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Are you serious? They don't need your permission to do this—it's their product, they can implement whatever sales policies they like. They don't have any respon

Are you serious? They don't need your permission to do this—it's their product, they can implement whatever sales policies they like. They don't have any responsibility to defend the practice, it's their prerogative. But even if it wasn't, they simply don't want middle men marking up their products and taking a cut, while at the same time depleting their in-store stock. I don't blame them.

fleitz 16y ago
Apple doesn't want middle men marking up their product? If that is so then how come I can buy an Apple product from Best Buy for the same price as from the apple.com? Is Best Buy selling these items for the same price they paid for them? I believe Best Buy is what one would call a middle man.
- a-priori 16y ago
  Or perhaps Apple marks up the online store similarly to the markup that retail stores do?
- derefr 16y ago
  > Is Best Buy selling these items for the same price they paid for them? As far as I know, yes, they are. They make money on Apple products purely off of in-store warrantees and accessories. If you consider this, their store product layout starts to make a lot more sense: they have a huge Apple logo, tons of accessories prominently displayed, and then the actual products hidden on a bottom shelf.
  - deleted 16y ago
    [deleted]
- codyrobbins 16y ago
  Again—seriously? You can't compare one of the country’s largest electronics retail chains with a guy buying up iPads by the dozens and selling them on a gamer forum. Selling through Best Buy is clearly a strategic partnership that’s been negotiated as a component of their larger retail strategy. The guy buying iPads is not. Sure Best Buy's a middle man, but the point is that Apple can do whatever they want. There is no discussion about whether they should be allowed to do it or not. The fact that they bring on Best Buy as a middle man doesn't mean they somehow have to let this guy skim some cream off the top too. They haven't released the iPad overseas yet and what he’s doing is in direct contradiction to their launch plans.
dhimes 16y ago
they can implement whatever sales policies they like A small nit here but it's important to point out that this is Not Quite True. Over the past hundred years we've worked out some rules about what sales policies companies are allowed to have. For example, you can't deny sales based on race, you can't deny sales (wholesale) because a store sells a competitive product also, and so on. It might be that in the global market place these rules need to be revised.

fleitz 16y ago

Apple doesn't want middle men marking up their product? If that is so then how come I can buy an Apple product from Best Buy for the same price as from the apple.com? Is Best Buy selling these items for the same price they paid for them? I believe Best Buy is what one would call a middle man.

a-priori 16y ago
Or perhaps Apple marks up the online store similarly to the markup that retail stores do?
derefr 16y ago
> Is Best Buy selling these items for the same price they paid for them? As far as I know, yes, they are. They make money on Apple products purely off of in-store warrantees and accessories. If you consider this, their store product layout starts to make a lot more sense: they have a huge Apple logo, tons of accessories prominently displayed, and then the actual products hidden on a bottom shelf.
- deleted 16y ago
  [deleted]
codyrobbins 16y ago
Again—seriously? You can't compare one of the country’s largest electronics retail chains with a guy buying up iPads by the dozens and selling them on a gamer forum. Selling through Best Buy is clearly a strategic partnership that’s been negotiated as a component of their larger retail strategy. The guy buying iPads is not. Sure Best Buy's a middle man, but the point is that Apple can do whatever they want. There is no discussion about whether they should be allowed to do it or not. The fact that they bring on Best Buy as a middle man doesn't mean they somehow have to let this guy skim some cream off the top too. They haven't released the iPad overseas yet and what he’s doing is in direct contradiction to their launch plans.

dhimes 16y ago

they can implement whatever sales policies they like A small nit here but it's important to point out that this is Not Quite True. Over the past hundred years we've worked out some rules about what sales policies companies are allowed to have. For example, you can't deny sales based on race, you can't deny sales (wholesale) because a store sells a competitive product also, and so on. It might be that in the global market place these rules need to be revised.