[G4] OT: Unusual Apple sales policy.

[John Erdman]

On Apr 13, 2005, at 6:53, Tim Collier wrote:

> I'd tend to think that this is just a foolish policy on the part of 
> SmallDog.
Not so.And it would be stupid for a retailer to impose this on 
themselves; there'd be no advantage. It is not a self-imposed 
limitation. But it takes only a small purchase to qualify as one of 
their web customers


>  Deal with the real thing and buy from Apple's website.  No 
> restrictions like that there.  Even though you 'like' this company, it 
> doesn't mean that you're necessarily getting the best deal or service.

I agree. That's why I shop around before I make a major purchase.  But 
it turns out that you can get some very good deals at Smalldog if you 
pay attention. They seem to be quite creative in the bundles they put 
together,  more so than, say, the Warehouse or the Mall.
> MacWarehouse http://www.macwarehouse.com and Mac Mall are also great 
> places to shop and you get a ton of free stuff from them that you 
> don't get at the Apple Store.
> Expand your horizons and don't limit yourself to just dealing with one 
> company that you're comfortable with.

Tim - Maybe you didn't mean it, but you sound like a Dutch Uncle with 
that "scold".  WHATEVER makes you think that I have narrow horizons and 
thereby don't deal the Warehouse and the Mall?

   I do deal with them. I agree that they offer lots of "free" stuff. 
But mostly it's stuff that I don't need.... like a fourth inkjet 
printer or a third wireless hub etc. Dontcha think that just maybe they 
offer this stuff BECAUSE Apple is very restrictive about pricing with 
their authorized distributors. And this is the only way the 
distributors can form a competitive offering. Otherwise why would the 
pricing of current Apple stuff be so uniform across the marketplace?

Even if they didn't offer some great deals, I'd still like dealing with 
Smalldog. Just like I prefer to deal with the stores in my small 
downtown area that I can get to by bicycle rather than automatically 
jumping in the car and driving to Wally World or HomeDepot  just 
because they seem to offer the best deal. The price you pay at the cash 
register is only a small part of the real cost of having them there.

Cheers,
John