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Finding Holiday Discounts on iPods?

jeffy124 asks: "I was hoping to get an Apple iPod for Christmas. Alas, it's too expensive and out of the budget. So I'm forced into purchasing it for myself. Hoping to cash in on a holiday season bargain, I've been keeping my eye on the sales circulars that come in the newspaper. I've seen plenty of discounts for MP3 players of all kinds (Rio's, Dell's new HD-based player, etc), and the iPod has also shown up. Christmas does not yet seem very merry to me. They're always at the regular $299/399/499 price, never at a discount of any sort. You read that right, it's 'for sale' at the *regular* price. Stores guilty of this include Best Buy, Circuit City, Target, and CompUSA. Why do stores do this? How often? And does anyone know why Apple has been singled out while their competition has gotten their products discounted? Anyone know who *is* granting discounts on iPods this holiday season?"

"The other day came in the mail a 10% off coupon for various items at Best Buy, including 'MP3 Players' as indicated on the front of slip. Hoping this was how I was gonna get that discount, I set aside time this weekend to drive to Delaware in order to skip out on my local state sales tax too. I turned the coupon over, and in the legal disclaimer was the phrase 'Excludes Apple iPod Players.' Needless to say, a Merry Christmas is still aways off."

19 of 849 comments (clear)

  1. Just too suspicious of Apple by plinius · · Score: 0, Troll

    Why should I have to enslave myself to Apple and its Barfintosh ethos (which is expressed: money money money...for us), when I can more easily plunk down a lot less money for any of the new hard drive based MP3 players which come with no strings attached?

  2. What is this crap? by Fourier · · Score: -1, Troll

    Slashdot: Pissing and moaning for nerds. Stuff that nobody cares about.

    This is why I filter out "Ask Slashdot" posts. Too bad this was categorized under Apple. (I'm looking at YOU, Cliff.)

  3. Re:apple fixes the price by plinius · · Score: 0, Troll
    Regarding your signature...

    IMO, there is no heaven or hell. Paradise is what you make for yourself here on Earth. If that process involves pain (stress), then it is a good kind if and only if it is an essential experience for you, true to your deepest self.

    Now, Apple pretends to offer a kind of paradise for users, a simpler, glossier interface, nicer manuals, but really it is just lining its corporate pockets.

    Paradise is something you make yourself... you don't buy it, you don't find it in a church.

  4. This is news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Seriously, whining about iPod discounts makes the front page these days??? Oh, I _must_ be new here.

  5. GNAASTEE is coming soon. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Yes, we know this will put the GNAA out of business, but that's capitalism form you!

    GNAASTEE is coming soon.
    GNAASTEE is coming soon.
    GNAASTEE is coming soon.
    GNAASTEE is coming soon.
    GNAASTEE is coming soon.
    GNAASTEE is coming soon.
    GNAASTEE is coming soon.

  6. the answer is obvious. by xeeno · · Score: -1, Troll

    And it is called emo faggotry.

    Their white sterile look goes good with starbucks coffee and muffins, and doesn't clash with the trademark thick black glasses.

  7. Re:Just wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I bet you have a great FLAC collection of Radiohead concerts, don't you emo fagboy?

  8. Re:Parent poster = fucking moron by cyberkahn · · Score: 0, Troll


    Actually if anyone is a fucking moron its you. Grow up you little bitch. Still living at home with mommy?

  9. apple is always expensive by circletimessquare · · Score: 0, Troll

    i have spent my life looking at and considering apple products, and never buying any of them

    apple is a toy for the rich and upper middle class

    any of you out there who wants to dispute this?

    i will bet you are rich or upper middle class

    i have an iriver iFP-180T, $100 a month or so ago...

    128MB Internal Storage
    Real-Time MP3 Encoding
    FM Tuner & Recorder
    Voice Recorder
    Store or transfer any file type

    most of those features are things the ipod doesn't even have

    ipod has reams of storage, but iriver and others make products with similar reams of storage

    plus, i run with the iriver, in the rain and in blizzards i run, and i'm not taking a mechanical harddrive with me, no matter what the salesmen say

    i think people who want apple are hopeless hipsters, who lust after the products even when there are better products from other companies

    additionally, those who actually have apple, are stinking rich

    to hell with apple, it's a tool for the rich and hopeless hipsters

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
  10. MOD PARENT DOWN: -1 FLAMEBAIT by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: -1, Troll
    I don't think I was being obtuse at all. The fact is that while businesses often use the term "sale" to suggest that prices have been lowered, there is nothing in the definition of the word to suggest that is the case.

    How are you refuting that statement I made? I don't see that you did at all but rather, merely insulted me.

