Memo to Apple: Respect Your Resellers 113
An anonymous reader writes "As Apple opens more and more stores across the country (they are going to hit 88 by the end of 2004, according to top Apple retail honcho Ron Johnson), small independent dealers claim to be taking it in the shorts: five are suing Apple for all sorts of nastiness. Here's an interesting prescription for how Apple can make things right with its resellers and still open lots of shiny stores for the masses."
As a customer... (Score:5, Insightful)
To the Apple store in the mall. There are probably several closer third-party Apple shops, but who knows who and where they are? The first thing that comes to mind is that glowing white, elegant store filled with all the latest Apple gear.
So, whether Apple is doing anything predatory or not, they could hardly help but displace the third-party stores.
Re:As a customer... (Score:3, Informative)
But the nearest Apple distributor near me is CompUsa.
Now I can take my iPod there if I have a problem (I didn't buy it there) ORRR I could goto the apple store where not only do they know what they are talking about (or seem to more than CompUSA droogs) But there is little to no bad attitude when I'm in there.
It may not be much but it's why I'll drive 30 extra minutes to the Apple Store than to CompUSA.
Re:As a customer... (Score:5, Informative)
wait wait wait... (Score:3, Funny)
Re:wait wait wait... (Score:3, Funny)
The local Mac store, have a bunch of pretentious butt heads, with jacked up prices (except for the actual Apple stuff which they have to price at Apple's MSRP). And pretty much disseminate bad info and turn people away with their holier than thou attitude. Welcome to my Mac Store. Bow Down! Now
Re:wait wait wait... (Score:1, Funny)
Barry's Customer: Hi, do you have the song "I Just Called To Say I Love You?" It's for my daughter's birthday.
Barry: Yea we have it.
Barry's Customer: Well, can I have it?
Barry: No, actually, you can't.
Barry's Customer: Why not?
Barry: God. Do you even know your daughter? There's no way she likes that song. Oops, is she in a coma?
Re:As a customer... (Score:1, Interesting)
Re:As a customer... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:As a customer... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:As a customer... (Score:5, Informative)
This is not true. A lot of 'mom and pop' stores have built up significant reputations in their community and companies in the area will go to them because they've accumulated quite the expertise over the years.
Going to an Apple Store is never going to net you expert help. The staff there are about as good (bad) as Best Buy and are paid comparatively.
Real professional resellers I know say their business has actually done better since the Apple stores, as the interest in Apple has grown and they still have the reputation, so people still end up contacting them for the big jobs.
Which is what I would do too. Our reseller is 'outtasite' and we might walk by an Apple Store, but we'd never buy anything there. Not only do we want to support the local businesses, but we know we get qualified help there - something we would never get at an Apple Store.
Service Calls (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Service Calls (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Service Calls (Score:3)
Reselling brand name computers is the next record store - you dont need em - and if VARs want to stay in business, they're going to have to change - they're going to have to bring something to the table. Because there's nothing interesting about SELLING Macs.
Providing ACTUAL service is interesting... being a go between between me and Dell or me and Ap
Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:5, Interesting)
I was in one where I walked in, started browsing around and was completely ignored by the staff. A pretty woman walked in about five minutes later and the salesman immediately asked what he could do for her. I was going to buy an external HD but since they couldn't be bothered to help me I couldn't be bothered to buy one.
It's no wonder they don't like the competition, they suck. Apple's stores are a world better.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:3, Funny)
I worked at Circuit City last summer, and, as a switcher-in-the-making, I got all excited when I found out about the Apple reseller down the road. First time I ever tried to start a conversation, he made some stupid comment about my Circuit City shirt, then lectured me about how Apple would *never* release a computer with an IBM processor in it.
Since he was the only game in town, I referred customers to his shop whenever we didn't carry a product they needed, but warned t
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:3, Informative)
IBM made the G3's (which Apple just recently took out of their iBook line.) and makes the G5's, which are in Apple's current desktop line.
When was this that this idiot thought Apple would never release a computer with an IBM processor in it? Apple and IBM have been working together on processors since the mid 90's.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:1)
I have like ten AC comments that are modded "troll" and are followed by rants and cursing...At least you were polite, Daniel.
I really do like Apple, slashdot! Why can't you see that?!
Sarcasm (Score:2)
It's the net in general. Without visual and audio cues it is really hard to differentiate sarcasm from ignorance or stupidity.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:2)
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:1, Funny)
I know it seems stupid and over-the-top, but as the other poster replied, without other cues it is the only way to be sure you aren't misunderstood.
<joke>
<redundant>
<not very funny>
Just remember not to go overboard on tags though. That's just annoying.
