Steve Jobs: T.J. Maxx Not an Authorized iPad Retailer

[GeekLawyer]

Selling refurbished iPads as new _would_ be illegal. And I'd be curious where they would have found refurbished iPads.

Exactly right. That would be a no-no.

They did what any of us could do. They bought a bunch at another retail seller and then resold them.

 

[r6novak]

I wrote the email to him

I wrote the email to him - Headers below. It not a fake people...


i removed my email domain so no one emails my work.



From: Steve Jobs <sjobs@apple.com>
Subject: Re: TJ Maxx? Really?
Date: November 19, 2010 11:35:35 AM EST
To: Robert Novak <Robert.Novak@.com>
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Email...


They are not an authorized reseller.


On Nov 19, 2010, at 8:11 AM, Robert Novak wrote:

Steve,


Why would you let TJ Maxx of all places undercut the iPad prices by $100?




Robert Novak
Information Technology Associate 1

 

[Gasu E.]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

It goes to show you that they can still make a profit with $100 off. I guess the price gouging by Apple continues.

That comment makes no sense, and not just because of the loss-leader observation several people have made. The discount is coming off the retailer's margin, not Apple's. It's totally unrelated to Apple's profit margin since it's the retailer, not Apple, that is doing the discounting.

 

[PeterQVenkman]

I don't see why Apple would care. They get paid by the retailer.

 

[Rocketman]

As a publicity stunt, it is working. Let's say they bought them in bulk from Best Buy or Wal-Mart. They have a couple dozen locations each at 300 units per store all discounted $100. That's a $720,000 total marketing expense for all the publicity you can mooch off Apple. On black friday.

Rocketman

 

[snebes]

Robert Novak
Information Technology Associate 1

Rule # 1 of slickdeals, never call (or email in this case).

Wait, what forum is this?

As someone whom runs a store that has been "slickdeal"'d in the past, and as a frequent member, I know what kind of volume that (and the 100s of other websites that posted this deal) can generate. I am sure more the 10 million people had the potential to see this deal, and bought these iPads. You have no worries. They are gone and not coming back in stock at those store. You missed out.

 

[nemaslov]

Well Amazon started selling Beatles CDs for 7.99 each right after iTunes got the Beatles Catalogue. Pretty much below cost but a lost leader for them.

I don't see why Apple would care. They get paid by the retailer.

It cheapens their product and pisses of their retailers.

Isn't there some kinda law against price fixing like this?

No but as stated before, if a chain is undercutting others then the manufacturer can choose not to sell to that retailer.

 

[jasonforisrael]

why would you write to him about this?

do you wanna talk to steve that badly, or are you just mad because you bought yours somewhere else for a higher price?

 

[darkjeremiad]

Has no one ever seen a TJ Maxx/Marshals Commercial

Apple sells iPad to Authorized Reseller.

Authorized Reseller Orders 10000, when they meant to order 1000...
or
Authorized Reseller Goes out of Business
or
Authorized Reseller Declares Bankruptcy

Any of these possibilities results in a large number of iPads reaching a overstock and close out retailer like TJ Maxx etc...

Its not a big mystery or a great train robbery situation. And the reason they are probably available at limited locations would be a limited supply of an item (Still High Ticket despite the $100.00 Discount) being sold from a store where 95% of their stock is priced in a sub $10.00 per unit price point is going to be directed to markets where they are more likely to sell - Larger Cities, Stores in retail plazas with other high ticket resellers, and cities with a higher tech savvy population like Austin, Seattle, Dallas, Silicon Vally, New York City...

It the chain has more then 10K units to distribute thats when things get pretty unusual...

 

[DisMyMac]

Someone call the WAAAAA-Ambulance..... The emailer is most likely an early adopter who feels cheated... So is this guy going to write to Steve Jobs every time he finds an iPad on eBay for $100 less than retail? How about 1¢ auctions?

Hah.

It will be satisfying as an abused/ex- mac fan to see Steve's latest toy quaintly arranged on a folding table by a tired old woman -- right next to beard trimmers and wine-bottle sleeves.

 

[neutrino23]

I see TJ Maxx's acquisition of some iPads as a marketing scheme. If a few select stores have at least 5 to offer at a discounted price, imagine what kind of results they would get if they offered them as a Black Friday Doorbuster Special. They would probably get hundreds lined up at the door like Best Buy does for a deeply discounted HDTV or laptop. As for a warranty, I don't think they offer warranties on any of their products because they are a clearing house.

Exactly. They could have bought a couple hundred legitimately at normal prices from a distributor and then distribute a small number to each or only select stores to be used as loss leaders. Kind of like when we raffle off an iPod or iPad at our booth at a trade show. We are actually giving this away, we don't sell tickets, we do this in order to get lots of people in the booth.

 

[E.Lizardo]

A mystery!
Come Watson!The game is afoot!

