Apple rethinks inventory management for iPad 2 - Page 2

Would you even care about scalping if you and everyone else could get one today or tomorrow?...

They tried this already... here's what happened: http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...ide&id=7447037

It is not illegal to refuse cash in a store. http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?sec...ide&id=7447037

The current system treats everyone the same.

Seniority is not a good policy to institute for most consumer-buying situations. Companies want new customers. That's real growth. Heck, over half of Mac sales in Apple's retail stores have been to first-time Mac buyers.

Besides, seniority means nothing. Let's say I set up an iTunes account in 2005 and purchase $5 in songs a year. Should I have priority over someone who set up their account in 2009 and spends $350 annually?

Your suggestion is dangerously close to entitlement.

No I wouldn't, because then their actions wouldn't be affecting normal customers.

Just went to the Apple store in Santa Monica, 15mins after opening, and they sold all of their IPad 2s that they received last night. I asked for details, like how many they sold, what time did people get in line, would they have more in the next few days? I got the same answer for all my questions "We are SOLD OUT". It was a little cold, but it sounds like they have been instructed to say the same thing to every customer that wants one. It stinks but got to hand it to someone that got their earlier then me, even if they go and re-sell it on EBay. No biggie, I'll get one eventually.

I'm not sure the labor costs of having to employ and manage a 1000 people would outweigh the margins by stocking and reselling IPads. Sounds like a bad business, better to take your "lotto" winnings and buy AAPL stock at 335.

You're not serious - debit cards are becoming the de facto payment standard in the world (maybe except the US?) and do not have (and never will have) any transaction limit except for the balance of your account.) Those of us with money would rather not create debt unnecessarily.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/03/10/pf/d...imit/index.htm

Unfortunately he is serious. I’ll try to find a link.

edit: Pipped by cpr1. Good show.

ROFLMAO!!!

Really? So you are saying that Apple would rather have taken in (roughly) FIVE MILLION in cash at their NYC flagship store on opening day? I cant envision any problems risks associated with that that using credit cards would allieviate...other than the need to hire 20 armed guards with a 99% likelyhood of robbery occuring otherwise, massive potential for employee theft, bank fees for processing that much cash, Just finding the room to store that much cash short term in the store, etc. etc. etc...

Many debit cards have spending limits. Mine has a $500/day cash limit and $1000K/day purchase limit and I have excellent credit. It's just the bank's policy.

Don't forget your other bogymen: Asian and Russian scalpers, crack addicts, homeless, foreigners . . .

Free advice for you, since you are always giving it out: I really think you ought to put the computer to sleep and go out, meet people, that sort of thing.

Ok, so instead of this whole cash vs credit card thing what about this:

Why doesnt Apple just accept internet orders with in-store pickup for the first month. Then after the first month or so, they put them in the stores and resume "normal" purchasing. I think this would not eliminate the scalpers, but at least give them another road block in purchasing them while doing the sales perfectly legal. They could set something up, like a Apple Buyer Club or something where you register and enter your info and credit card info and such on your account for easier checkout and then pick it up in-store for like the first month or so. I dont know, just a suggestion. Don't see how that wouldn't work.

But then of course, you have the people on here that will want to argue with anyone about everything.

I agree 100%. Apple should take the same kind of approach they did with the iPhone. Peope pulling this buy ten and put it on ebay shit for a crazy price needs to end. While I know it isn't illlegal Apple has put a stop to it before and it would be nice for them to do so again.

I saw a Craiglist ad asking $1500 for a 16GB Wifi only model... needless to say laughs were had.

I have been to the Boylston Apple Store everyday since Friday (but not today). I have been to the Store also a few days after the launch of the otiginal iPad, and also the iPhone.

I was there at 5pm last Friday. Since I was not buying the iPad2, I did not line up and was among the first to get in (after I have taken a few shots outside). My goal on Friday was to get a general impression of the kind of people buying the iPad.

The process was very orderly, even if it was very busy. The weather was bad until early afternoon, and the line was long but not overwhelming. What amazed me though was that the lines got even longer and was still quite long, until well past 830pm, More than likely because of the office workers. Those in line were assured that there were plenty of stocks.

From what I overheard, before I left, they did not give away any tickets to latecomers last Friday. who were not already in line. They were advised to come the following day and be served on a first come-first serve basis.

Some of the staff were talking about it the following day, and they have to work overtime. You can see it in their faces too. The Store remained busy since Friday, and I have not encountered anyone to suggest that there were shortages. There were no line inside the area reserved for customers that intend to buy the product that was launched. The staff number though remained high, more than the usual days. There wee buyers and there were many in the iPad2 sections.

