Help a foreigner out (U.S./L.A Purchase)

sirmdcsirmdc
Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 2014
Hey, I'm thinking about buying a Macbook in the U.S.(Los Angeles) when I'm going there on vaccation later this year.



What I wonder is:



1. How big is the student discount for a) the best white model, b) the black one, on applestore.com?

2. Which is the best price comparison site you have? (I tried pricegrabber.com)

3. What physical stores sell Macbook's to the lowest prices in L.A, and do they offer student discount? (URL if you have one)

4. Where do you reccomend me buying it? I think I'll go for applestore.com because they are probably the only ones I can order it from and get a swedish keyboard(or is it?) - But it's not the most important thing because I can change it back home, even though they charge 150$ for it.



Any other thoughts or suggestions are welcomed.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    jvbjvb Posts: 210member
    1. The general Apple Store for Education gives you varying levels of discounts. The MacBooks (both the black and the white models) have $100 discounts in the Education store. You can freely browse and check this out on the Store website by the way.



    2. I typically use PriceGrabber.



    3. I have no clue, I live on the East Coast.



    4. The Apple Store is great obviously, as you are getting everything directly from Apple. You also might want to take a look at the refurbished Macs. Here is a link to the page, and if you wait for it there can be some pretty great deals. For the most part, people's experiences purchasing Refurbished products have been positive.



    http://store.apple.com/1-800-780-500...Ki64ldTXlBROCa



    The Amazon Apple Store is a popular location for Macs. You cannot customize, but in general they have a pretty good selection across the board. The link to the Apple store is below.



    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...018102-2428906



    Next you might want to take a look at MacMall. Basically the same type of thing as the Amazon Apple Store.



    http://www.macmall.com/



    Good luck with the Swedish keyboard, I have no clue on that
  • Reply 2 of 9
    sirmdcsirmdc Posts: 7member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jvb View Post


    1. The general Apple Store for Education gives you varying levels of discounts. The MacBooks (both the black and the white models) have $100 discounts in the Education store. You can freely browse and check this out on the Store website by the way.



    2. I typically use PriceGrabber.



    3. I have no clue, I live on the East Coast.



    4. The Apple Store is great obviously, as you are getting everything directly from Apple. You also might want to take a look at the refurbished Macs. Here is a link to the page, and if you wait for it there can be some pretty great deals. For the most part, people's experiences purchasing Refurbished products have been positive.



    http://store.apple.com/1-800-780-500...Ki64ldTXlBROCa



    The Amazon Apple Store is a popular location for Macs. You cannot customize, but in general they have a pretty good selection across the board. The link to the Apple store is below.



    http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...018102-2428906



    Next you might want to take a look at MacMall. Basically the same type of thing as the Amazon Apple Store.



    http://www.macmall.com/



    Good luck with the Swedish keyboard, I have no clue on that



    Thanks for answering.



    About the student discount:

    I found the discount-pricelist on the apple page as you said (http://images.apple.com/education/pr...nPriceList.pdf)

    Now those prices exclude taxes right...so for me it would be that price + 116$ total?





    About PriceGrabber and taxes:

    http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__Apple...=apple+macbook

    (With an L.A zip-code)



    As you see the lowest price is at MainPC: $1,375.00 incl 0$ tax and 20$ shipping

    At AppleStore it costs $1,615.62 incl 116.62$ tax and 0$ shipping



    Why isnt there a tax-fee at MainPC - but there is at AppleStore?

    Does MainPC sound like a good place to buy it? (compared to AppleStore?)
  • Reply 3 of 9
    jvbjvb Posts: 210member
    Yes, the student discounts (and all other prices you see on the Apple store) do not include tax. The only way to see the tax amount you will have to pay (which it seems you found out) is by adding the items to your cart and typing in your zip code.



