Wait... Apple had excess inventory? Wasn't it news that Apple was struggling to cope with providing supply because of China's hard COVID lockdown?
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Deals: M1 iPad Air Hits Record-Low Prices at TigerDirect, Starting at $313.99 (48% Off)
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Wait... Apple had excess inventory? Wasn't it news that Apple was struggling to cope with providing supply because of China's hard COVID lockdown?
This wasn't a pricing error. There was no other way to get rid of that inventory.
This is what likely what BestBuy meant when they said that they couldn't price match because TigerDirect wasn't selling direclty and it was being sold by a 3rd party. That 3rd party was likely Apple.
This is what likely what BestBuy meant when they said that they couldn't price match because TigerDirect wasn't selling direclty and it was being sold by a 3rd party. That 3rd party was likely Apple.
You’re about 14 hrs. late.
Does everyone’s order still say this?
Reg Order Process - Credit Card Verification Done. Your order is in process at our warehouse
Reg Order Process - Credit Card Verification Done. Your order is in process at our warehouse
I doubt TD could sell enough to make a dent in Apple's inventory; and if they could every other retailer would be screaming at Apple as they watched there sales drop.
Given how fast it sold out; and TD's system did not crash from a huge influx of buyers, I doubt all that many were sold.
Ocam's Razor suggests pricing error; though a need to move product could be an alternative explanation. Howeer, people would likely have still jumped at the deal for 20% off, so why leave money on the table?
Sure there is - if you want to do it via retail channels, you offer all resellers the stuff at a somewhat bigger discount than normal to get rid of it.
There is no need to dump it at a significant loss to one retailer. Apple has long term relationships with their retailers and wouldn't risk that to unload some excess inventory.
Even more to the point, Apple has pretty good control of its supply chain. A slowdown in orders while the excess inventory moves through the system would be a logical approach. Another option is a back to school sale with bigger edu discounts to drive demand.
Given rumors of no new iPads this year Apple has plenty of time to deal with inventory issues.
I doubt it. My take is BB is likely simply avoiding price matching what is likely a pricing error and taking a loss on the sales.
Apple could, if needed, simply rebrand them as refurbs and sell them over time on their store or select retailers; thus selling at a discount while still segmenting refurb and new buyers.
Ordered the M1 Air & the 12.9 6th gen iPad - then figured i’d press my luck and went for the M2 Air that was $707 before taxes/fees
Used Paypal on both orders so if i don’t get anything no biggie - i’m protected - and i gave them my duck.com email privacy/ forward that strips trackers
As everyone has said prior - always use Paypal or Amazon Pay when available to not have to stress about fraud.
Used Paypal on both orders so if i don’t get anything no biggie - i’m protected - and i gave them my duck.com email privacy/ forward that strips trackers
As everyone has said prior - always use Paypal or Amazon Pay when available to not have to stress about fraud.
That's where Apple Mail comes into play. You can block a sender and have their emails directed to trash
Mine does but, I still don't believe any of what we saw and ordered is going to come to fruition.
yes but there’s still spam getting in via google
not sure how/why they’d let mail with “no sender” get delivered but hey - i guess we need to see that jpg from a hardware store with a tracker pixel that’s blocked anyway in apple mail
i’d really really like apple to step up the email filtering and just offer forwarding like duck.com for gmail to cripple that advertising for google/alphabet
Because there's no other way to get rid of that much of inventory quickly. There's too much stuff to get rid of.
$100/$200 off here and there isn't going to do it. You can tell because of the configurations that are on fire sale.
Apple either leaves money on the table here or they take weeks to collect it and their retail partners will kill them.
And they would both jeopardize their brand and the value of the inventory in their existing channels (retail, online, edu, target/walmart/bestbuy/amazon, etc).
TigerDirect is almost perfect for this purpose. That's what they're designed for.
Exactly right. That's why TD can't be the actual seller themselves. That's why this is real.
I am getting the following for both of my iPad orders:
Reg Order Process - Credit Card Verification Done. Your order is in process at our warehouse.
i’ve now gotten two “confirmation” emails for my first order.
