questions to Americans about best way to buy

[jojoba]

I'm an iPad2 owner and initially I wasn't planning to upgrade this time around, as I'm very happy with the iPad I have. However, I'm going to the US for work purposes for about three weeks in April, and realised that if I buy two iPads 3 gen there and resell one of them plus my iPad2 at home, it wouldn't cost me anything to upgrade (or I might come out with a slight profit but that's not really the point). I use my iPad extensively to read and annotate pdfs so the retina display would be a nice bonus for reading.

At first I was thinking of just placing an order in the online store so that it would be delivered to the place where I'm staying by the time I arrived. However, given the yellow screen and other issues reported, I was wondering whether it's a better strategy to just wait and go to a shop there and get a couple over the counter.

So, I was wondering what the 'rules of the game' over there are in terms of buying and exchanging. If I order online and get a faulty product, can I take it to a local Apple shop and exchange it? If I order online, should I time it so that I arrive less than 14 days after the iPad is delivered? Would it be more strategic to buy over the counter than order online?

...input much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Frankied22]

I would just buy over the counter at either a Best Buy or Apple store. Here in west Michigan all local Best Buys and the Apple Store are fully stocked. Also, Best Buy now has a 30 day return policy on all products. That's including Apple products. This would much faster than ordering online and waiting 2 weeks and having only 14 or less days to exchange/return.

 

[Jason S.]

When you buy from the online store, you can return or exchange at an Apple Store, yes. When you order online, the 14 day return policy starts once the iPad is delivered.

Also, remember that the prices here do not have tax included. Tax is added at the cash register. The sales tax will depend on the location you are buying it at or where it is being shipped to.

 

[jsolares]

I'm an iPad2 owner and initially I wasn't planning to upgrade this time around, as I'm very happy with the iPad I have. However, I'm going to the US for work purposes for about three weeks in April, and realised that if I buy two iPads 3 gen there and resell one of them plus my iPad2 at home, it wouldn't cost me anything to upgrade (or I might come out with a slight profit but that's not really the point). I use my iPad extensively to read and annotate pdfs so the retina display would be a nice bonus for reading.

At first I was thinking of just placing an order in the online store so that it would be delivered to the place where I'm staying by the time I arrived. However, given the yellow screen and other issues reported, I was wondering whether it's a better strategy to just wait and go to a shop there and get a couple over the counter.

So, I was wondering what the 'rules of the game' over there are in terms of buying and exchanging. If I order online and get a faulty product, can I take it to a local Apple shop and exchange it? If I order online, should I time it so that I arrive less than 14 days after the iPad is delivered? Would it be more strategic to buy over the counter than order online?

...input much appreciated. Thanks!

A friend is staying in a miami hotel from the 16th to today, so we preordered to the hotel address, thankfully there were no delays so he already has the iPads , now the wait for him to come to Guatemala for holy week.

I would just walk into an apple store and get it there, you can open it there and check for flaws as well.

 

[jojoba]

Thanks, everyone! I hadn't thought about the sales tax at all, so thanks for flagging that. I looked up the tax where I'll be (CA and then FL) to get a proper price calculation.

So I guess I'll probably go for the store option. 14 days return is fine for me, because I won't be in either state more than max eleven days.

 

[pure3d2]

I'm an iPad2 owner and initially I wasn't planning to upgrade this time around, as I'm very happy with the iPad I have. However, I'm going to the US for work purposes for about three weeks in April, and realised that if I buy two iPads 3 gen there and resell one of them plus my iPad2 at home, it wouldn't cost me anything to upgrade (or I might come out with a slight profit but that's not really the point). I use my iPad extensively to read and annotate pdfs so the retina display would be a nice bonus for reading.

At first I was thinking of just placing an order in the online store so that it would be delivered to the place where I'm staying by the time I arrived. However, given the yellow screen and other issues reported, I was wondering whether it's a better strategy to just wait and go to a shop there and get a couple over the counter.

So, I was wondering what the 'rules of the game' over there are in terms of buying and exchanging. If I order online and get a faulty product, can I take it to a local Apple shop and exchange it? If I order online, should I time it so that I arrive less than 14 days after the iPad is delivered? Would it be more strategic to buy over the counter than order online?

...input much appreciated. Thanks!

Also, keep your receipts. You may be able to get a refund of the taxes paid.

 

[jojoba]

Also, keep your receipts. You may be able to get a refund of the taxes paid.

Good one. Thanks.

 

[bwrairen]

Someone voted the original post down. Probably considers him a "scalper". Ridiculous.

 

[jojoba]

Someone voted the original post down. Probably considers him a "scalper". Ridiculous.

Well, I did have a little think about the ethical aspects of it. But from a consumer stand point, it's a win-win situation as I'd still resell for less than the retail price here (it's still not clear what that is going to be, the Apple country site just has "coming soon" on the iPad page, but judging by previous iPad prices and the new, reduced iPad2 price (they've done the price drop here and are only selling the 16GB model), it will be selling at a good bit more than the US price).

 

[Jason S.]

You probably won't be able to get the sales tax back, because it's not a federal tax. But it never hurts to keep the receipts anyway.