Costco Begins Selling Select Macs on Web at $50 to $200 Discount

[jlc1978]

Great deal for anyone that's a member! I always wonder how Costco is able to absorb the cost.. I assume they aren't getting any discounts from Apple.

Costco makes most of its money from memberships; so having desirable items at good prices keeps people coming back and buying a membership.

You don't have to be a Costco member to shop there if you know a member they can buy you a gift certificate which you can then use.

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And the Costco discounts on SquareTrade warranties might be worth it for some.

Doesn't Costco add a year to laptop warranties like they do for Tvs and some other electronics?
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THIS is the problem. Apple is pushing hardware to people who are are largely ignorant of their current and future needs. They walk out of the Apple store thinking that their $2,000, $3,000 computers will suit their computing necessities only to find out six weeks or six months later that Apple's focus on appearance over functionality doesn't help them in the real world.

I don't know what your experiences are, but as a long time MBP user I have not run up against such problems and I use mine at work. Anecdotally, others I know have 3 - 4 year old Macs that still meet their needs.

 

[Mark Holmes]

Your straw man argument is weak.

If they are spending $2,000 to $3,000, they upgraded the drive.

By the way, you don't use a flash drive to "download important files."

I could go on, but it's obvious you're not really serious.

Well, the important file in my case was a video recording of a live show for the stage manager, who didn't have room on her 3 month old computer with only 128GB of space. Maybe I should have said transfer a file. But yes, I'm serious.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Well, the important file in my case was a video recording of a live show for the stage manager, who didn't have room on her 3 month old computer with only 128GB of space. Maybe I should have said transfer a file. But yes, I'm serious.

Dropbox. Vimeo. YouTube. Etc...

But are you really claiming this was a $3,000 computer?

 

[supercoolmanchu]

I love Costco and have been a member for 30 years but this gives you an idea of how desperate apple is for computer sales and how sad they have become as an innovative company.

Nice conspiracy theory...

Except this isn't even close to the first time Apple has sold products (including Macs) thru Costco.
You may have this noticed during your 30 years of shopping there.

 

[KPandian1]

I love Costco and have been a member for 30 years but this gives you an idea of how desperate apple is for computer sales and how sad they have become as an innovative company.

Wrong, not Apple's move. Please see my post below your OP.

 

[tromboneaholic]

Nice conspiracy theory...

Except this isn't even close to the first time Apple has sold products (including Macs) thru Costco.
You may have this noticed during your 30 years of shopping there.

Doesn’t Costco sell Rolex watches?

 

[Braderunner]

When I upgrade my iMac, I definitely want the wireless keyboard with numeric keypad, and the Magic Trackpad. These deals never include those. To add them...eats up the savings.

 

[roland.g]

Stock configs unlike B&H that offers almost every config, and B&H doesn’t charge tax most places.

 

[fastlanephil]

You don’t need to be a member to buy something at Costo. I was there last week with my brother(member) and made a purchase with a CC. You just have to get through the door. I assume you would a have to become a member to take advantage of returns and warranty deals without a member taking care of it for you.

 

[Spizike9]

$999 for MacBook Air. Good deal. Then add on $500 dollars in things you didn't know you needed, a gallon size jug of maple syrup, and two pieces of greasy pizza.

This made me lol hard. Because it’s true.

 

[doboy]

Doesn’t Costco sell Rolex watches?

some select stores have it, but the less popular models

 

[Baymowe335]

This: "Almost no one cares if RAM is soldered or even knows what solder is."

Exactly. Most people who buy a computer don't know what RAM is, they don't know how quickly they will fill up 128GB of hard drive space, they don't know what USB-C is.... and more.

UNTIL they are at work and trying to download important files and find out the flash drive handed to them won't work with their MacBook Pro. UNTIL they attend an important meeting and want to transfer a large video file, and find out their drive on a 3 month old computer is full. UNTIL they realize that their photo and video software needs more RAM....

THIS is the problem. Apple is pushing hardware to people who are are largely ignorant of their current and future needs. They walk out of the Apple store thinking that their $2,000, $3,000 computers will suit their computing necessities only to find out six weeks or six months later that Apple's focus on appearance over functionality doesn't help them in the real world.

Not really seeing that. Tell me specific real world examples of how people can’t do daily tasks with their MacBook.