 

[Rajani Isa]

Apple shouldn't be able to do anything.

Apple cannot do anything directly against TJ Maxx as long as they make no false claims such as being an approved Apple seller, or stating false claims about the product and warranty. At most, put them on a banned list and make not selling to TJ Maxx part of their "Approved Reseller" conditions.

The people who sold to TJ Maxx could be in trouble, however.

Now, if Apple's warranty includes a line about it must be bought from an approved seller, etc, they might be able null the warranty on anyone who's iPad is found to be from TJ Maxx, but that depends in part on the state, and if the warranty has such a line.

 

[Blocko]

Yikes! If TJ Maxx and Marshall"s do try it, prepare for the trampling…just sayin'.

 

[sux2beyou]

Rule # 1 of slickdeals, never call (or email in this case).

Wait, what forum is this?

As someone whom runs a store that has been "slickdeal"'d in the past, and as a frequent member, I know what kind of volume that (and the 100s of other websites that posted this deal) can generate. I am sure more the 10 million people had the potential to see this deal, and bought these iPads. You have no worries. They are gone and not coming back in stock at those store. You missed out.

I tried to rep you, but we are on the wrong forum.

 

[ChrisA]

There are no print ads. Thus its extremely difficult to accuse someone of bait and switch. Sites like macrumors and slickdeals are doing all of TJ Maxx's advertising for them. Brilliant.

Yes some marketing guy at TJ gets a few coworkers to go to the local Apple store (Or maybe Walmart) and they buy 100 iPads and sell them at a $10,000 loss. They get more advertizing that way them paying $10K to an ad company. This gimmick is dirt cheap, cheaper then just one newspaper ad.

 

[Digitalclips]

I'm certain TJ MAXX ran this by their legal team...

If they are willing to sell the product at a $100 loss, that's their choice. You may not have a warranty, etc, because they aren't "authorized" by Apple as a price-controlled reseller, but that doesn't mean it's illegal for them to sell it.

I sold my iPad on craigslist at a loss. I'm not authorized to do that and Steve doesn't care.

Exactly, Apple wouldn't care if you did. What you sold would be 2nd hand and have no warranty etc.. The same I assume would be true of T.J.s. As non authorized dealers they have bought some iPads and would be selling them as second hand items. Buyer beware.

 

[Blakjack]

Word on the street.......if u go into tj maxx through the back, they have a genius bar. Ssssshhhh.....don't tell anybody though.

 

[eliamx]

AppleCare transfers a million times.

Exactly, Apple wouldn't care if you did. What you sold would be 2nd hand and have no warranty etc.. The same I assume would be true of T.J.s. As non authorized dealers they have bought some iPads and would be selling them as second hand items. Buyer beware.

Why is everyone under the impression that Apple is Sony, Dell, etc?
Apple Warranty is valid for the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc buyer of the same product because Apple doesn't do that ridiculous crap of killing off a warranty based on resale. It is based on the dated receipt. If you have a receipt, and it is within the 1 year warranty, it's covered.

I have bought and resold my main computers over and over again. I sell when I reach that last month mark. The buyers are always covered for that last month, and if they so choose, they can buy the 2 year extended before that final month is over.

 

[Saturdays]

If it works and is $100 cheaper and has the warranty. Then I can care less on the consumer end.

 

[JerzeyLegend]

Why do any of you care? None of you are seeing profit or loss in this situation.

Some of you sound pissed, like T.J. Maxx personally offended you by selling cheaper iPads.

Now is a good time to get one if you don't already have one. Stop arguing about warranty, you should be getting Apple care on your idevice anyway.

So... What are you waiting for? Go get one before they run out! Profit or loss is none if your concern.

 

[Mr. Retrofire]

MR wrote:
"Why would you let TJ Maxx of all places undercut the iPad prices by $100?"

That question is so stupid! It sounds like he does not want cheaper iPads, and no competition!? One could think, that this happens in North Korea or Cuba, but no, it happens in the U.S.A.! People want a dictator!

Just imagine that everyone screams "I want a more expensive iPad! Please Steve Jobs give it to me!". It does not look like it would happen.

 

[twoodcc]

there is no "sent from my iPhone" or iPad, so this may be false

 

[roadbloc]

there is no "sent from my iPhone" or iPad, so this may be false

So I guess steve isn't aloud to use a mac?

As for the topic... Meh, who cares? They're cheap ipads. I wish there was a way I could get an iPad on the cheap here in the uk.

 

[SimonTheSoundMa]

I think we're all failing to point out on how TJ Maxx (or TK Maxx in the UK) operate.

They buy second rate products, such as clothing that has been badly stitched or home furnishing that is mis-coloured, that all fail QA in the factory. They will also buy from companies that have gone bankrupt or from auction.

I'm guessing they bought from a company that has gone bust or at auction.