</joke>
</redundant>
</not very funny>
PS. It does mean you have to post with the Extrans option though.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:1)
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:2)
Oh even earlier. The PPC project was Motorola, IBM, and Apple, and I remember the first release around I'll guess 1992, so they've been at it maybe 14 years or even longer.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:5, Insightful)
Amen. What's more, the Apple Resellers I've been to are almost invariably tucked into nondescript storefronts in nondescript commercial developments. They are, in a word, boring places.
I go to the Apple Store and it's fun. It's well-lit and aesthetically pleasing, the products are all out in the open just begging to be played with, and the staff are almost frighteningly professional and courteous. No cheap brown carpet, no bare metal racks, no random stacks of crap lying around, no buzzing industrial-grade fluorescent lights, no hand-written sale signs on orange starburst paper cut-outs.
I walk into an Apple store and it feels like a candy store for big kids. It's a fun experience. I walk into the typical Apple reseller and it's nothing special.
Which store would you rather frequent?
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:1)
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:1)
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:5, Interesting)
It's not like Apple didn't give the resellers their chance. They've had their chance for twenty years, and most have consistently blown it. I'm surprised Apple put up with this shit for this long. I'm sure there are some friendly, helpful, well-organized places run by knowledgable individuals, and they have my sympathy, but I've certainly never been to one.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:4, Insightful)
It could very well be that the margins drove the quality of the resellers down, which is a shame, but... not entirely Apple's fault.
FWIW, I buy most of my Apple stuff at the worst place of all... CompUSA... when the Apple store is two blocks away. As much as I hate the ignorance of their employees, I was never the kind of person to really like a boutique shop... for actually spending money.
But, you can't blame Apple... It's an image thing...
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:4, Interesting)
Would I want to be a customer at that reseller? Not really. Location is a warehouse in an industrial park, entrance is hidden on the side, merchandise is not super-well-organized, prices are not displayed on anything and all the customers, apparently, phone each other and come in at the same time. So the effect is that the sales staff is either completely bored out of their gourd or totally overwhelmed. Each of them wants to give their full attention to their customer, which is good, but if you aren't the customer in front of them, you don't get any attention.
Additionally, they consistently fail to deliver on promises. Some of this is due to cash flow issues (c'mon, they're a small business). Some due to Apple filling orders TO THEIR OWN STORES before shipping constrained product to resellers. That's just rotten, but it happens with every new product. Sometimes due to the personnel involved: these people are Mac fanatics first, sales and service second. Their heart is in the right place, but the professionalism can be lacking.
Lest you think I'm just dishing on an old employer, I'll say this about that. I didn't really do a lot to bring up the level of professionalism, myself. And I really liked the people I worked with, all were decent folk. I wish them well, but man, the cards are really stacked against them and not getting better.
Here's the deal: without these front-line risk-takers throughout the 90's, I don't think Apple would be here today. Seriously.
To have Apple fail to figure out how to work with resellers after all these years is inexecusable, to have Apple kill off this channel of sales is really, really awful. Yeah, it's business, but it just seems like corporate has to take more responsibility for the success of their resellers and they have to understand that they are burning a bridge they've been using for years if they do kill off resellers.
Wish I had an answer, all I have is some experience.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:2)
Not all of them. Fry's Electronics is an Apple reseller. It's far from a hole in the wall, and my brother got a brand new powerbook there for $400 less than Apple was charging.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:2)
I found this out the hard way myself. Purchased an iBook for my son from CompUSA at a great price and was told it had been used by their Mac rep (who I knew and respected). Called Apple the next day to find out it had been returned for bad video. Needless to say when I spoke to t
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:1)
They're 'switcher' friendly because all they can sell you is a Mac.
At CompUSA or Frys, on the other hand, they can listen to you describe your need and sell you whatever brand computer the two of you (customer and salesperson) decide is most suited to your needs.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:2)
Or whatever brand computer the salesperson can get you to think is most suited to your needs, and that coincidentally earns the salesperson the largest possible spiff (bonus)...
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:1)
But then, we established that we're not talking about someone in the Apple Store waving around plastic.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:3, Informative)
At...Frys, on the other hand, they can listen to you...
That's a nice theory but, honestly, have you ever talked to a salesperson at Fry's? They're helpful if you aren't able to read the feature list on the box because that's pretty much what they do. Otherwise, I've found that they make great doorstops.
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:5, Informative)
We have a couple Mac retail chains around here. One of them is exactly as you described it -- overpriced crap, ancient used Macs, only one or two modern systems in stock, one copy of Panther (which had been opened and installed by the staff on their personal machines), and rude to boot. The software was, nearly without exception, from two or three years ago.