Between last year and this year, I would say the iPhone4 was most sustained. There were many customers waiting in line inside many months after. I think they instituted the ticket system since the original iPad so that people who lined up previously had already assured reservation to get one the following day or whenever they can come.

So, either the Boylston staff and management were more efficient since last year since the launch of the original iPad.

What is different this year is that there are more outlets selling the product, iPad2 from day one. Near my place, there are three Apple Stores that can be accessed through the subway or bus. There is a fourth one that could be reached also via the subway but it is too far. The Boylston Apple Store is the most busy because it has more staff that cater to customer services, including the only one providing the Professional Services, as of now.

Apart from the Apple Store, there is also a Best Buy and a Target near my place, and there are Verizon and AT&T stores all over the city. One of the salesmen at the Verizon store also at Boylston St, was agressively selling the Xoom, and badmouthing the iPad2. No mention of the Samsung Galaxy at all. It was also suspicious that the iPad2 on display when I visited had malfunctioning Wifi connections but both the Xoom and the Galaxy were working, at least when I tried to view my website. I did not bother checking more because thee was no problem with the Wifi versions of the iPad2 at the Apple Boylston Store.

Also, my site (website version) loaded much faster on the iPad2 (Boylston Apple Store). .Moreover, the website version of my site had less of an "El Greco" look that was quite how it looked in the Samsung Galaxy. The Android optimized version of the site that appeared in the Galaxy looked ugly and not functioning well, so I might disable the version for the Android.

CGC

Exactly. Why does everyone think that Apple should be preventing people from legally buying an iPad? It doesn't matter what they intend to do with it!?!

WHA?!?!

I don't know about you but I don't sign anything when I buy an iPad. What terms are you thinking they are violating?

Another reason America is being left behind the rest of the world.

Talk about a step backwards. There is no such move happening in the rest of the world. Debit Cards are used in preference to cash, with no charges and no debt created. It's a more responsible way of managing your money, rather than running up debts that you don't have the funds to cover.

If there were absolutely no ill effects a company could suffer from selling the same number of units to a few buyers who arent the end user and who are then forced to pay a premium for the artificially inflated supply than selling the same number of units to all end users, then they would not be stopping people from trying to purchase as many as they wish.

The bottom line is that it can have a detrimental effect on business. Being legal or illegal is not the issue. If it was illegal then Apple wouldnt be making the rules on unit sales, the government would, like with event ticket scalping in multiple countries.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BiQhNKVgzQ

Ridiculous statement.

They are the new display for the MacBook Air. They act as helium balloons carpet and in the middle of the display you have a MBA suspended by one other balloon, meaning it's super light.

The rest of the balloons are probably hooked to HPs...

Not sure where you buy your iPad or whatever Apple product you buy but you do sign something with all the Terms of Agreement implied, as indicated in the Apple website. This is formalized further when you turn on the Apple product for the first time..

There is indeed a standing policy to limit two purchases per person at a time. There are ways around that though, like bringing a friend or family members.

The limit is there to minimize buyers who then send them abroad. However, even this has been circumvented by these professional buyers by using street and poor people to front for them. The latter has been documented, and Apple Stores in large cities, like NYC, have got into trouble (PR wise, as well as the NY Attorney General's Office) when they tried to "challenge" the credentials of the front buyers.

There were quite a lot of Asian buyers during the Friday launch of the iPad2, that is even much higher than the Asian population ratio of Metro Boston and also much higher than the normal racial mix that you would normally see during normal days. What is definite though is that there are more older people, and also Africian Americans buying the iPad2, aa well other Apple products. These are real though because you will find them in the One-to-One and tutorials, as well as the group seminars. And some among the group are becoming evangelizers of the iPad, among those who have not bought yet.

They are using the iPad and their Apple products (MacBook Pros and Air) to create electronic albums and videos from a lifetime of memories. One lady has about 10,000 photos, another brought really very old photos, and literally did not know much about iPhoto but was not hesitant to interrupt the "teacher" if she did not get what was being demoed. An older guy was doing the same thing, including sending those photoalbums to his ex-wife who he stated to still have good relations with. The Apple products have become a way to bond families and relived people's lives and share these experiences.


In the US, this is very true. Even in stores, you seldom find people paying in cash. You will find people paying with food coupons plus cash -- an indication that they were among those with "federal subsidy".

CGC

I liked your earlier comment, almost quoted it. Anyway, I think he doesn't get out much. He's on the computer pretty much all day, posting here 25 times per, or so.

