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BestBuy buyers...whats your game plan?

xxRONNIExx

xxRONNIExx

macrumors regular
Original poster
Jun 7, 2008
157
2
California
I was told there will be a limited number of 3G iPads at BB on Friday (first come first serve). People that are going this route will you get there before the store opens or try to get there around the time they will start letting them go (i think its 5pm)?
 
I don't think my strategy gets at what the OP meant, but I'll answer anyway since there's a good chance I'll get one from Best Buy. I'll go by within a few days of the release next time it's convenient. If they don't have it, I'll check again the next time I'm there, probably about a week later.

I'll do basically the same thing with my Apple Store. I'll buy from whichever one has what I want in stock first.
 
xxRONNIExx said:
I was told there will be a limited number of 3G iPads at BB on Friday (first come first serve). People that are going this route will you get there before the store opens or try to get there around the time they will start letting them go (i think its 5pm)?
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I don't work Friday among other days and I plan on checking on the state of things around noon and getting a place ticket if available. I'll come back at 5 in either case and try for a 16 Gb 3g. If they are out of stock I'll move up in memory size until I get lucky. There were only about 30 people in line for the first roll out so I really don't see the crowds exceeding that.
 
Hmmm I was just told by BestBuy to be there when the doors open, get a ticket and come back at 5pm to pick up the iPad. But there only giving out a certain amount of tickets. Might want to be there early..
 
Yea I might get stampeded into being there at 10 when they open. I just don't want to start acting like a giddy fanboi but I am eager to get it.
I'll watch the threads for a feeling on how many will be available. Some of them they might hold for Sunday. The crowds may be smaller but if the stock is even smaller it could be dicey. Being able to stop over early to get my golden ticket will help.
 
WLS said:
I don't work Friday among other days and I plan on checking on the state of things around noon and getting a place ticket if available. I'll come back at 5 in either case and try for a 16 Gb 3g. If they are out of stock I'll move up in memory size until I get lucky. There were only about 30 people in line for the first roll out so I really don't see the crowds exceeding that.
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IMHO I think the crowds may be worse in some places. Not only will you have the folks that have desperately been waiting for a 3g unit, you will have to contend with a number of current Wi-Fi users who will want to return their units to snag a 3g unit.
 
WLS said:
Yea I might get stampeded into being there at 10 when they open. I just don't want to start acting like a giddy fanboi but I am eager to get it.
I'll watch the threads for a feeling on how many will be available. Some of them they might hold for Sunday. The crowds may be smaller but if the stock is even smaller it could be dicey. Being able to stop over early to get my golden ticket will help.
Click to expand...

I seriously thought about going there early on Friday (have a Dentist appt back home in IL at 11:15 AM - kept my Docs since I'm only here on assignment) and getting a voucher just so I wouldn't have to wait until I get back to Florida on Monday and could play with it on the plane. Then I realized that would be crazy because I wouldn't even have my iTunes to sync it to and would have to go into the big hassle of returning the iPad 3G I have being shipped here.

I might still have to go though and check out the hoopla.
 
I was at one of my local Best Buy stores and they informed me that they were not sure if they will even be getting them on the 30th. They seemed to think that they will be getting them on May 7th instead.

If they do get them in on the 30th I hope they give out redemption tickets so we can come back at 5pm to purchase them.
 
If they give out tickets then I'll get one in the morning and come back, If they dont... then I'll check to see if there are lines around 3:00 and if there are none I'll probably come back around 4:00 and just hang out till 5:00:)
 
javaGuru said:
I was at one of my local Best Buy stores and they informed me that they were not sure if they will even be getting them on the 30th. They seemed to think that they will be getting them on May 7th instead.

If they do get them in on the 30th I hope they give out redemption tickets so we can come back at 5pm to purchase them.
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I'll stop over sometime this week and ask. If Apple is just supplying their own stores and the preorders for this round I'll just have to wait a week. It's not like they won't make more. I can live without it for a week if I have too, I do have other things to do.
 
I've already put in to take the day off...

I plan to get up early, head over there around 8/8:30am. If there's no line or they're not giving out tickets, I'll go bum around at Fry's, get lunch, then go back over around noon-1pm to see what's up. If they're still not doing anything I'll come back around 3:30-4pm... I'm sure I can find something to do (cough Rock Band) in the store for an hour...

