Staples to start selling Apple products in U.S., executive says [u]
Office supply chain Staples will start selling Apple products in its U.S. stores sometime in the near future, according to a company senior vice president.
Update: Mulot has deleted the original tweet regarding Apple product sales, but other Staples executives' posts remain on the microblogging site.
In a tweet from Staples' Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources Regis Mulot, the chain will begin stocking Apple devices in U.S. locations soon.
Along with Mulot's comment, a number of employees who were at a corporate meeting on Thursday also tweeted out the news. While it is unclear what products Staples will bring to its U.S. stores, the company already carries Apple's wares in Canada.
Other executives chimed in with their own tweets, including Staples Strategic Accounts Coordinator Erin LaFlamme and Field Services Manager Mike Goggin:
AppleInsider has reached out to Staples and will update this story when we know more.
Update: Mulot has deleted the original tweet regarding Apple product sales, but other Staples executives' posts remain on the microblogging site.
In a tweet from Staples' Senior Vice President of Global Human Resources Regis Mulot, the chain will begin stocking Apple devices in U.S. locations soon.
After Canada, #Apple products arecoming to #Staples in US. Great news!? Regis Mulot (@FrenchHR) February 15, 2013
Along with Mulot's comment, a number of employees who were at a corporate meeting on Thursday also tweeted out the news. While it is unclear what products Staples will bring to its U.S. stores, the company already carries Apple's wares in Canada.
Other executives chimed in with their own tweets, including Staples Strategic Accounts Coordinator Erin LaFlamme and Field Services Manager Mike Goggin:
Thanks #Apple for letting #Staples sell you...oh, and for the delicious apple products to celebrate at? instagr.am/p/Vuezsgk6_t/
? Erin LaFlamme (@ErinLaFlamme)
AppleInsider has reached out to Staples and will update this story when we know more.
Comments
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
Office supply chain Staples is rumored to start selling Apple products in its U.S. stores in the near future, according to a company senior vice president.
Apple products....yeah we got that.......
Next stop, Radio Shack! Oops, already there. Walmart? Already there.
McDonald's Happy Meals? Soon.
Lol.. That's a ridiculous sentiment. How the hell would it do damage to the brand? U know apple products are sold at Walmart and shoppers drug Mart, right? The more the better. This is a good thing.
Staples. LOL.
This is great news for me. I'm a Staples Premier customer, so I can trade in 20 ink cartridges per month ($2/cart, $40 a month in Staples Rewards). That's $480/year that I can use to buy Apple products. Plus, they run all kinds of promotions during the year where you can get 20% back in Rewards on purchases and 100% back in Rewards on certain items.
And before you ask, I go to eBay and buy a [Lot] of 400 ink empty cartridges for $60 and use those to trade in. Make my money back in two months and receive well over a year's worth of $40/month rewards in return.
If you're getting $40 per month regularly that's a great score. If they sell Macs you can definitely build up a nice reserve before you're ready to buy your next RMBP. How long does the credit stay on your account? I assume indefinitely.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
If you're getting $40 per month regularly that's a great score. If they sell Macs you can definitely build up a nice reserve before you're ready to buy your next RMBP. How long does the credit stay on your account? I assume indefinitely.
If you're just a regular Staples Rewards customer, you can only trade in 10 cartridges per month ($20) and the Rewards expire two months after being issued. If you are a Staples Premier customer, you can trade in 20 cartridges ($40) and the rewards expire 5 months after they are issued.
Two months and 5 months? I was assuming it was more like a gift card that one purchases with money. Obviously a poor assumption on my part. $200 toward an iPhone or iPad would be a pretty big dent. Can you use it to buy iTunes GC's they sell or are there restrictions on what merchandise the credit can go toward?
Two months and 5 months? I was assuming it was more like a gift card that one purchases with money. Obviously a poor assumption on my part. $200 toward an iPhone or iPad would be a pretty big dent. Can you use it to buy iTunes GC's they sell or are there restrictions on what merchandise the credit can go toward?
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
Two months and 5 months? I was assuming it was more like a gift card that one purchases with money. Obviously a poor assumption on my part. $200 toward an iPhone or iPad would be a pretty big dent. Can you use it to buy iTunes GC's they sell or are there restrictions on what merchandise the credit can go toward?
Staples is kinda wonky with respect to buying gift cards and using Rewards. You can't use Rewards to buy gift cards in-store, but you can purchase them online. Just today, I cashed in $80 in Rewards for a $50 VISA gift card (plus the stupid activation fee) and a $25 Starbucks gift card. You can also buy iTunes gift cards online from Staples using your Rewards.
Surprised this isn't already the case, as they are already carried in Canada. Since when does Canada get something before the USA?
They already did! The RMBP came down in price a few days ago
Quote:
Originally Posted by dbtinc
I assume that with all this competition the prices of Apple products will come down?
Bad assumption. Particularly if you are basing it off reseller pricing. Companies like Staples are more than happy to sell highly visible items at cost or even a loss to get butts in stores. Apple knows this and doesn't adjust for such things. They do adjust (price, spec, sometimes both) due to prices of components coming down, such as what happen with the rMBP.
No Apple has a contract with all retail partners, they have to charge what Apple tells them to, if a retailer (not including the Apple Stores) want to issue a discount, they have to pay Apple the full retail price per unit.