    In regards to MainPC, I'm going to go take a look around there site now. It does not make sense that everything they sell would be tax free. They probably just are not showing it until the very end of the purchasing process. It should be the same amount, however, if you are buying the exact same Mac configuration. I'll try and find some customer reviews and see if their experience with MainPC was halfway decent.
  • Reply 4 of 9
    jvbjvb Posts: 210member
    I honestly cannot find much info about MainPC. My gut always tells me to go with the Apple Store or Amazon. That's just how I am. You might want to take a look at this thread - basically a debate about the Apple Store.



    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...80#post1016749



    Any other questions?
  • Reply 5 of 9
    sirmdcsirmdc Posts: 7member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jvb View Post


    Yes, the student discounts (and all other prices you see on the Apple store) do not include tax. The only way to see the tax amount you will have to pay (which it seems you found out) is by adding the items to your cart and typing in your zip code.



    Since I'm not an american student myselft i cannot log in as a student - thereby I cannot see the total price. But should'nt the tax be the same (116$) even if you order it as a student?



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jvb View Post


    In regards to MainPC, I'm going to go take a look around there site now. It does not make sense that everything they sell would be tax free. They probably just are not showing it until the very end of the purchasing process. It should be the same amount, however, if you are buying the exact same Mac configuration. I'll try and find some customer reviews and see if their experience with MainPC was halfway decent.



    I'm not sure either, because at the PriceGrabber site you see quite a few sites where it says "No Tax" (Incl MainPC) - and then on one store it says "See site".



    Also i found this comment about the store:

    "Site requires you to enter state of purchase 'for sales tax purposes,' then enter cc info before knowing whether or not sales tax will actually be incurred. Only a minor concern which was alleviated by final billing information including no sales tax and minimal shipping being listed prior to a final confirmation of order."



    What does it mean - that you have to enter your cc-information before finding out if there will be a tax-fee? This guy didn't pay any right? - Strange, I think I'll mail them about it.



    EDIT: I entered a zip-code for Bronx/New York (I think) - to check the tax-fee on MainPC...surprisingly it was 116$ - so it's 116$ for New Yorkers and 0$ for Californians at MainPC...on the other hand a few other sites offered No Tax for the New York zip-code. I'm a bit confused how your taxes work now =)
  • Reply 6 of 9
    sirmdcsirmdc Posts: 7member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jvb View Post


    I honestly cannot find much info about MainPC. My gut always tells me to go with the Apple Store or Amazon. That's just how I am. You might want to take a look at this thread - basically a debate about the Apple Store.



    http://forums.appleinsider.com/showt...80#post1016749



    Any other questions?



    I'll probably go for AppleStore if it turns out that there is a tax-fee on MainPC after all - but not if the price difference is as big as it is otherwise.



    Well I do wish someone knew about the physical AppleStores prices, if they are the same as the ones on the internet I would like to buy the computer from there instead, it is quite inconvenient to buy something online from another country as a tourist.



    I read a little in that thread before, thanks.
  • Reply 7 of 9
    jvbjvb Posts: 210member
    Heh, you can always feel confident about the Apple Store. But you still haven't been able to see the Apple Store for Education? You do not have to login or anything, you just choose the appropriate institution and then head to the "General" Apple Education Store.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    sirmdcsirmdc Posts: 7member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jvb View Post


    Heh, you can always feel confident about the Apple Store. But you still haven't been able to see the Apple Store for Education? You do not have to login or anything, you just choose the appropriate institution and then head to the "General" Apple Education Store.



    Oh how stupid am I - in Sweden you have to log in before you see the student-prices =)



    But I just received an answer from MainPC about the sales tax; evidently since they are located in New York you don't have to pay any tax as long as you're not in the same state.

    Sounds strange to me but who am I to complain if I can get it to a better price



    Quote: "In US, when you buy something online you have to check where the company runs business in. Most out of state sales are tax exampted. Since you are in California and we operates business in New York, if you purchase from us online you don' have to pay online."



    So it's leaning towards MainPC again =)





    Again - how are the prices in your local AppleStores? Is it the same as the ones on the online one? (Even if you don't live in L.A)
  • Reply 9 of 9
    jvbjvb Posts: 210member
    Yes, local Apple Stores have the same prices.
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