Apple using eBay to blow through 13" MacBook Pros for $999, dozens of refurbished iPads [Ux2]

Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
In addition to slashing prices across its MacBook Pro with Retina display family of premium notebooks earlier this month, Apple continues to take a more unconventional approach by using eBay power sellers to push volume of its most-popular notebook overall -- the standard 13" MacBook Pro for just $999.

Save $200 on MacBook Pro


Update 2: The deal has returned under a new listing for the same $999 price tag.
Update: As expected, the $999 MacBook Pro offer was limited and ended with the sale of the 500th unit in less than an hour.

It's no secret that Apple maintains a somewhat unofficial refurbished outlet on eBay, where this week dozens of new refurbished Macs and iPads turned up at significant discount. Each product sold on the store passes through Apple's quality inspection, and each comes with the same full one-year warranty. Additionally, all iPads and iPods include a brand new battery.

But separately, the company is also believed to be quietly working with eBay power sellers, like Johny641 to unload thousands of its most popular MacBooks at below wholesale costs. As was the case several weeks ago, shoppers for the next couple of hours can pick up Apple's $1,199 2.5GHz 13-inch MacBook Pro (MD101LL/A) for just $999. That's the lowest price we can find by over $66.

This particular seller appears to work in concert with Apple to sell through roughly 1000 MacBooks at a time (300 have been sold as of press time), in this case at a discount of $200. The sales typically last only a matter of hours, and come on the heels of a disturbing 17% drop in Mac sales during the company's recent holiday quarter -- a 3-month period where Apple has historically seen double digit growth and volume increases that beat estimates.

That declined prompted Apple to slash prices across its MacBook Pro with Retina display line earlier this month. Customers in the market for a Retina model -- or any other current Mac notebook -- can always turn to AppleInsider's Mac Price Guide and Macs + AppleCare Price Guide, where the savings continued to increase this week. In particular, MacMall offers readers an additional 3% off all Mac notebook orders when using the links on AppleInsider, or in its price guides, to active the Promo Code field on the resellers webpage and then supplying coupon code APPINSDRMWB37994.

Macs without AppleCare

Along with the price cuts, several new custom configured MacBook Pro with Retina display models also turned up in our price guide this week:

Macs with 3 Years of AppleCare

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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 31
    Interesting way to dump older products.....
  • Reply 2 of 31


    The $1999 price is an error. The MD101LL/A sells for $1199 at Apple.

  • Reply 3 of 31
    kasperkasper Posts: 941member, administrator
    Yup, $200 price drop. Original was $1,999.
  • Reply 4 of 31
    Interesting that you chose to make a typo that slants this article so that it appears Apple is practically giving away these MacBooks. I am sure you will claim it was an innocent mistake. Lucky for Apple investors there are hacks like you to keep pumping the stock price down so we can buy it cheap and make a killing later.

    FYI, a 200 dollar discount on Macs is not news or even all that interesting. You can get 100 dollars off just by shopping the Education store, and retailers are always battling it out with around 150 to 200 dollar discounts.

    The full price for the computer you mention is 1199 NOT 1999.

    Or maybe you are just a marketing hack working for Johny641?

    Jim
  • Reply 5 of 31

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Kasper View Post



    Yup, $200 price drop. Original was $1,999.


    You are having difficulty, aren't you?

  • Reply 6 of 31


    http://appleinsider.com/articles/13/01/23/apple-blames-1q-imac-supply-constraints-on-17-drop-in-mac-sales


     


    Given that Apple explained the 17% drop as largely a supply constraint problem, I'm not sure the drop was disturbing for the reasons intimated in this latest story.

  • Reply 7 of 31
    Not a good sign. Looks like margin compression is coming, and coming soon.
  • Reply 8 of 31


    I do expect margins to contract, but I also expect manufacturing costs to decline on legacy products. So I don't know how to read this news. The volumes are small and the window of opportunity appears short. Eventually, I expect all Apple portable products to go Retina, with the last of the non-Retina machines slipping away with reduced pricing.

  • Reply 9 of 31
    If you don't want to watch for the next listing, that refurbished 13" MacBook Pro is $20 more on the Apple Store.
  • Reply 10 of 31


    Yes! kill it! it makes me sick to look at that old POS in the same table as a super fast and modern rMBP, macbook air and iMac.


    It belongs to the past.


     


    Only clueless people buy it, they don't realize that the air is 3x as fast (ssd).


     


    Nice...


     


    Obviously it's better looking than every other laptop, but against the air and rmbp?please.

  • Reply 11 of 31


    Next refresh will be only about new minis, iMac, Pro, rmbp and the air. that's a great line up.

  • Reply 12 of 31
    The 2.5GHz 13" MacBook Pro is available as a refurb on Apple's website right now for $1019, just $19 more than the super-special "limited time" eBay offer lauded in the article.
  • Reply 13 of 31

    Quote:

    It's no secret that Apple maintains a somewhat unofficial refurbished outlet on eBay, where this week dozens of new refurbished Macs and iPads turned up at significant discount.


     


    It may not be a secret but did anyone actually read the feedback posted about "refurbished_outlet"?


    33 neutrals and 36 negatives in the last six months;  everything from buyers never receiving shipments to receiving broken merchandise.


     


    No doubt people are getting some great deals but as an avid eBay'er, I wouldn't buy from a seller with feedback like this.

  • Reply 14 of 31


    The ORIGINAL PRICE IS 1199.  Check Apple's web site.  This is a 200 dollar discount.  The Education store discounts the same computer by 100 so where is the big story??????

  • Reply 15 of 31

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by bonky View Post



    Not a good sign. Looks like margin compression is coming, and coming soon.


     


    Who is the margin compression not a good sign for, other than AAPL investors?

  • Reply 16 of 31
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    bonky wrote: »
    Not a good sign. Looks like margin compression is coming, and coming soon.

    Maybe, but you certainly can't tell that from this story.

    They're clearing out the previous generation of computers at a discounted price. Not very unusual, nor does it say much about Apple's future margins. For all we know, they could be doing it because the rMBP is selling so well that there's no need to keep an outdated model in stock to hit the lower price point.
  • Reply 17 of 31
    richlrichl Posts: 2,213member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by macmtnman View Post


    The ORIGINAL PRICE IS 1199.  Check Apple's web site.  This is a 200 dollar discount.  The Education store discounts the same computer by 100 so where is the big story??????



     


    The story is that it's being sold through eBay.

  • Reply 18 of 31
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    richl wrote: »
    The story is that it's being sold through eBay.

    Yeah, no company has ever used eBay to clear out old inventory. /s

    Heck, even Apple has used eBay to sell outdated inventory before. It's just not news.
  • Reply 19 of 31
    Hopefully this means the next refresh will dump the old formfactor completely, and the lowest priced model will be a slim without the overpriced retina display. Just give me the slim chassis with the updated screen found in the MBA, and I'll be happy.
  • Reply 20 of 31
    oflifeoflife Posts: 120member
    iPad is probably effecting sales. With apps like iDraw (for iOS) now offering serious competition to a good 75% of Adobe Illustrator functionality (I use both), there is less reason to own a Mac if you like to get creative on the road. Me thinks the convergence of OS X and iOS is going to get very interesting within the next year or so. IE, Apple will reach the Windows 8 moment, but with a somewhat better UX about a year after 8 was launched. And then there's Chrome, and Pixel...

    #maturityofplatform
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