1) 6:24pm
2) 3:10am
when i see a tracking number is when i’ll celebrate
the second order i made for an M2 Air was made at 7:15pm & got the confirmation then - somehow my gut says that one gets cancelled since i didn’t get a second email yet
too late:
So if it was an error or a hack it would have been still selling...
The question now is:
What has driven this sale?
Best Buy’s policy doesn’t cover this kind of situation with a built in maximum percentage to match, though. It probably should, but it doesn’t. Those listings met all the criteria:
- Identical model #
- Supported retailer (TigerDirect.com)
- In Stock
I don't see TD as doing a lot of Apple business. They don't allow returns on Apple products. I think it was a scam to compile new email addresses to sell.
Seems all the goodies have gone Out of Stock! Including the lesser-known ones that stayed up longer like the 1TB 11” iPad Pro. But no acknowledgement of an error or order cancellation emails. Really interesting. Can’t wait to see how tomorrow goes.
I'd imagine the quantities sold of each of these products at those prices, even if only for a day, would be very valuable information to Apple - this knowledge could give them insight on the demand for their products at different price points.
That's plausible if Apple and Tiger Direct are working together. If it's just Tiger destroying their reputation, we'll see soon enough.
That's plausible if Apple and Tiger Direct are working together. If it's just Tiger destroying their reputation, we'll see soon enough.
Think most people’s orders are sitting in Pending Review.
TD is under new ownership since 2015. Whether or not PCM is any better, I can't say.
Return policy.
Not PCM anymore.
Insight Enterprises buys online seller PCM in IT services market
PCM, formerly known as PC Mall, brings Insight Enterprises an established online channel to expand its customer base in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. PCM, formerly known as PCMall.com, brings Insight Enterprises an established online channel to expand its customer base in the...
www.digitalcommerce360.com
Again just based on my observations from my past 15 years being a middle man or a “fly on the wall” between Apple and its retail channel, most of what you are saying does not line up with past behavior. Apple being the 3rd party warehouse is the hot take of the year. That would literally mean the end of their many retail partnerships for a small fry like TD of today if it got out, unless they did the same with the others and now. The odd configs is what led me to mention a supply source from a distressed business liquidating assets. As i have seen this before. But since Apple would not approve this pricing anyways, and TD is Apple authorized, this would surely mean a nail in the coffin of that authorization. It is a direct violation of the agreement. The old TigerDirect was quite known to source goods grey market.
I have seen Apple liquidate product before but they would do it in small qty, in odd geographies off radar and through the non authorized secondary market. With caveats like no warranty or white plain box. They have so much cash that literally any surplus can be widdled down over years if need be. And with the pandemic supply chain issues, the surplus is not unmanageable for their cash. Their manufacturing cycle and supply chain is so finely tuned that their products are literally made weeks in advance giving them ultimate flexibility in production forecasting when demand dips. Companies get in trouble when they have to borrow money to keep that stock and desperation sets in then but Apple has the most cash in industry. They are still selling A series ipad pros as old as the 2018‘s in their refurb store which we all suspect is often used to rebrand new stock to sell at 15% discount.
BB’s reaction is enough to speculate that this is not Apple sanctioned. BB is a top two or three retail partner of Apple in North America. I doubt TD can even buy direct from Apple and may have to buy from distribution instead like many smaller authorized retailers. And wholesale distribution is another legal Apple
Layer heavily governed by Apple. BB is just saying “3rd party warehouse” as its the easiest/laziest way of denying someone of a price match.
But i do hope people get their orders at this price and its legit. The whole thing is popcorn worthy to me and very interesting because how much noise it made (MR helped it surely). Good luck to those who put in their orders. Fingers crossed for you.
I didn't set up an account when ordering but, those online who did say all their orders show "pending review." If I had an account set up, I would see the same. Pending review is code for going to be cancelled. There is no hope of getting the Apple orders.Not PCM anymore.
Well, there was a MacMall so saying Tigerdirect was not selling much Apple products may be understatement.Insight Enterprises buys online seller PCM in IT services market
PCM, formerly known as PC Mall, brings Insight Enterprises an established online channel to expand its customer base in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. PCM, formerly known as PCMall.com, brings Insight Enterprises an established online channel to expand its customer base in the...