Luckily, BB is only like 3 miles from my house and there's a bunch of other stores and such nearby to kill the time.
 
I really hope they do the ticket thing, so I can stop in before work, pick up a ticket, go to work and when I leave at 5pm I would be able to stop by and pick up my brand-spanking new 3G iPad.

If it becomes first come, first served at 5pm, I'm probably going to head over around noon and wait around five hours... depending on the crowd.

Last week I went to Best Buy twice to get my iPad fix and also ask questions to the employees, which I was given two different answers about April 30.

One employee said they will probably do the 'redemption ticket' thing, while another employee two days later, said they probably wouldn't be getting any units to sell until the second shipment around May 7th... ugh, I really hope that isn't the case.
 
Stopped by Best Buy this morning. The fellow I talked to said there will not be tickets/numbers given out on this roll out. It will be first come first served. He would not even verify that any were going to arrive Friday . You may get a different story and policies may differ from store to store. They may also hold some stock back for Sunday so consider that too.

If that's the case my plan then is to show up by 4:30 on Friday and ask if any came in and if so wait till 5. I'll ask for a 16gb one but if they are out I'm willing to pay a premium and get the 32GB. If none of those are available I will leave and come back Sunday to see if there is more stock then. I'll check during the week also for when a shipment comes in. Eventually I WILL have one. :)
 
WLS said:
Stopped by Best Buy this morning. The fellow I talked to said there will not be tickets/numbers given out on this roll out. It will be first come first served. He would not even verify that any were going to arrive Friday . You may get a different story and policies may differ from store to store. They may also hold some stock back for Sunday so consider that too.
Click to expand...

I'm definitely getting a bit worried now because I'm hearing a few different people all around say that their Best Buy employee wasn't sure they would even be getting any on Friday. It crossed my mind as well that they may be holding stock for Sunday...

The place that I work will get a sneak peek of next Sunday's Newspaper circulars on Tuesday, so I will definitely check their ad and see if they are promoting them or not... this should give us a little early info.

My guess is that they don't promote them this weekend, and instead will have a big advertisement and hold stock until Sunday, May 9th. (like they did for the WiFi's... advertising them a week later.)
 
It would probably be easier for them to handle if they wait a week. That gives them time to stock properly instead of firedrill style and reduces the need to deal with lines and vouchers or whatever. The dollars involved here are pretty small, so if I were Best Buy, I might do exactly that. Guess we'll find out.

It doesn't matter to me, not only because I don't really care about a one-week wait, but also because I hang out at a bar next door to an Apple store and a block from a Best Buy. It's not a big deal for me to walk by either/both places and ask about stock every two or three days.
 
The fact is that NONE of the BB salespeople really know for sure what's going to happen. They get their apple stock straight from Apple, not through their normal delivery mechanism. With the Wifi models, my local BB got some in the night before (all 16GB), and then on the 3rd around 11am got another shipment containing a mix of all 3. I'm betting that they're getting their supply via FedEx straight from Apple, so it's probably a case of "whenever FedEx arrives."

I HIGHLY doubt it's going to be a "wait until the 7th" situation. Heck, a friend who is in tight with the corporate sales person at one of the local Apple stores was told "May 7th".... 12 hours before Apple announced the 30th.

Basically, nobody really knows WTF is going on. It's just gonna be a case of do what you can and hope. But I'll be amazed if all apple stores and most Apple-carrying BB stores don't have at least some on Friday afternoon.
 
Stroll into any Apple or Best Buy store on Saturday afternoon and pick one up. The only stores that will be sold out will be the ones located in major cities like Boston, New York City, Chicago, and LA ect..

Just go outside of the major cities and there will be plenty of them available.
 
If you go Friday evening I'm pretty sure there will be no problem but by end of Sunday they likely will be sold out. It hasn't been hyped like the first rollout and the intense pent up want isn't as great plus as before plus there are many who opted for the preorder and will get theirs by mail on Friday. The word really hasn't gotten out to the majority of people about the 3g. Again if you go early you should have no problem scoring one and even if you don't they will make more.
 
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