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I Sold My MacBook Pro...

R

rimrocka07011

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 31, 2006
72
0
Cleveland, OH
To my Mom... for $2500. For some reason, when she thought of Macs, she thought of the brightly-colored CRT iMacs and the multi-colored Apple logo of yesteryears. So when I came home from boarding school sporting my new MacBook Pro, she was astonished by its sleekness and design. She recently remodeled her kitchen (stainless steel) and counter-top, and has a special "work nook" at the end of the counter top (I'll post pictures later) where her "like-new" MacBook Pro peacefully sleeps. I sold my whole sig (w/ Apple USB Modem) for $2500; after that, she gave me her debit card and I purchased the following set-up, to be shipped to my address at my boarding school once I go back on the 20th after Spring Break:

1.83 GHz Macbook Pro w/ 1 GB RAM (2x512 MB) and 100GB 5400 HD
Personalized 1 GB iPod Shuffle
Booq Vyper M2
Logitech Z-4i Speaker System - Silver
Logitech V270 BlueTooth Mouse - Silver
B&W Apple Mousepad
Radtech ScreensavR for MacBook Pro

After that, I spent the remaining money on study guides for various APs and the SAT from amazon.com; I have about $20 left.

Needless to say, I hoodwinked her. :D <------- just kidding...
 
puckhead193 said:
why didn't she order one for herself..... :confused:
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because he could cheat her out of more money himself? thus he gets a computer, she gets instant gratification, and he gets more out of the deal. you mean you wouldn't do that same to your mom?

i wouldn't.
 
business is business, so to speak. i am in the process of trying to convice my parents to buy a new macbook for me and give my current powerbook to my high school age brother. i think it shoudl work out in my favor...

but still, your family is dropping $30k+ a year for you to go to choate and will certainly be dropping another $40k+ each year on your college truition. cut them a deal, man! :)
 
Wait one second... I didn't rip my Mom off, I simply sold her a set-up that, if she bought herself, would not only be in the neighborhood of $2200-2300, but be a set-up that she would have to wait almost a month to receive (the computer itself, at least). She's the one who negotiated the price; she hasn't touched a Mac since the late 80s, and I told her numerous times that buying a computer simply because it matches your kitchen decor is a stupid idea to buy a computer. Yet she insisted, and I had absolutely no choice to capitalize... wouldn't you do the same thing? By the way, you should've have seen her face when she saw her deformed images in PhotoBooth; she was laughing hysterically.
 
Steven1621 said:
but still, your family is dropping $30k+ a year for you to go to choate and will certainly be dropping another $40k+ each year on your college truition. cut them a deal, man! :)
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Yea I go to Choate. :)

Not to get into the financial logistics of my situation, but my Mom (single-mother) doesn't pay $30k+ for me to go to Choate... I'm on financial aid, so it's in a range much lower than that. But because of recent positive financial revelations, my Mom was able to drop $2500 on a new Mac.
 
Airforce said:
Seriously kid, that's just wrong.
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Who knows ? Maybe she is going to use the Macbook to compute the expenses she had between his birth and the actual age. I bet she will properly charge what he deserves...

:p
 
uhh what? So he may have over charged her by $200-$300?

Boarding school, high end laptops and the exchange of $2500

No to be presumptuous but it sounds like this family is pretty well off and $300 aint that big a deal.
 
Let's Break It Down...

Airforce said:
Seriously kid, that's just wrong.
Click to expand...

If my Mom purchased the MBP in my sig from the regular Apple Store Online, at check-out she would have to pay $2276.88. Add that to the $37.04 she would pay to buy.com for the BT Mouse and the $15.95 she would pay to themissingbite.com for the mousepad, the grand total is $2329.87. Subtract that from $2500, the difference is $170.13. In reality, that is the cost she paid for "instant shipping." So really, she only paid $170 more just to have an instant MBP. Is that really that bad? Especially seeing that many of you who pre-ordered 1.83's were crying that you should've paid $500 more for a 2.0 just so you could receive it more quickly. Come on you guys, I had to cover my opportunity costs somehow!
 
Airforce said:
Seriously kid, that's just wrong.
Click to expand...