Apple is clearly pulling out all the retail plays they can to boost sales. Their decision to go HiSo is not working out so much. People are voting with their wallets and the results will be believable during next quarter reporting.
They became a trillion dollar market cap company and lost that. Greed

By the way, costco makes the bulk of their money selling memberships.

Where is your data that Apple’s strategy isn’t working and people are voting with their wallets to the contrary?

Based on the last earnings report, consumers definitely voted with their wallets FOR Apple because revenue was up 20% and eps was up 41% y/y. Do you have any concept how insane that is for a company the size of Apple?

Their latest results were staggeringly good and they guided for revenue of $93B in Xmas, also a record. We will get the official numbers later next month.

If those are questionable, you may have a point, but no actual data says anything but Apple is more successful than ever.

Don’t start linking me to the fake news speculation that Apple is struggling. Until Apple posts numbers, everyone is guessing and has always been wrong when they’ve tried.

The entire market has been awful, particularly tech. The trillion dollar market cap will be recaptured and more. They just made $60B in profit in 2018. Apple is so cheap, you should sell your house to buy shares.

 

[arkmannj]

I was hoping Costco would start carrying the Mac mini. This is certainly a step closer at least

 

[pika2000]

Costco has thin profit margins. Makes Apple look greedy.

You have no idea how Costco operates. The low margin policy doesn't apply to things like electronics. Just like big branded stores like Walmart, Costco also demands certain margin from whoever wants to be sold in their stores.
This is more like Tim Cook being more keen to negotiating with resellers than Jobs.

 

[koa]

Doesn’t Costco sell Rolex watches?

 

[surendar]

My local Costco sells $225K diamond rings and $15K whiskey. Nothing like picking a $225K ring, $15K whiskey, toilet paper and $1.x hot dogs.

 

[Mainsail]

Wow, new 2018 MBA on sale for the same magical $999 retail price as the old model, and people are still kvetching.

 

[partsofspeech]

More channels, more sales.

Before the doom and gloomers start, you need a lot of channels to do $93B in sales in 90 days. You’ll be seeing more of this over time.

Even Apple cannot escape from manager raid.

 

[Soccertess]

Costco has thin profit margins. Makes Apple look greedy.

I think that’s the price they should be at. Apple would still make a healthy return and gain more market shares. Tim is so clueless, Apple stock value could be so much higher if he wasn’t so greedy and losing market share with absurd pricing.

His most idiotic moment was the 10k watch. Alas, only a couple more years till he retires.

 

[campyguy]

Doesn't Costco add a year to laptop warranties like they do for Tvs and some other electronics?

Yes, and they offer SquareTrade warranties for some electronics they sell on top of their offered warranties. For instance, they sell 2- or 3-year ST warranties for iPads and different warranties for laptops under $500 and over $1000. Options are a good thing, Costco's ST warranty prices are around 30% less than the standard pricing.

Beyond SquareTrade, they also offer extra warranties for electronics purchased with their Citi Costco VISA and their Executive membership - I bought an LG 32-inch display with a 1-year warranty, with a total of 2+2=4 years tacked on top of the 1-year warranty for using my Citi VISA tied to my Exec membership. Playing the rewards game here...

 

[weckart]

You don’t need to be a member to buy something at Costo. I was there last week with my brother(member) and made a purchase with a CC. You just have to get through the door. I assume you would a have to become a member to take advantage of returns and warranty deals without a member taking care of it for you.

You still need to be with someone who is a member. Your membership card is scanned at the till. No card, no purchase.

 

[bobob]

I always wonder how Costco is able to absorb the cost.

A loss leader is a pricing strategy where a product is sold at a price below its market cost to stimulate other sales of more profitable goods or services.

 

[0837990]

It's weird seing Apple hardware moved into more brick and mortar stores, while at the same time, all these exclusive Apple shops keep popping up everywhere.

 

[NovemberWhiskey]

Great! I’d love o buy my apple devices from Costco from now on.

Pick up a MacBook Pro, 300 rolls of toilet paper, and a hot dog and coke.

 

[chatin]

With the ascension of Microsoft to most valuable U.S. company, Apple is offering deals all over the place. I am taking advantage of the headphone jack in the back of Echo Dot to drive some cast-off Bose.