Sandy's Mac

[mozartian]

I know you have closed the thread Chrystal, however I wanted to just make one comment. I sent an offer of 5100 by PM. 'Why would I want to accept that? as I have received more than that as a refund from the Apple Store' Sandy replied.

This has opened up a whole new world to me! You can buy a product from Apple, take it away and try and make a fast buck on it, and if that fails Apple will take it back, no questions asked. In the sense that Apple are carrying the risk, this is analogous to the speculator mortgage applicants buying houses with other people's money to make a quick return, and, when prices collapsed, leaving the banks to pick-up the pieces. As the song goes: Nice Work if you can get it, and you can get it if you try.

[fangpyre]

Don't you think he should be compensated for his trouble?
You need access to a store within Apple's return policy.
In the end reward is equal to the risk.
And in this case there was no reward.

[mozartian]

You are quite right Frangpye: there was no reward. No reward for the Apple retailer. His function is to supply the end user and provide a return facility if there is a genuine problem with the product. I am sure the Apple store would not have entertained the idea of Sandy borrowing the laptop and seeing if he can turn over a profit, but return it if that plan failed.

[hanzo]

While I've never actually returned an Apple product to the store (Why on earth would I want to!?), I was under the impression that they charged a restocking fee for non-defective returns.

[fangpyre]

I'm not sure the restocking fee applies if the box is unopened.
And I'm sure he took that into consideration (I hope).

And trust me, Apple is more than happy to do it this way.
If he makes a sale, they make a profit, and if he doesn't, no loss there.
Also, very few people have access to the store in such a short period.
So small, in fact, that even if Apple did have a problem with it, they wouldn't do anything about it.

On the other hand, most retailers in the UAE don't pay anything (or risk anything) to sell Apple computers.
They get the stuff on a consignment basis.
And if they don't sell it, they send it back.
So why would Apple be unhappy with making that same sale at full retail price?

The fact is your offer was not the best option for him.
Why should he sell it for a loss, when he has added value to it?
He shipped it, and it is not used.
Of course, it depends on the tax rate he was charged, but is most likely more than what you offered.
Especially since he expects to get more by simply returning it.

I don't see why you are unhappy.
Its unlikely you will get it for any less than what he offered unless you go get it yourself from the US.
If you can, then there is no harm done, you get your Mac and he loses nothing.
If you can't, then you should have made him a better offer.

[LeoSeven]

I don't see why you are unhappy.
Its unlikely you will get it for any less than what he offered unless you go get it yourself from the US.
If you can, then there is no harm done, you get your Mac and he loses nothing.
If you can't, then you should have made him a better offer.

Agree with you totally.
Actually I found it weird that no one grabbed Sandy's MB at what seemed to be a very attractive price. I thought it was gonna be sold within less than 24 hours!

[Magnus]

Personally I don't see much of a problem. What he did was surely not illegal, unethical perhaps, but something many of us would do, I think. So he'll return it to Apple and get his money back. For Apple, the worst thing that would happen is they sell it as refurbished and still get a pretty penny for it. More likely they can actually sell it new again full price. And wasn't the "Apple retailer" in this case Apple themselves?

[SandyBear]

Dear all.
I certainly appreciate the stir my attempt trying to sell the MacBook has caused. However, first let explain that I got it for my wife, but she preferred her 4 months old white plastic MacBook with localized keyboard. So I thought I would try to sell it to anyone attending this forum and who was keen on getting it now, not in 4 weeks. The base for the attempted price was what the old Macbook was sold for here in UAE, approx 6400 AED. The new ALU MacBook is vastly a superior product, me think, so as long as the moderators do not block this attempt, why not. After all, some are trying to sell hacked iPhones for a +100% margin...
Just by chance, this month I had to return a second time to US and as Apple provides a full return guarantee, I just realized, that if not sold, I can return it to the apple store and get my money back, including sales tax, AND by credit card with the crappy exchange rate. As nobody seemed to understand the value of this product and all silly, uninformed offers and questions, it was just not worth the hassle.
The MacBook was returned 2 days ago, no problems at all.
Apple Sales and Refund Policy
This is no different from ie IKEA which also offers returns with full refund, and is part of their sales strategy, to get more products out the door.
Ok, so finally, what did I mean with cost price? Well, like hanzo confirmed:
ALU MacBook 13.3"
1. take US price
2. add local sales tax (NY 8.5%)
3. exchange with your credit card, approx 3.8 (yes, check this with your card company!)
4. add customs fee 5% and typing fee 30 AED
5. add transport cost (ie 0 if you carry it your self, Aramex approx. 550AED)
...and as Hanzo added it up you will get something around 6200 aed...
I think that people like ultrablue662 offering her sister's services is extremely nice, but maybe not great for EMUG sponsors, like ABM.
So who wants Apple stuff from the US?
I also think that people trying to sell more than 2 iPhones at a 100% profit is unethical, but hey, there is only one price, the one demand and supply decides. Don't buy it if it's to expensive! That goes for everything in life, i believe...
So, again, sorry should I have hurt anybody feelings, but next time, make better and more informed offers.... :-)
Oh, and the restocking fee only applies to opened items, ie "a restocking fee of 179 usd applies if opened"
/tSB

[hanzo]

Good to know about the restocking fee.

Who/what is ABM?

And on a completely unrelated note, it dawned on me tonight that my Macbook is technically a faster/superior computer to my iMac. Not much mind you, same CPU/RAM, but the bus speed is faster. Graphically, the iMac wins (dedicated vs. shared memory).

It's funny, I don't typically bother with boot camp on my laptops, but given the performance, I might have to just for a little TF2 at work

[fangpyre]

First off Sandy, welcome back.
I personally see nothing wrong with what took place.
I think that is clear from my previous posts.
I think your offer was reasonable, and I'm surprised it didn't move.

I spoke to 3 people about it, and they were all not ready to take it now.
The English keyboard was an issue for one of them.

In the end, as a buyer or seller, you can make whatever price you see fit.
And if somebody agrees with you, a deal is closed.
Regardless of margin.

However in this case, you should keep in mind that:
- even though the price is reasonable, the saving is not THAT huge.
- most people here will go for the high end one
- the main benefit to your offer is the "no waiting period", but some people will want to wait for the Arabic keyboard.

I would have done what you did, if I were in your shoes.