell it for $499.

What say you, OP?

I think it's a perfectly normal and fair business practice. Just be glad they didn't only take 50% off the $1299, and call it $650.
 

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benlee

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 4, 2007
1,246
1
What say you, OP?

I think it's a perfectly normal and fair business practice. Just be glad they didn't only take 50% off the $1299, and call it $650.

Fair? Maybe? thats debatable. I just think it is very deceitful. I didnt know they were originally $699 from apple though so i guess that makes it ok.
 

MacManTexas56

macrumors 68020
Apr 4, 2005
2,496
384
not sure if this is the right place for this so feel free to move it. I have been going to Comp USA every week now for quite some time because the one near me is going out of business and every so often they raise their percentage off. right now it is at 50-70% off everything. Now there is not much left but i just go there to try and find a deal on something. Today i was there and a 20inch apple display was marked at 50% off. you think that would mean it would cost $250....nope $350 because they had the before price marked as $700. thing is a couple weeks ago the before price was marked $600....i cant believe they get away with this. they trick people into thinking they are getting a deal.

the 20inch ACD isn't $500 brand new anyways so couldn't be only $250. It would be $300, so $50 more isn't a bad deal. Pretty slick if you ask me. I'd like to see how you get when buying a car.
 

macjay

macrumors 6502
Oct 3, 2003
366
0
While I'm no fan of CompUSA, they're actually not doing anything wrong here in this instance. It's 50% off the original CompUSA price which was indeed $699.99. The retail price wasn't reduced from $699 to $599 by Apple until well after their liquidation sale was already underway, so actually $350 would be the correct price.

Also, it may actually be a liquidation company that purchased the remaining inventory and that is setting the prices, not CompUSA.
 

roland.g

macrumors 604
Apr 11, 2005
7,407
3,126
It's like frozen orange juice or porkbellies, when the price hits $325 that's your sweetspot. Or you know, buy the thing before someone else does.

BTW, an expletive RANT is when you bought something and they somehow screwed you or something much much worse than their going out of bidnez sale isn't giving you a 20" ACD for practically free.
 

godoggo

macrumors newbie
Apr 30, 2007
13
0
CA
CompUSA doesn't set thier prices in closeout

I recently bought a 1.5 TB Maxtor Raid drive for $300 down from $1000, Final Cut Studio Full Retail Version $400 from $1200, and 3 Sony MC3's for $99 from $250. I asked who set their prices and they responded that it was in fact a liquidation company that determines their prices. They had some great deals and I went in there every day looking for something.
 

sxl95

macrumors member
Nov 7, 2006
45
0
I asked who set their prices and they responded that it was in fact a liquidation company that determines their prices. They had some great deals and I went in there every day looking for something.

I was told the opposite from the people from the liquidators at the Beachwood, OH store yesterday. Supposedly the company still owns the inventory.

-Sam
 
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