T.J. Maxx Offering 16 GB Wi-Fi iPads for $399?

[bobob]

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

Maybe apple trying to sell as many iPads before the release of the second? Maybe smart trying to avoid any kind of loss on the hopefully soon to be old iPad were waiting Mr. Jobs!!

Modern just-in-time inventory strategy means there are no longer warehouses full of iPads sitting somewhere.

 

[faroZ06]

Maxx

That store sucks for selling anything but clothes. I got a GameCube controller there for $5, and it had a defective cable that made the controller stop if I move it a little.

And I got a suitcase from there, in a couple of days the tire fell off of one if the wheels, the wheel grinded, and it became hard to roll.

Tj Maxx is the most annoying store ever next to Ross with its 9000000000000 ads.

 

[faroZ06]

hahahah the amount of haters, passive-aggressives in this thread is hilarious

Rock on to everyone who got a good deal ( i just hope you guys aren't ebay scalpers )

Except eBay is probably cheaper. Anyway I don't want an iPad until it has a camera and airplay.

I WOULD buy from TJ Maxx if eBay fails but they ripped me off so much and put so many annoying ads that I don't want to shop there.

 

[saving107]

This 10" iPad cost $270 to make. Look it up. Apple is NOT losing money with this.

R&D, Marketing and Distribution is not free. Though I agree that Apple is not loosing money on the iPad, I don't think they are making as much profit as you think they are.

 

[chris975d]

R&D, Marketing and Distribution is not free. Though I agree that Apple is not loosing money on the iPad, I don't think they are making as much profit as you think they are.

I love it when people quote the materials cost of an Apple device and think it's the actual cost Apple has in a device. You're right, marketing, distribution are not free (along with research and development, manufacturing costs, etc). That $250-270 is just the cost of buying the components inside the device. If that's "all it costs Apple", then why don't these people who think that Apple is ripping them off just buy the components and assemble their own device? Oh yeah...that's right...it can't be done. They don't have the machinery to do so, nor the software to install when done. Just like the materials that make up a typical car are probably around 1/3rd to 1/2 the total cost of the car, yet you don't see anyone designing their own, buying the parts, and putting it together themselves, do we?

 

[drorpheus]

If any of you seriously think that the iPad or any device costs half of the retail price, your a child. If the ipad costs $500 at retail, you can be assured that it costs apple less than $100. Just like all these stupid clips about oh Microsoft and Sony lose money with every console they sell and they make it back in game sales, no, if someone presented that idea to sony or microsoft they'd have been fired that day on the spot for having a stupid idea. Why would any mfg tell the consumer the C2G (cost 2 goods) they don't and won't because that is proprietary info. Marshalls/TJMaxx buy overstock and excess from mfgs/distributors, so if they're selling the iPad for $400 they paid less then $200 per device, no business is going to buy something and sell it for a loss, otherwise next year their'd be no business to sell anything. They are not an authorized reseller of anything so they don't have to comply with anyone in terms of setting price. An example, Reebok NFL sweatshirt is $80 at full price from Reebok, Marshalls has the same one for $30, Marshalls didn't pay $80 or $50 or $30, they paid between $5-8 so when they sell it for $30 they're making 5-6 times what they paid for it. This is how businesses run, 99.9% of all products are marked up in the 4 matrixes, so 4,8,12,16,20. So with them having a $400 iPad they more than likely bought 10000+ ipads from one of the distributors who are no longer looking to carry the iPad, so in essence Costco just dropped the iPad, TJMAXX bought the left overs at what ever price because Costco will just write it off as a loss, so they lose no money. This is why TJMAXX/Marshalls are still around for the last 20 years.

 

[Meldar]

Nope. Not at all. My wife works for TJX Inc. They're almost certainly refurbs. They'll come in a plain box or something. A couple or three years ago a different TJX retail brand chain did the same thing with a large stock of refurb Sony PSPs, selling them for $100, about half off the then-current price.

If it's advertised, it's legit. TJX retail brand chain stores do not sell knockoffs or trademark-violating lookalikes. They tend to buy from the manufacturers themselves, not distributors, and the overwhelming majority of all their products are popular brand names. In fact, that's the hook for all TJX retail brand stores: Popular, pricey brands at lower prices.

I believe this a lot more than speculation about these being fake iPads.

That said, I can't see each store having too many in stock...and it would make a bit more sense to hold off until the Christmas-time rush.

I haven't heard speculation on iPad v2 but I suppose the rise of offers like this one will spark them...

