Only $50 off LCD iMacs for education.

bradbowerbradbower
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Fifty bucks? Come on, Apple, that's barely worth the trouble. A measly 2.5%. Then there's tax, upgrades, shipping.. so it hardly helps anything, when it comes to students and faculty. Maybe it could save some institutions a few grand, but otherwise it's useless. Edu discounts used to be $100-200 on most things! I don't know, it just doesn't seem that adequate. They're making at LEAST 25% profit margins on that, so 125-150% markup. Education discounts used to stand for something, furthering learning, helping staff to be better teachers, making an investment in a smart generation, getting it back in referrals and lifetime Mac buyers/advocates...

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 5
    qaziiqazii Posts: 305member
    [quote]Originally posted by bradbower:

    <strong>Fifty bucks? Come on, Apple, that's barely worth the trouble. A measly 2.5%. Then there's tax, upgrades, shipping.. so it hardly helps anything, when it comes to students and faculty. Maybe it could save some institutions a few grand, but otherwise it's useless. Edu discounts used to be $100-200 on most things! I don't know, it just doesn't seem that adequate. They're making at LEAST 25% profit margins on that, so 125-150% markup. Education discounts used to stand for something, furthering learning, helping staff to be better teachers, making an investment in a smart generation, getting it back in referrals and lifetime Mac buyers/advocates...</strong><hr></blockquote>



    Well, if you have a $99 ADC Student Membership, you can get a 17" iMac for $1599, but there's a one discount per lifetime rule.



    [ 07-23-2002: Message edited by: qazII ]</p>
  • Reply 2 of 5
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    first, as far as i can tell you're pulling these numbers out of your nether regions.



    second, the discount depends on whether or not you're purchasing for an individual or for a school. i can assure you the discount is well over $50 for a school backed purchase.



    finally, why exactly does apple owe you a student discount anyway? i've always though it was a nice perk, but not a requirement. basic rule of an open market. if someone isn't selling you a product at a price you want, don't buy it. if someone else has a better deal, buy through them.



    otherwise you're just shaking your fist at the moon.
  • Reply 3 of 5
    bradbowerbradbower Posts: 1,068member
    I could argue about the numbers all day but it would make no difference. On the 17" iMac, the education discount is $50... that's 2.5% of $2000, so a 2.5% discount. It's also widespread common knowledge (and just plain common sense/logic) that Apple has really decent profit margins on their products, and that comes from markup from actual value/cost, obviously.



    I do understand what you say about the free market thing, and that is true I suppose... but I'm just going on precedent here, I recall when education discounts on iMacs (no, not LCD) where $100, or more, and education discounts were several hundred on the Pro line items and some displays.. Plus, it just made sense. Apple wasn't immediately profiting monetarily from these discounts, but they were gaining something, and it is almost like an investment for them?plus, even if they could knock off $100 or $150 of the price, they'd still be making a profit, not even including purchases like upgrades, software, .Mac, all of the people I help, all of the people I convince that Macs are good machines, all of the people I give purchasing advice to, and all of the people I flat-out convert. And then there's the whole third-party take on this.. if I have a new Mac, or a Mac at all, I spend more money on third party hardware and software, and support that market which is important for Apple. Plus, if I buy a Mac in college, and stick with it, love it, learn it, invest myself into it, I'm going to continue to be a Mac user. Especially when I'm a r1ch b1tch once I gets my degree (well, I don't know if I will, but a lot of people would hope that, wouldn't they?).
  • Reply 4 of 5
    max8319max8319 Posts: 347member
    i think it depends what school you go to. i've heard the UCLA has an 800 mhz (titanium pb; different subject, but an incredible price) for $2500.



    at VA Tech, the student discount on all imacs is $50. there is obviously proof here that we get the same deal at tech (he's not pulling the #'s out of his nether regions). It all depends on the school you go to.



    and i don't necessarily mind it because the imac is a very new product (less than a year) and that's not enough time to make production efficient enough to charge less for it.



    it appears you (alcimedes) are refering to purchases for the school, not individual purchases that bradbower is refering to (correct me if i'm wrong)
  • Reply 5 of 5
    alcimedesalcimedes Posts: 5,486member
    correct. the schools are still getting heavy discounts.



    individuals, for the most part aren't.



    in cases like the iMac though, i really don't see the heavy discounts. it's a consumer line. it's supposed to have the tightest margins of any Apple product ever.



    i believe they even remarked on this when the iMacs first came out warning investors not to expect the same margins on the new product lines.



    personally, i take this as a good sign. Apple is charging less overall for machines and can't cut deep discounts like they could before.



    and like i said, you can always resort to third party vendors. no tax, lots of ram bundles and the like. if they are a better value, you'd be best served to buy through them. it rewards the vendor for giving the consumer a break, and sends a message to apple that they need to take another look at their pricing structure.



    if you don't vote with your wallet, you have no one to blame but yourself.
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