Inventory question

[MacKid1983]

I purchased a Apple Watch series 6 44mm space gray GPS with a sport band $429, I picked it up at my local store the other day because it was the only one that I found available in stock without having to order and wait until the end of November.

I really wanted the green braided band. Late last night I was searching the inventory and a nearby store has one for pick up so I added it to my cart for pickup, but the band is $100 by itself.

If I purchase the space gray watch 44mm GPS only with the braided loop together, it’s $50 less.


Do the Apple stores keep getting watch inventory in every day? If I purchase the band separately I’m spending an extra $50 to get the combination that I wanted which sucks. So I want to know if I keep checking inventory of watches for store pickup what’s the best time to do so, late at night? Or late morning?

 

[0128672]

That's a pretty hard question for anyone here to answer. You'd have to have inside knowledge of how and when Apple restocks individual stores. Why not go ask at your local store?

 

[BrettDS]

Keep in mind that the band really isn’t $50 less with the watch, it’s just that you paid $50 for the sport band that you got with your watch. So if you purchase the band separately you will have the $100 green braided band and the $50 sport band. If you return the watch you have and get a new watch with the green braided brand then you will have spent $50 less, but you also won’t have the sport band. Of course, if you don’t want or have no use for the sport band then it’s worth saving the money.

When you say that you got the watch at a “local store” do you mean a local Apple store or another store? There are reports of Apple allowing people to exchange the band that came with their watch in store, but that would be only for purchases made at Apple. So if you did get the watch at an Apple store then you could go to the store with the green braided band that you want and they may allow you to exchange the sport band that came with your watch and pay only the $50 difference. If you got the watch from a non Apple store then I don’t believe they would allow that.

As far as checking inventory, I believe that (at least with iPhones) they typically get new inventory every day and the new inventory is posted to their site in the mornings.

 

[deeddawg]

Based on observations of past watch launches, Apple stores tend to get new inventory many if not most days. Late evening (after 10pm local) seemed to be when inventory for the next day would update. Typically only on days that fedex or UPS delivers though, so not so much Sunday nights as other. Just what a store would get seemed random.

What this looks like in today's world is anyones guess though.

 

[craigc_]

Stores may have stock of a particular item even if it says they don't on Apple.com fwiw. I called a local Apple store yesterday to see if they had a smaller size braided loop than the one I had. I had a size 7, wanted a 5 or 6. Turns out they had nearly every size for that band (Braided Charcoal solo) in stock even though Apple.com said they have none. Went home with a 4 after trying on the 6 and 5.

Calling the stores directly is probably the most accurate way to find out stock information.

 

[BrettDS]

Stores may have stock of a particular item even if it says they don't on Apple.com fwiw. I called a local Apple store yesterday to see if they had a smaller size braided loop than the one I had. I had a size 7, wanted a 5 or 6. Turns out they had nearly every size for that band (Braided Charcoal solo) in stock even though Apple.com said they have none. Went home with a 4 after trying on the 6 and 5.

What I’ve noticed with a lot of stores and not just Apple is that usually their inventory system has to show a certain minimum quantity of something before it shows as being available online. If they only have one or two in stock then often the online system will show it as out of stock. I suspect that this is because there is a chance that the inventory system is wrong or maybe someone will come and purchase the product locally before the online purchase is made and they want to make sure the item really is available for someone who makes an online purchase for in store pickup.