The other is gorgeous. They usually have every model on display (last time I was in, they were missing the 15" Powerbook), set up in the same kind of way as a "true" Apple store. They've got a MIDI music station, an MP3 music station, a digital video station. The owner cut his teeth selling a batch of the original Apple computer. Most of the salesmen have been around nearly as long. I can ask obscure questions and they've got answers, and they know how to solve problems cheaply. When you upgrade, they clone drives at a minimal cost, and if they can't manage it you don't get charged.
Guess which store has gotten about $5,000 worth of business this year?
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:3, Insightful)
However, even in this situation, which according to this thread sounds like one of the best, Apple doesn't have full control
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:2)
Of course, you still get ignored by the staff, and they are woefully undereducated (I nearly got thrown out once
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:1)
Re:Have you been in a reseller's shop? (Score:1)
You hit a nail with the women part too. I can never get
Interesting (Score:4, Interesting)
Are there any Mac people here that have had this experience? I've been thinking hard about getting a Powerbook as my next computer.
Re:Interesting (Score:2)
Re:Interesting (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Interesting (Score:3, Informative)
Anyway, if you're buying a Powerbook you should be buying the extended warranty. I wouldn't advocate warranties on desktop systems or displays, but on a laptop it's just a must-have... Laptops in general have far, far worse reliability track records than desktops.. check consumer reports.
I always know of at least 5 people that are futzing with laptop problems at any given time.. mostly Dell, but that's because most people I know have Dells (oh, and Dell s
Re:Interesting (Score:3, Interesting)
Sent my previous PB-667 in 363 days after purchase because the feet came off. It was returned to me in 3 days with a new case and a new battery (because one of the feet that fell off was on the battery).
mathematically unlikely (Score:2)
First think about whether any manufacturer, would sell a warranty at a loss, and then think about your last sentence again. A warranty is no different from an insurance policy: if they're to make a profit, then the overall probability of you needing repairs costing more than the warranty must be less than one.
Then again, laptops are different: not because they are more likely to go wr
Re:mathematically unlikely (Score:2)
"First think about whether any manufacturer, would sell a warranty at a loss, and then think about your last sentence again. A warranty is no different from an insurance policy: if they're to make a profit, then the overall probability of you needing repairs costing more than the warranty must be less than one."
Or it could be that the AppleCare revenues from desktops (which have fe
Re:Interesting (Score:2)
Same here. My iBook 800 MHz battery totally died 16 months after the purchase. Fortunately I did have AppleCare and they sent me a new battery, free of charge. Ship
Warranty defaults to date of manufacture (Score:5, Informative)
What MacAdam is complaining about, I think, are (a) the unrealistic default start and (b) hassles with Apple process to adjust the start to "date of purchase." And on those points I agree. No retail venue short of a used car dealership places as much bureacracy between itself and its customers as does Apple.
Re:Warranty defaults to date of manufacture (Score:3, Informative)
Apple defaults to the manufactured date if the reseller doesn't notify Apple that a serial number has been sold. Sure the process is lengthy, but thats because of MacAdams computer set-up. I've worked with other vendors such as Mac/MicroWarehouse, CDW, the Source, etc. and each has a system that ships of information o
Registering your computer (Score:1)
Re:Interesting (Score:2)
Re: MacAdam, San Francisco (Score:2, Informative)
MacAdam's niche was in a pre-Internet time, when comparison shopping was difficult. Plus the incredible hourly fees they charged businesses for set-up and basic administration. And the utter contempt and lack of attention to anyone not looking to purchase a complete system t
Apple does it better (Score:5, Interesting)
I purchased my first Apple in an Apple store after having first visited two Apple Dealers. I was amazed that unlike Gateway Country stores or even the dealers I didn't have to place an order and wait for delivery I could actually walk out of the store with product in hand!
Apple's store fronts are stocked with just about every product. (minus very new products that haven't shipped yet) Their sales people are knowledgable and helpful. The store layout is excellent, you can actually find what you are looking for.
The Apple Dealers are going the way of the DoDo and they are lashing out in frustration. The only way they can survive is to offer additional services that Apple doesn't offer. i.e. custom development, onsite service, etc. They need to build niche markets and pursue them. This means they will need to do more then simply buy and resell Apple products.
The Apple Dealers have been dwindling for years and the whole reason Apple started opening the stores was to create market visibility in the nations shopping malls. The death of the x86 Clone Mom & Pop shops is now befalling the Apple Dealers.
The Dealers may have been responsible for 50% of the Apple sales in the past but that is going to move to the Apple store fronts. Apple is expanding in many ways and the dealer base is simply not large enough to handle to increase.
Some ideas for Apple Dealers:
- Work with Graphics, PrintShops, and Sign makers.
- Create a POS (point of sale system)
- Create inventory systems
- Physical Asset management systems
- Etc, Etc. bring the Mac into new ventures.