 

[bobob]

If any of you seriously think that the iPad or any device costs half of the retail price, your a child. If the ipad costs $500 at retail, you can be assured that it costs apple less than $100. Just like all these stupid clips about oh Microsoft and Sony lose money with every console they sell and they make it back in game sales, no, if someone presented that idea to sony or microsoft they'd have been fired that day on the spot for having a stupid idea. Why would any mfg tell the consumer the C2G (cost 2 goods) they don't and won't because that is proprietary info. Marshalls/TJMaxx buy overstock and excess from mfgs/distributors, so if they're selling the iPad for $400 they paid less then $200 per device, no business is going to buy something and sell it for a loss, otherwise next year their'd be no business to sell anything. They are not an authorized reseller of anything so they don't have to comply with anyone in terms of setting price. An example, Reebok NFL sweatshirt is $80 at full price from Reebok, Marshalls has the same one for $30, Marshalls didn't pay $80 or $50 or $30, they paid between $5-8 so when they sell it for $30 they're making 5-6 times what they paid for it. This is how businesses run, 99.9% of all products are marked up in the 4 matrixes, so 4,8,12,16,20. So with them having a $400 iPad they more than likely bought 10000+ ipads from one of the distributors who are no longer looking to carry the iPad, so in essence Costco just dropped the iPad, TJMAXX bought the left overs at what ever price because Costco will just write it off as a loss, so they lose no money. This is why TJMAXX/Marshalls are still around for the last 20 years.

Interesting theory, just the wrong one for this particular situation.

 

[dba7dba]

R&D, Marketing and Distribution is not free. Though I agree that Apple is not loosing money on the iPad, I don't think they are making as much profit as you think they are.

I never said anything about how much I think they are making. My statement was that they are NOT losing money on this.

 

[dba7dba]

Initial results of the poll on which iPad model MacRumors forum members purchased indicate that the 16GB Wi-Fi is one of the most popular models.

Based on the poll data, perhaps T.J. Maxx should have been offering one of the least popular models: either the 16GB 3G or the 64GB Wi-Fi.

IMO it doesn't matter if 16G WiFi was popular or not. If they come out with 2nd Gen iPads, lowest spec 1st Gen iPads will be discontinued and higher spec 1st Gen iPads will be kept as the lowest priced iPads.

 

[joepunk]

Sweet!!!!

They must have gotten ahold of lots of iPads (quite possibly many refurbished ones) in order to offer such a deal. Could very well be a limited sell. Once they have all sold that is it and no more to come.

Of course knowing myself I will be still playing the waiting game as I have been doing with the MacBook Pro line. Forever.

 

[tnick777]

Hmm...seems kinda sketchy. Since when does Apple allow such a big discount? Worth investigating, but I'll bet it's either a mistake or else they have like three iPads they will sell at this price and that's that.

Legally Apple can't mandate prices... That's known as Price Maintenance...

 

[redshift1]

Legally Apple can't mandate prices... That's known as Price Maintenance...

something is going on with the pricing

 

[SkippyThorson]

This was my original plan anyway, so... ??

Well, that's great, but I never asked you or argued with your plans. My plan was to get an easy $100 off for this iPad for this Christmas, or get a new one early next year. I also just noted that there were none in Central NY. That's all.

 

[chriszzz]

Just like all these stupid clips about oh Microsoft and Sony lose money with every console they sell and they make it back in game sales, no, if someone presented that idea to sony or microsoft they'd have been fired that day on the spot for having a stupid idea.

That is exactly how Microsoft and Sony do business at the launch of their consoles.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6140383.html

 

[chris975d]

Legally Apple can't mandate prices... That's known as Price Maintenance...

You're right, they can't legally mandate price, but as this article here says: http://hffo.cuna.org/12433/article/1059/html , Apple can just choose not to sell to them. I deal with Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) policies all the time, I know how frustrating they can be.

 

[iHeartapple2]

My theory is Apple is trying to kill 2 birds with one stone, WHILE still not dragging the Apple brand through the gutter called 'price war'.

1st bird:
Get rid of low end iPads before 2nd generation comes out. When the 2nd Gen iPads come out, higher end 1st Gen iPads can move down to the cheapest iPad slot.


2nd bird:
Their 2nd goal is keeping fence sitters from going over to competitor's camp, and this ties into the fact that this is the FIRST Thanksgiving/Christmas since the release of iPad.

There are people who are sitting on the fence trying to decide whether to get iPad or one of the competitors this Christmas, either as a gift for self or others. They are waiting to see reviews from initial buyers of Samsung Galaxy Tab OR better price/2nd-Gen iPads to be released. Considering this is THE FIRST Thanksgiving/Christmas since iPad was released, Apple selling a huge number of iPad in this season is important as it will determine whether Apple can dominate the Tablet market or not in the foreseeable future.

A tablet bought this Christmas will probably be the first tablet in the hands of a casual user, not a die hard apple user. And the casual tablet user will probably stay with the OS/platform that he gets on his first tablet. And Apple needs such casual users to sell lots of their stuff, since they can only have so much die hard Apple users. They've learned their lessons from iPhone.