Well, it is wrong to rip off your parents, ever. However, having said that, when I used to be in college my parents would buy my old computers from me for what I originally paid for them when something new would come out that I wanted. This was NOT my idea, but theirs. I explained to them over and over again that they were not getting a good deal and that I would gladly sell them the computer at the going rate, which was usually about 2/3 of what I paid originally, and that was only after they insisted on buying it, when what I really wanted to do was give it to them. Some parents are just like that, and there is nothing wrong with it, if they just want to help out their kids. I don't think anyone should take advantage of their parents, and I realize that many folks don't have parents that are financially able to or willing to help them out like that. But it sounds like that is what is going on here. If not, then forget this post. But if that is what is going on here, cut the kid some slack...his Mom just wants his powerbook, and wants to do something nice for him in return.;)
 
rimrocka07011 said:
If my Mom purchased the MBP in my sig from the regular Apple Store Online, at check-out she would have to pay $2276.88. Add that to the $37.04 she would pay to buy.com for the BT Mouse and the $15.95 she would pay to themissingbite.com for the mousepad, the grand total is $2329.87. Subtract that from $2500, the difference is $170.13. In reality, that is the cost she paid for "instant shipping." So really, she only paid $170 more just to have an instant MBP. Is that really that bad? Especially seeing that many of you who pre-ordered 1.83's were crying that you should've paid $500 more for a 2.0 just so you could receive it more quickly. Come on you guys, I had to cover my opportunity costs somehow!
Click to expand...

Yes, it really is that bad. Firstly, you have just said yourself that you have overcharged her by at least $170.13. The laptop isn't new... would you pay the same to get an opened and used MacBook from someone else?

Secondly, it's your mom! You shouldn't be charging your own mom full price for anything you are giving her nevermind over-charging her.

Finally, it's not even like you are replacing the laptop with the same thing. You are spending much more of her money upgrading the RAM and hard-disk on your new machine as well as using even more of her money to buy a shuffle and speakers for yourself. So in reality you are ripping her off by probably more than half a grand!

Man, ripping off your own mum is just wrong plain and simple and if you can't see that as obvious then I don't see any point in trying to reason with you at all.

Oh and also, if you are going to rip off your mom it's probably not a good idea to then go around boasting about it because other people, who have some morals, aren't going to think it's cool.
 
dornoforpyros said:
uhh what? So he may have over charged her by $200-$300?

Boarding school, high end laptops and the exchange of $2500

No to be presumptuous but it sounds like this family is pretty well off and $300 aint that big a deal.
Click to expand...

Um, if you had read my earlier post, I mentioned the fact that I live in a single-parent household and I am on financial aid at my boarding school... I'm not exactly the poster-boy for the upper-class (I live in the city of Cleveland for god's sake). I saved $1500 this summer working two jobs, and this past Christmas I got enough money from relatives to buy a high-end PowerBook (I'm glad I waited until after Christmas!) Also my mother is a self-employed attorney (that means severe fluctuations in income; she is the only partner in her own firm) who recently settled a case for a good amount. She had the money and the desire to buy a new computer, and she did (mine). Is there something wrong with that?
 
I think it's wrong too - charge her the right amount but adding 7% for instant shipping is wrong - particularly without telling her that's what you're doing.

Here's an idea that might help restore karma. You said you have $20 left? Go and buy your mom something with it - flowers/a plant.
 
maverick808 said:
Yes, it really is that bad. Firstly, you have just said yourself that you have overcharged her by at least $170.13. The laptop isn't new... would you pay the same to get an opened and used MacBook from someone else?

Secondly, it's your mom! You shouldn't be charging your own mom full price for anything you are giving her nevermind over-charging her.

Finally, it's not even like you are replacing the laptop with the same thing. You are spending much more of her money upgrading the RAM and hard-disk on your new machine as well as using even more of her money to buy a shuffle and speakers for yourself. So in reality you are ripping her off by probably more than half a grand!

Man, ripping off your own mum is just wrong plain and simple and if you can't see that as obvious then I don't see any point in trying to reason with you at all.

Oh and also, if you are going to rip off your mom it's probably not a good idea to then go around boasting about it because other people, who have some morals, aren't going to think it's cool.
Click to expand...

Wow, I had the MBP for three days, it's not like it should go for half-price on eBay used. By the way, I got an extra 512 MB stick of RAM and the same HD I had in the original one. Tell me something, if you purchased a new MBP today, would you either wait until April 7 for it to arrive or pay $170 to have it on your desk right then and there? I TOLD her the circumstances of the deal, yet she insisted on the price and that I sell it to her... you all would do the same thing too.
 
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