AppleInsider Staff
Apple's somewhat unofficial eBay store has begun undercutting the company's own refurbished prices, offering MacBooks for up to $100 less, and savings of up to $50 on iPads and iPods.
Apple's Refurbished Outlet eBay store, where the company sells Macs, iPads and other products at significant discount. Currently, shoppers can find the following deals:
- A 13.3-inch MacBook Air at eBay.com with 128 gigabytes of solid-state storage for just $899, which is $100 less than Apple's direct refurbished price.
- Refurbished 64-gigabyte iPod touch models at eBay.com for $229, a savings of $50 from Apple's traditional store.
- And the 32-gigabyte iPod touch at eBay.com is also available refurbished for $179, or $30 off what Apple normally charges.
- Verizon 3G-enabled iPad 2 models: the 64-gigabyte model at eBay.com is offered for $529, while the 32-gigabyte version at eBay.com is $429, both a savings of $50 from the Apple Store.
AppleInsider has been tracking Apple's "secret" eBay store and has witnessed the company adding more inventory on a daily basis as of late. The company's somewhat unconventional approach to selling inventory is in addition to across-the-board price cuts the company instituted on its MacBook Pro with Retina display models last month.
Aggressive deals on Apple's MacBook lineup continued throughout the month of February, when resellers began offering discounts of as much as $350 off of the company's premium laptop lineup.
Apple's changes come after the company saw a 17 percent year over year drop in Mac sales in the December quarter. The company largely attributed that reduction to limited availability of its latest iMac models, but also admitted that cannibalization from the company's own iPad may have played a role.
Lowest Prices on New Macs
Meanwhile, readers in the market for new, sealed Apple products and closeout items can turn to our Macs, Macs with AppleCare, and iPad price guides for the absolute lowest prices anywhere. In addition, AppleInsider readers get the absolute lowest prices anywhere on MacBook Airs and MacBook Pros when using links in the price guides or this article and then apply Promo Code APPINSDRMWB38717 on MacMalls product pages. Similarly, readers in the market for a new Mac with AppleCare can achieve the best prices on the bundles when using our Macs with AppleCare price guide.
Wesley Hilliard
Andrew Orr
Amber Neely
William Gallagher
30 Comments
Another questionable move by Apple CEO Tim Cook: fundamentally changing the openness and honesty of Apple's dealings with customers.
Another questionable move by Apple CEO Tim Cook: fundamentally changing the openness and honesty of Apple's dealings with customers.
Yeah, nice try.
1. Do we know that this is actually "Apple's" store?
2. If you read the last article on it, this has been in existence for years. Pre-Cook. So if it is directly owned by Apple, that completely destroys your little bit of FUD.
Another questionable move by Apple CEO Tim Cook: fundamentally changing the openness and honesty of Apple's dealings with customers.
They also have another store where they discount hardware, sometimes by up to 10%!!! And even throw in free iPod Touch (when I bought mine)!!!
So unfair and definitely not honest of them to offer an educational discount...
Are you seriously on crack or something? Every major electronics company has an ebay store.
Wish AI would stop going on about the 17% drop as if all of Apples changes are related to it. The reason for the drop was the monumental cockup of the iMac refresh & nothing else. Everything is now business as usual for them & they should be comfortably back to shipment growth this quarter.
Another questionable move by Apple CEO Tim Cook: fundamentally changing the openness and honesty of Apple's dealings with customers.
Yeah, nice try.
1. Do we know that this is actually "Apple's" store?
2. If you read the last article on it, this has been in existence for years. Pre-Cook. So if it is directly owned by Apple, that completely destroys your little bit of FUD.
Not to mention that under Steve Jobs, new Apple iPods were sold on Overstock.com -- they had to come from somewhere, and AFAIK, Apple is the only company that makes Apple iPods,