As success of iPhone was a hugely important factor for Apple in every sense (the tipping point in creased brand recognition/stock-price/the helo effect), they know iPad is another important step to the next big wave of Apple, mainly media consumption market such as TV/movie/book. Dominating and locking in the tablet market thorough this Thanksgiving/Christmas is very very important for Apple

If Apple somehow fails to grab significant portion of next wave of tablet buyers (which will come this Thanksgiving/Christmas season), that means their grip on the tablet market will be loosened as more competitors release their products. They won't beat Apple obviously but still Apple won't be happy with nothing less than a complete domination of the tablet market.

So you ask but how many can they really sell through these limited number of stores to make a difference? Apple doesn't HAVE to sell huge numbers of iPads through these 3rd tier channels. But this gesture alone puts DOWNWARD price pressure on their competitors who will probably be forced to lower their prices, and Apple can continue pointing their fingers at the competitors' tablets and say, see they are cheaper and therefore are inferior to what we sell, the iPads.


BRILLIANT marketing team I must say.

T.J. Maxx is not getting these from Apple first of all plus T.J. Maxx is not even a authorized Apple reseller! Second this is a publicity stunt by T.J. Maxx to drum up some extra buzz for their stores to get people in them. These were sourced from another retailer in a limited quantity for select stores and I am positive they took a loss on each one they purchased. It is not abnormal for a store to sell something at or below cost to get foot traffic in their stores in hopes they will buy other items with a much higher margin.

http://www1.tjmaxx.com/tjx/tablet.asp

 

[Chupa Chupa]

T.J. Maxx is not getting these from Apple first of all plus T.J. Maxx is not even a authorized Apple reseller! Second this is a publicity stunt by T.J. Maxx to drum up some extra buzz for their stores to get people in them. These were sourced from another retailer in a limited quantity for select stores and I am positive they took a loss on each one they purchased. It is not abnormal for a store to sell something at or below cost to get foot traffic in their stores in hopes they will buy other items with a much higher margin.

http://www1.tjmaxx.com/tjx/tablet.asp

Not worth wasting your time explaining the obvious. This thread is the domain of conspiracy theorists, not MBAs. Occam's Razor doesn't cut it in here.

 

[tnick777]

You're right, they can't legally mandate price, but as this article here says: http://hffo.cuna.org/12433/article/1059/html , Apple can just choose not to sell to them. I deal with Minimum Advertised Pricing (MAP) policies all the time, I know how frustrating they can be.

But TJ Maxx isn't getting it from Apple they get it from other retailers.

 

[shabbasuraj]

I just picked up 2 from a store in MA.

Apple's hold on prices is a thing of the past.

 

[Kenrik]

If any of you seriously think that the iPad or any device costs half of the retail price, your a child. If the ipad costs $500 at retail, you can be assured that it costs apple less than $100. Just like all these stupid clips about oh Microsoft and Sony lose money with every console they sell and they make it back in game sales, no, if someone presented that idea to sony or microsoft they'd have been fired that day on the spot for having a stupid idea. Why would any mfg tell the consumer the C2G (cost 2 goods) they don't and won't because that is proprietary info. Marshalls/TJMaxx buy overstock and excess from mfgs/distributors, so if they're selling the iPad for $400 they paid less then $200 per device, no business is going to buy something and sell it for a loss, otherwise next year their'd be no business to sell anything. They are not an authorized reseller of anything so they don't have to comply with anyone in terms of setting price. An example, Reebok NFL sweatshirt is $80 at full price from Reebok, Marshalls has the same one for $30, Marshalls didn't pay $80 or $50 or $30, they paid between $5-8 so when they sell it for $30 they're making 5-6 times what they paid for it. This is how businesses run, 99.9% of all products are marked up in the 4 matrixes, so 4,8,12,16,20. So with them having a $400 iPad they more than likely bought 10000+ ipads from one of the distributors who are no longer looking to carry the iPad, so in essence Costco just dropped the iPad, TJMAXX bought the left overs at what ever price because Costco will just write it off as a loss, so they lose no money. This is why TJMAXX/Marshalls are still around for the last 20 years.

You are so wrong it is not funny.. I work for a wholesaler and a store that is not working with Loss Leaders is a store that does not have customers. Stores sell stuff all the time at a loss to get people in the store...

Black Friday is the #1 day for loss leaders.

 

[Margorie]

The truth

I am a coordinator in Marshalls and we did receive ipads. The problem was we receive only 12 not 300 a day for three days like someone previously said. They are not fake or epads or whatever they like to call them. They are regular ipads. Employees weren't allowed to buy them until the next day they were distributed and we announced it the night before to customers that we had them. I bought one myself the day we were allowed with 10% employee discount and compared it to my sisters iPad. They're exactly the same. Not one gliche or problem. This was last week and I have gotten word two days ago we will have more but the dates haven't been announced. There is no line or no hustle. You simply ask at the register and they hand it to you.