Speaking of inventory, did anyone order online in the first hours and has gotten any shipment notification yet?
3rd business day and nothing yet for me. I ordered a white 3G 64GB AT&T....

If you are responsible in managing your money, then it doesn't matter whether it's debit or credit card that you use. You'll know you can cover the purchase before you made it. For truely responsible people, using credit card is always the preferred method because it gives you 1 month interest free loan (as responsible people pay off credit card in full each month), consolidate bill payment, potential rewards, and much, much better consumer protection features.

I think your being enough of a jerk to people with less money than you(or poor credit rating) that I wish apple would just sell to the scalpers first.
Scalpers are taking advantage of the situation- unfair something must be done!
People with a poor credit score don't have a chance to buy an iPad- f@&k em.

Not to sound like a hard ass, but I think people with poor enough credit to not have a credit card shouldn't really buy an iPad in the first place. For those people who deliberately CHOOSE to not have a credit card for some reason, most of them shouldn't really buy an iPad either because of the exact reason they choose to not have the credit card.

One stupid comment deserves another.

That's stupid. So now people who choose not to rack up mounds of consumer debt shouldn't be allowed to buy anything. I JUST CAN'T!

It doesn't even make sense from a business perspective for Apple. Credit cards are more expensive than debit cards for Apple. When people use debit cards the bank actually pays the fees on that transaction and not the vendor. Additionally, there is the issue of Apple could be screwed out of merchandise with a credit card transaction.

If you are so concerned about not racking up debt, iPad isn't something you should buy. It's really a WANT product, not a NEED product. So even if it's a nice product, you shouldn't be buying it, at least not at the initial stage where a purchase limit is warranted.

Please if you can't afford it then you shouldn't be putting it on credit. The fact that you have to borrow to buy means you do not have the money. Who are you to tell someone what they need and don't need. If we were to go by that logic, I would argue laptops are a want product and that all most people really need is a decent tablet device. Just shut up now because you sound crazy.

Good call I have to say. I guess when I see people with what I see as a pretty sh!tty and self righteous attitude I sometimes can't resist doing the same.

Who said anything about borrowing to pay for the iPad? All I'm saying is the reason that cause you to not have a credit card is most likely a good reason you shouldn't get an iPad in the first place, at least not when the product is brand new, and people are staying in line to get it.

And by my logic, tablet device is a WANT product because pencile, eraser, and a paper pad can do 90% of what a tablet can do for you. The other 10% you could probably do it on a publically available computer in a library.

And you should learn to get some manner and reading skills.

Go educate yourself and come back. I can't believe someone thinks that putting something on a credit card isn't borrowing money.

I think there's a very significant chance Apple would prefer to never touch cash if they could help it. Unlike you or me, dealing with cash costs money. They have to pay a store manager to take it to the bank after hours, they have to worry about counterfeit bills, employee theft, etc. They have to have cash registers, instead of just those nifty little iPod touch sleds. Customers have to come to the front desk to pay rather than just handing their CC to a sales associate...

I know that fraud, interchange fees, etc. make accepting CC payments non-free, but accepting cash isn't free either. It may, in fact, be more expensive than CC payments.

Don't you love it when people make things up?

I wonder what the OP would make of the credit-only tolls that are on all the new toll roads?

Buying as many as you want and can afford of something that is legally for sale is not gaming the system, buddy.

Debit cards are the cheapest solution for a vendor. That's why I use the debit card option whenever I can because the bank pays the debit card fees if you use the debit card option on your debit card and not the vendor. The apple store in Dallas does not accept cash. I tried to pay with cash once and got turned away.

go get an education yourself. Or better yet, learn how to manage money. Plenty of people, people who know how to manage money, put purchase on credit card. No, they are not racking up debts, because they are smart enough to pay it off at end of the month. Thereby getting a free 1 month loan, plus getting the consumer protection features that your debit card and cash doesn't have.

And you still missed the point I was making. Nowhere did I say anything about whether it was financially prudent to buy an iPad on Credit card, that's not the point. The point was, if you think requiring a credit card as condition for buying iPad is unnecessarily restrictive because some people don't have a credit card, then you really shouldn't, because the reason those people don't have a credit card is probably also a good reason they shouldn't buy an iPad at this time anyway. E.g. People with poor credit score who can't get a credit card shouldn't buy an expensive nonessential item. People who don't want to incurr debt shouldn't buy expensive nonessential item at full retail while standing in the line. People who are paranoid about using credit card shouldn't buy something that can let government track you. etc. etc.