Apple retail stores will match reseller prices

Apple retail stores will match the prices of products sold by other authorized retailers.

(Credit: Caroline McCarthy/CNET News)

Apple has started reminding its store employees that they have the authority to match the prices of other Apple resellers.

IfoAppleStore reported earlier Tuesday that managers at Apple retail stores can honor the prices for Macs and iPods posted on other authorized outlets like Best Buy or Amazon.com. This has always been Apple's policy, according to AppleInsider, but it sounds like the company wanted to make it crystal clear ahead of a holiday season in which consumers are expected to be bargain hunters.

Apple posted some information on its Web site on Tuesday about the deals it will be offering through its online store this Friday, otherwise known as Black Friday. The company is believed to be planning "aggressive" discounts for the so-called biggest shopping day of the year.

[close5828]

They've always done this, so where's the "news" in this? Must be a slow news day @ CNet..

[Vegaman_Dan]

This might be useful pricing tactics if it weren't that Apple has fixed the price of their hardware and products at all resellers. You aren't going to get any discount on Apple products by going to a store or online. Those stores that do get caught by Apple for selling at a price lower than Apple's stated retail price find themselves out of the supply chain entirely (read Fry's in 2007 for example).

It's not a discount if everyone is being forced to charge the same price. Typically instead retailers will bundle other non-Apple branded items with the units to make it a 'sale'. For example, you may buy an iPod for $X at any store, but go to THIS store and you can guy it at the same price but they will toss in some non-Apple branded earphones, case, or similar item that they *can* discount.

[ibeetle]

I was thinking the same thing... however the fixed price is no longer true today.

8GB Nano

Apple Store $149.00
K-Mart $134.99
Circuit City $142.49
Wal-Mart $147.88

I don't know if Apple will match just price or price and promotion. For example some retailers are charging the same as Apple Stores are however, they are giving a iTunes gift card as well.

[Perry_Clease]

If I remember correctly I saved $5 off of Apple's price on when I bought an iPod Nano at Costco (in one of their brick and mortar stores) and I see a similar discount at Amazon. However, point taken there really isn't a discount on Macs bought from resellers, maybe you get a bundle deal with a printer. For that matter I just upgraded to Adobe CS4 and that price seems to be the same be it from Adobe itself or a reseller.

Sidebar: If you buy iTunes Store prepaid cards you can get small discount on them at Costco. Well you could the last time few times I bought them.

[darkstar32170]

I don't know how it fits but a friend of mine was at Best Buy yesterday and saw that they were knocking a couple hundred off the price of MacBooks (& Pros). They were however the previous generation (black or white MacBook and smaller trackpad MacBook Pro). Since Apple Retail does not stock previous generations where's the price matching. I know, online you can get deals from Apple on previous generation hardware, but these deals are better than what you can get at Best Buy.

[Penguinisto]

Nice try, Dan, but...

It's called "price flooring", and every vendor does it - Microsoft, Dell, Apple, HP... retailers are given a minimum and agree to sell it at or above that minimum (sometimes that minimum is what the retailer actually paid for the items in advance...)

Also, Darkstar has a point - last-gen and discontinued items can be sold for one hell of a discount, with the vendor usually saying nada about how those get cleared out (and likely encouraging it).

[D3vildog699]

How on earth is this even news?? Good job proving advertisement for Crapple

[AppleSuxLeo]

So now Apple can rip you off everywhere. What`s the "news" here ?

[Perry_Clease]

Grow up Leo

[mike.gw]

Part of the money that retailers make is reimbursement spent for advertising a particular vendor's product. Some vendors (don't know if Apple does this) will not reimburse advertising costs if the product is advertised with a sales price. That may be why you'll see some ads that claim the item is on sale, but at prices too low to advertise. Or others make you add the item to an online sales "cart" to see the sales price. It's a crummy practice. It may not be illegal price fixing as described by law, but it has a very similar effect of controlling prices among various retailers. It also makes cost comparison shopping very difficult.

[JBSimmons]

Price fixing is illegal no matter how you word it today. That includes price floors pre-agreed upon in advance. That is also why merchandise is printed with "suggested" retail price $xx.zz. As long as the word "suggested" is there, it's legal inasmuch as we hate it and retailers want to stick to it. I just reviewed the First-Sale Wiki article on this. The article to cite is the Clayton Doctrine.