4 ms·

"best article about the iPad"..? The article isn't really about the iPad at all. And I think you're exaggerating. It's not the first time a store or reseller pu

"best article about the iPad"..? The article isn't really about the iPad at all. And I think you're exaggerating. It's not the first time a store or reseller puts a harsh limit on items (does the "one per household" term spring to mind at all?) It also seems as if the guy has been "ticket scalping", which I believe no reseller anywhere accepts. The entire experience the guy writes about is common practice like... everywhere.

ugh 16y ago
My local supermarket has a small “no more than 5kg per purchase” sign next to the noodles.
- paulgb 16y ago
  Is this for a special price or regular price? Any ideas on why they do it?
  - ugh 16y ago
    I have no idea why they do that. That’s why I remembered it :) It’s for the cheapest noodles, you can presumably buy as much brand name noodles as you like. Maybe their cheap noodles are even cheaper than the cheapest in the local wholesale market and they don’t want all the pizzerias within reach come rolling in.
jrockway 16y ago
It also seems as if the guy has been "ticket scalping", which I believe no reseller anywhere accepts. I am sure if I bought 10 eeepcs or something from Amazon, they would be more than happy to fill my order. And if I wanted 10 more, they would send me those, too. It's like if you give them money, they give you the product, or something. Pretty awesome. Anyway, why doesn't the OP go to Best Buy or something to get the rest of the iPads? They probably don't care how many he buys. (Or rather, the shifts change frequently enough that nobody will recognize him.)
- philwelch 16y ago
  Luckily for you, there is no shortage of eeepc's. But if you ordered 10 Nintendo Wii's in December of 2006, you may have had a harder time (yes, even at Best Buy). Same applies here.
  - jrockway 16y ago
    Maybe, maybe not. If I saw them at a store, I'm sure I could have bought as many as they had available. Money is money, after all.
- GHFigs 16y ago
  Anyway, why doesn't the OP go to Best Buy or something to get the rest of the iPads? They probably don't have any, and that's important here. Unlike the EEE example, the context here is that the iPad is in short supply. So short that even the Apple store he was buying from had ran out of stock--as have most. The story he tells is about picking up one he had reserved several days earlier, and reserving yet another while he was there. Now, from the retailer's perspective, this guy is taking the limited supply away from their actual customers. Even though a sale is a sale and they are making the same amount of money from it, they have no incentive to sell to him over anybody else in line. It's going to get sold anyway--and if you have to pick between selling it to an end consumer vs. selling it to a middle-man who is going to raise the price to your end consumer, you're probably going to chose the end consumer. It sucks if said middle-man was really just trying to do a favor for international buyers that can't get one any other way, but his purchasing behavior is indistinguishable from someone who is just profiteering. If supply were adequate (as it is for EEEs, presumably) then they probably wouldn't have taken notice.
  - jrockway 16y ago
    this guy is taking the limited supply away from their actual customers What is an "actual customer"? Last time I checked, if someone is in your store, wants to buy something from you, and have handed you their credit card to pay for the thing of yours they want, they are a pretty fucking excellent customer. The best, you could go so far as to say. If you're worried about a secondary market, make more of your thing. Then the secondary market is fucked.
duck 16y ago
Yes, I was exaggerating... I will make that clear next time. I don't like the direction the iPad is taking software development, so this was the first one that I actually had a good laugh reading which is what I was refering to. I will assume you are exaggerating on "entire experience the guy writes about is common practice like... everywhere". I've bought lots of newly released Dell computers and never ran into it... matter of fact, they wanted to sell me even more. It is all a game that Apple (and others) play to make you want to get it and to feed off early adaptors. If someone wants to be an idiot and buy one for more the MSRP, let them. Dealerships do that all the time.

ugh 16y ago

My local supermarket has a small “no more than 5kg per purchase” sign next to the noodles.

paulgb 16y ago
Is this for a special price or regular price? Any ideas on why they do it?
- ugh 16y ago
  I have no idea why they do that. That’s why I remembered it :) It’s for the cheapest noodles, you can presumably buy as much brand name noodles as you like. Maybe their cheap noodles are even cheaper than the cheapest in the local wholesale market and they don’t want all the pizzerias within reach come rolling in.

jrockway 16y ago

It also seems as if the guy has been "ticket scalping", which I believe no reseller anywhere accepts. I am sure if I bought 10 eeepcs or something from Amazon, they would be more than happy to fill my order. And if I wanted 10 more, they would send me those, too. It's like if you give them money, they give you the product, or something. Pretty awesome. Anyway, why doesn't the OP go to Best Buy or something to get the rest of the iPads? They probably don't care how many he buys. (Or rather, the shifts change frequently enough that nobody will recognize him.)

philwelch 16y ago
Luckily for you, there is no shortage of eeepc's. But if you ordered 10 Nintendo Wii's in December of 2006, you may have had a harder time (yes, even at Best Buy). Same applies here.
- jrockway 16y ago
  Maybe, maybe not. If I saw them at a store, I'm sure I could have bought as many as they had available. Money is money, after all.
GHFigs 16y ago
Anyway, why doesn't the OP go to Best Buy or something to get the rest of the iPads? They probably don't have any, and that's important here. Unlike the EEE example, the context here is that the iPad is in short supply. So short that even the Apple store he was buying from had ran out of stock--as have most. The story he tells is about picking up one he had reserved several days earlier, and reserving yet another while he was there. Now, from the retailer's perspective, this guy is taking the limited supply away from their actual customers. Even though a sale is a sale and they are making the same amount of money from it, they have no incentive to sell to him over anybody else in line. It's going to get sold anyway--and if you have to pick between selling it to an end consumer vs. selling it to a middle-man who is going to raise the price to your end consumer, you're probably going to chose the end consumer. It sucks if said middle-man was really just trying to do a favor for international buyers that can't get one any other way, but his purchasing behavior is indistinguishable from someone who is just profiteering. If supply were adequate (as it is for EEEs, presumably) then they probably wouldn't have taken notice.
- jrockway 16y ago
  this guy is taking the limited supply away from their actual customers What is an "actual customer"? Last time I checked, if someone is in your store, wants to buy something from you, and have handed you their credit card to pay for the thing of yours they want, they are a pretty fucking excellent customer. The best, you could go so far as to say. If you're worried about a secondary market, make more of your thing. Then the secondary market is fucked.

duck 16y ago

Yes, I was exaggerating... I will make that clear next time. I don't like the direction the iPad is taking software development, so this was the first one that I actually had a good laugh reading which is what I was refering to. I will assume you are exaggerating on "entire experience the guy writes about is common practice like... everywhere". I've bought lots of newly released Dell computers and never ran into it... matter of fact, they wanted to sell me even more. It is all a game that Apple (and others) play to make you want to get it and to feed off early adaptors. If someone wants to be an idiot and buy one for more the MSRP, let them. Dealerships do that all the time.