    --
    I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
    1. Re:MOD PARENT DOWN: -1 FLAMEBAIT by Acidic_Diarrhea · · Score: -1, Troll
      So you've proven me correct. Thanks. I made the statement that the word sale does not imply a reduced price. Since there is a definition for such an event wherein there is no mention of a reduced price, I am correct.

      Go ahead, be picky. I'm correct.

      --
      I hate liberals. If you are a liberal, do not reply.
  11. Mod Down by cyberkahn · · Score: 0, Troll


    The above post should be modded down to Troll. What a dickhead. I wish I had some mod points right now.

  12. Re:The time to shop... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Everybody knows this...It's amazing that the editors posted such a stupid question...and yes, I do know what slashdot editors are like; this is bad even for them.

  13. How I got a free iPod by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll
    This is a true story, but I don't advocate that anyone else try this themselves because it depends on refined artistic ability to pull off:

    I wanted an iPod very badly after getting a chance to hold one at BestBuy a couple months back, but decided against it because of the high sticker price. Then, a few weeks back, a friend of mine gets an iPod, and I got to handle it a bit more, and my lust grew and grew, but my wallet did not. And so, I hatched a plan then and there to get myself a "free" iPod.

    I'm a product designer by trade, and often work with clay when fleshing out prototypes, and so one day I borrowed my friend's iPod and made a detailed mold. You can probably see where I'm going with this, so I'll skip some of the finer HOWTO details.

    To make a long story short, I made a dummy iPod that looked just like the real thing with a great paintjob, weighing just as much with the fishing lead-weights I embedded inside. I then returned to BestBuy and asked to see the 40GB iPod demo unit again. Those guys tend to watch you like a hawk, though, so I casually said to the salesperson, "Let me see how well this fits in my pocket for walks through the park and such," and I proceeded to slip it into in my pocket where I immediately swapped it for the dummy unit. I continued to pretend to play with the dummy unit, then handed it back. Now the moment of truth: my heart skipped a beep, but the salesman was nonethewiser as he put my dummy unit back on the display shelf.

    I walked out with a brand new iPod that day I am in LOVE with it! I do feel a little guilty about the whole "stealing thing" - I have never ever done something like this before - so I have resolved to buy a new overpriced Macintosh next year as payback.

  14. The fact of the matter is... by Hypocritical+Guy · · Score: -1, Troll

    I will not be buying any Apple hardware or software you fucking cocksuckers. You can take that IPod and IRamItUpYourAss. OS X can OSuck my dick. I will take a G4 PowerDump on your PowerBook. QuickTime can QuickBlowMe. iTunes, more like shiteTunes. Expose? I'll Expose my fucking nuts to your chin.

    I will be using Linux, XFree86, and Gnome. You Apple cockgobblers can keep taking it up the ass from Panther, or whatever new animal you like beastial anal sex with. Pengiuns never rape anyone, although they bite if they have to.

    Apple is just another company that wishes they were Microsoft, so they can ass-ream you repeatedly with ease. If they had the market share that Microsoft had, they would be ass-fucking you harder and faster than Microsoft is. They already have a small group of willing homosexuals that let them do this to them already. But its not enough. What they want is the whole world to be forced to bend over and take a huge titanium iCock up their rectums.

    --
    If you liked licking my balls, add me to your foes list!
  15. Re:Free iPod... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    I'd rather pay for an iPod than look like I enjoy getting gang-banged in the ass because I bought a bug. Their advertising, at one point, was "designed by aliens." Yeah - by homosexual aliens maybe.

  16. Re:Just wait... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    And then 18 months later, the batteries die and then you discover you have to mail to Apple with $100 bucks to get a new one!

  17. Re:Shop at Best Buy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    Why in the hell would you talk another customer into doing that? Want to feel not so alone in your being gouged by apple? Lame.

  18. apple is an expensive whore by nazsco · · Score: 0, Troll

    Apple products isn't the best in the world, but their marketing sure is.

    People buy their stuff because their trully belive it's the best.

    Everywhere you see graphic designers using macs, even tough they could've been applying photoshop filters twice as fast using a peecee that's actualy cheaper than the mac he's using. But they rater die to work without a mac.

    And it's the same with the rest of apple products. If they give you discounts on ipods, you will stop to think... and eventualy, by thinking, you will step out of the apple paralel universe and begin to question if it's really that good mp3 player. At that point, you will probably recall that you read about the unrepleaceable batery lasting only some months, and probably will buy yourself a better, and cheaper mp3 player. So, they rater to let you thinking only about how to get the money to buy their perfect stuff. perfect stuff. perfect stuff. buy. perfect stuff. buy. it's on every movie. perfect stuff. they have cool ads. perfect stuff.