according to ebay, my 2-year-old macbook is worth half the original purchase price. not quite free for me :(
[deleted]
Apple economics: a free laptop every year.
61–70 of 73 posts
Re: Apple economics: a free laptop every year.
#62I'm considering trying this with the MacBook I bought a few months ago (to upgrade back to the 15" MBP that I miss), but to be honest, I've heard so many horror stories about trying to sell computers on Craigslist and eBay that I'm a little spooked by the prospect.
Don't be. If you follow the rules to a T (ship only to confirmed U.S. addresses, ship with tracking, require a signature) you're covered in the eyes of PayPal. I've probably sold 5 laptops and (easily) 10 phones for myself and friends on eBay. Cover your bases, require PayPal and a confirmed address. Don't budge on these points and you'll be fine. PROTIPS: * Absolutely start with a $1 lowest bid, no reserve. The mark…
Do NOT make your auction ends on Friday and Saturday night. I always list my auctions for 10 days (longest possible for private seller), starting on Thursday or Friday night, so they will end on Sunday or Monday, when people don't go out. With that I'm maximizing the number of people who look at my auction (potential bidders) and the number of people who is available at the time my auctions end (actual bidder).
Re: Apple economics: a free laptop every year.
#63I'm considering trying this with the MacBook I bought a few months ago (to upgrade back to the 15" MBP that I miss), but to be honest, I've heard so many horror stories about trying to sell computers on Craigslist and eBay that I'm a little spooked by the prospect.
Don't be. If you follow the rules to a T (ship only to confirmed U.S. addresses, ship with tracking, require a signature) you're covered in the eyes of PayPal. I've probably sold 5 laptops and (easily) 10 phones for myself and friends on eBay. Cover your bases, require PayPal and a confirmed address. Don't budge on these points and you'll be fine. PROTIPS: * Absolutely start with a $1 lowest bid, no reserve. The mark…
Great advice! This is the same strategy that I have developed with my own auctions and have been able fetch top dollar every time. I would also add:
*Never sell anything as a bundle, always separate it out into different auctions.
Re: Apple economics: a free laptop every year.
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
Wait, i'm confused (i'm living in Europe): US carriers don't require you to sign another two year contract when you buy their new subsidized phone?
US carriers do require this. After one year, AT&T usually lets you get the newest iPhone at the subsidized cost if you sign another contract. It still locks you in to two years from the date that you last bought a new phone.
But is the old contract still in effect ? If yes, then the profit selling his old phone probably doesn't cover the money he must paid for one year left of the old contract. That's why i'm confused.
Re: Apple economics: a free laptop every year.
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
I could be wrong, but I don't think there's anything illegal about having a student buy a laptap and then immediately resell it to you. (On the other hand, it might be illegal to directly claim that you are a student when you really aren't.) Whether you think that's immoral probably has to do with how moral you think price discrimination is in general.
Student discounts generally require that it be for personal use. Edit: Added after the jrockway and tylerhowath replied, but didn't want to reply to both: From the Apple Sales and Refund Policy… Purchases from the Apple Store for Education Individuals are not for institutional purchase or resale. I presume the same applies to the in store discount. Apple has enough lawyers to cross that "t".
[deleted]
Re: Apple economics: a free laptop every year.
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
US carriers do require this. After one year, AT&T usually lets you get the newest iPhone at the subsidized cost if you sign another contract. It still locks you in to two years from the date that you last bought a new phone.
But is the old contract still in effect ? If yes, then the profit selling his old phone probably doesn't cover the money he must paid for one year left of the old contract. That's why i'm confused.
Why would you have two contracts?
Buy iPhone 3GS June 2009, Contract ends in June 2011. June 2010, sell 3GS, buy iPhone 4 and now contract ends 2012.
It is an early upgrade which requires you to sign a new two-year contract.
Re: Apple economics: a free laptop every year.
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
I could be wrong, but I don't think there's anything illegal about having a student buy a laptap and then immediately resell it to you. (On the other hand, it might be illegal to directly claim that you are a student when you really aren't.) Whether you think that's immoral probably has to do with how moral you think price discrimination is in general.
Student discounts generally require that it be for personal use. Edit: Added after the jrockway and tylerhowath replied, but didn't want to reply to both: From the Apple Sales and Refund Policy… Purchases from the Apple Store for Education Individuals are not for institutional purchase or resale. I presume the same applies to the in store discount. Apple has enough lawyers to cross that "t".
Putting "From the Apple Sales and Refund Policy… Purchases from the Apple Store for Education Individuals are not for institutional purchase or resale" in a refund policy or anywhere does not mean Apple has the right to restrict resales.
Re: Apple economics: a free laptop every year.
#68I'd like to offer a counterpoint to the author's suggestion that "you'd be an idiot not to buy [and dispose of] a new laptop every year." I'm a software engineer and put a lot on my computer's shoulders, running an entire cluster's worth of software as part of my development environment. I value longevity and durability in products I buy. It's nice to pick a machine and stick with it. It's a long-term companion. It's…
Apple makes it VERY easy to migrate your entire system across machines, thus lubricating this entire process. That combined with resale make this kit very attractive to their customer base who can instantly choose to be in your camp or the author's camp. On the other hand, the market probably doesn't value modifications or add-ons as well, so re-selling my year-old MBP with optical replaced by SSD, 750GB 7200RPM rust…
Lucky for you that that RAM, SSD, and additional drive in the Optibay are fairly standard and can follow you to the new system unless Apple uses different RAM in the next rev. I am in a similar boat and the only thing that gnaws at me is that when I bought the 8G of RAM it was around $600 and now you can get it for close to $200 -- the RAM has depreciated faster than any other part of my laptop.
Re: Apple economics: a free laptop every year.
#69Earlier quoted context omitted.
Apple makes it VERY easy to migrate your entire system across machines, thus lubricating this entire process. That combined with resale make this kit very attractive to their customer base who can instantly choose to be in your camp or the author's camp. On the other hand, the market probably doesn't value modifications or add-ons as well, so re-selling my year-old MBP with optical replaced by SSD, 750GB 7200RPM rust…
Lucky for you that that RAM, SSD, and additional drive in the Optibay are fairly standard and can follow you to the new system unless Apple uses different RAM in the next rev. I am in a similar boat and the only thing that gnaws at me is that when I bought the 8G of RAM it was around $600 and now you can get it for close to $200 -- the RAM has depreciated faster than any other part of my laptop.
Hate to add to your pain, but I actually bought my 8GB (2x4GB) kit for $80 (was about 2 months ago).
Aside from an MB Air I bought for my dad (non-upgradeable RAM), I always tell folks to go minimum on RAM spec and find suitable add-on RAM, often 3-6 mo later.
Re: Apple economics: a free laptop every year.
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
US carriers do require this. After one year, AT&T usually lets you get the newest iPhone at the subsidized cost if you sign another contract. It still locks you in to two years from the date that you last bought a new phone.
But is the old contract still in effect ? If yes, then the profit selling his old phone probably doesn't cover the money he must paid for one year left of the old contract. That's why i'm confused.
Effectively, the contract's life is "reset" to two years.