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Why no Apple Retail Store Edu Discounts?!?!?
- Thread starter dxp4acu
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probably because of verification problems. by purchasing through the apple store they can track for abuse of the lower prices. don't they have limits on the number of purchases? otherwise, someone could set up shop just outside the apple store, selling everything for halfway in between.
dunno. maybe they figure you're more likely to peddle a $100 software package. Or it's easier to track the purchase of a machine--don't they log the purchaser's name by serial number when you buy?
For what it's worth, I was told once that it was because of a different license (Academic) that it couldn't be sold in the stores. I don't think it's verification because they do that with hardware purchases.
I was just going to start a thread about this to give everyone the head's up...
I went to my somewhat local Apple store (45 min away) to get iLife.. and the guy said that only the discounts are valid online. I was certainly a little dissapointed. Which I thought was weird since they do offer hardware discounts...
So I wasted some driving time and gas, but I hung out with my brother and got some lunch not so bad, I just ordered it online.
I would think the stores were more likely to offer the discount because they actually verify your information where as the website just assumes your trustworthy (at least in my cases). Eh.. I guess I will be making some music next week at this time....
I went to my somewhat local Apple store (45 min away) to get iLife.. and the guy said that only the discounts are valid online. I was certainly a little dissapointed. Which I thought was weird since they do offer hardware discounts...
So I wasted some driving time and gas, but I hung out with my brother and got some lunch not so bad, I just ordered it online.
I would think the stores were more likely to offer the discount because they actually verify your information where as the website just assumes your trustworthy (at least in my cases). Eh.. I guess I will be making some music next week at this time....
hardware/software discounts
Apple Retail Stores ONLY offer the educational discounts on hardware, not software (not even Apple software). They do this because of the near impossibility to track software purchases from students (an earlier post described this). Yes, it's frustrating, yes it even frustrates me, but when they first allowed it, students came in with outdated student ids and bought multiple copies and sold them for retail price (or something of the sort). Because of the unlikelihood on someone being rich enough to do this with multiple g5s, they do allow hardware discounts.
So, buy hardware from the retail stores, order software online or buy it at your college bookstore.
Apple Retail Stores ONLY offer the educational discounts on hardware, not software (not even Apple software). They do this because of the near impossibility to track software purchases from students (an earlier post described this). Yes, it's frustrating, yes it even frustrates me, but when they first allowed it, students came in with outdated student ids and bought multiple copies and sold them for retail price (or something of the sort). Because of the unlikelihood on someone being rich enough to do this with multiple g5s, they do allow hardware discounts.
So, buy hardware from the retail stores, order software online or buy it at your college bookstore.
Re: hardware/software discounts
man, one stupid greedy guy has to ruin the convenience for everyone...
Off topic: anyone from ann arbor interested in ordering iLife together? i need to buy two copies to qualify for free shipping...
OTOH, maybe they won't allow two copies to be purchased under one purchaser for edu. discount... ugh.
man, one stupid greedy guy has to ruin the convenience for everyone...
Off topic: anyone from ann arbor interested in ordering iLife together? i need to buy two copies to qualify for free shipping...
OTOH, maybe they won't allow two copies to be purchased under one purchaser for edu. discount... ugh.
Re: Why no Apple Retail Store Edu Discounts?!?!?
I can't speak to the Apple Store issues. However, at CompUSA the reason is even simpler than the tracking problem: profit. For example, wholesale cost from Apple to CompUSA for Panther is right around $100 (IIRC). The .edu cost is $69. Were CompUSA to sell Panther at the academic pricing, they'd lose money.
This is true on a lot of hardware stuff as well. To the best of my knowledge it's each CompUSA's decision how to handle .edu pricing on hardware, so long as they don't lose money (sell below wholesale).
Apple retail stores probably have a lower wholesale than Comp, but maybe not. Just another thought.
I can't speak to the Apple Store issues. However, at CompUSA the reason is even simpler than the tracking problem: profit. For example, wholesale cost from Apple to CompUSA for Panther is right around $100 (IIRC). The .edu cost is $69. Were CompUSA to sell Panther at the academic pricing, they'd lose money.
This is true on a lot of hardware stuff as well. To the best of my knowledge it's each CompUSA's decision how to handle .edu pricing on hardware, so long as they don't lose money (sell below wholesale).
Apple retail stores probably have a lower wholesale than Comp, but maybe not. Just another thought.
As an avid college mac fan, I agree 100% with Apple's policy on educational discounts in store. The piracy issue is HUGE on EVERY college campus. And retail fraud, or reselling purchased items at a higher price, is illegal, but still done all the time. Apple is not purposely trying to inconvenience all of you students, but they are just trying to cover their butts and make some kind of profit.
i just ordered my iLife online... for some reason, Univ. of Michigan computer store sells software below retail, but above the edu. discount, for example:
Panther: $129 retail, $69 edu discount but sold for $79 at the store.
iLife: $49 retail, $29 edu discount but sold for $39 at the store.
3rd party software, they generally sell at a good discount, like Macromedia Studio MX was below $200, toast was $90, etc...