Apple stores are just better (Score:4, Insightful)
Before we got our apple store my favorite reseeller was Compusa, how sad is that. Because the other 2 are so bad. If they want to compete maybe they should bring their Harddrive prices down a bit and memory prices, they price like apple. Its insane, $220 for 512megs of ram, and $180 for a 120 gig hard drive.
The other thing is the speed at which they get and stock their products. Not only do they get new products about a month after they are out, they don't even have anything in the back to BUY. They keep no stock on hand. You go to buy a powerbook and they tell you you'll get it in a week. WTF.
In my opinion the Apple Stores are just better, they may be doing some shady things, thats up to the courts to decide, but they are all around a better store for me, the customer. If the resellers want to compete, compete, not everything they have in their stores are controlled by an Apple price policy, get some deals inside, and don't charge me for a repair when my stuff is under warranty (another story for another time).
myRant.end();
Apple needs a small store strategy (Score:5, Insightful)
I heard they were planning on developing small store fronts to put in college towns and campuses. This has yet to materialize. If Apple wants to reach more people they need to be where people are. These small stores need to be primarily showrooms where you can see the products and talk to a human. They should primarily just sell accessories and avoid stocking computers.
Bottom line (Score:5, Insightful)
There are a handful of legendary Apple Resellers that I have heard of. Never experienced, just heard of them. For this handful of stores, it is a most unfortunate situation.
All of the resellers I have dealt with were complete crap. Bozo sales people that couldn't field the simplest questions about specificaitons. Service people "I think it's fixed", "OH, you wanted that data?", and my favorite: "you need to call Apple". (I maintained a school network of at first 8 Mac SEs, eventually over 100 i/eMacs and PowerMacs over a 12 year period, so I know)
Aside from my professional experience, I decided to purchase a PM/933 from a local reseller, rather than drive across L.A. or pay shipping. When I ran across the screen spasms (turned out to be a driver problem), first they blamed my non-apple display. So I bought an Apple Display (this time from the Apple Store btw). Problem persisted. I pointed out the 900+ post on the Apple discussion forums to the service techs. Still nothing. "You need to call Apple", from their top dog tech whom I previously had respect for. Why should *I* have to call Apple? I just handed them a small fortune for the system, shouldn't *they* call Apple? Wanna guess how many more dollars I spent there?
I'm sure before the Apple Retail Project came into conception, Apple had heard thousands of stories just like mine. They knew opening retail stores would piss off a bunch of people, people that had helped them stay in business. They knew they would be sued. They knew little soapbox nazis would cry out about the injustice of it all. They also knew they had no choice but to surgically remove the cancer that had been eroding the value of their brand for the past decade. It was a simple cost:benefit analysis.
Really, do you think the iPod would have smashed the competition without The Apple Store? I remember taking a trip to New York a couple of months after the iPod was introduced. One of the retail shops my family owns is 3 blocks away from the SOHO Appple Store, so I had a chance to hang out and watch the street. Everywhere I looked, white headphones, white headphones, white headphones. Funny when I went uptown, not so many white headphones.
Re:Bottom line (Score:2)
It seems unfair to tar them all with such a generalization. But the Apple resellers do bring to mind John Wheeler's observation that all electrons behave identically because "they are all one and the same electron." I wonder. Maybe there are maket forces which cause (or caused) them to act that way.
My latest reseller horror story was an iBook repair. Quoted ten days, still in the shop a month later. "Well sir, you have a special model. It has
Re:Bottom line (Score:2, Interesting)
why should your reseller call apple for you about a problem. they are a reseller. the warranty you receive is from apple. and apple fucks their resellers so much that it is not cost effective for the reseller to pay their tech whatever an hour to call apple for you.
apple made thousands off of you. the reseller only facilitated you not having to wait for the item to ship, and only made a few hundred bucks. why should they spend t
Re:Bottom line (Score:4, Insightful)
Let me put it to you from a different perspective....why should I give my money to a reseller, when the level of service is the same as buying it from macconnection.com? Note I don't have to pay sales tax to macconnection, so why should I pay more for the privilege of my dealer telling me to call the manufacturer?
It's exactly your attitude that I'm talking about. "It's not my problem" I've never got that from The Apple Store. The resellers deal with their supplier is not my problem; I gave my money in good faith to the RESELLER not Apple. Therefore, I expect service from the RESELLER. And I think maybe you missed the real point...this particular reseller (*cough* Di-No) missed out on selling me not one but two powerbooks, a G5, a 17" and a 23" Cinema, all because of that attitude. IMO they deserve to be out of business for failing to take advantage of the opportunities right in front of their face.
If the margins aren't there for an Apple reseller, then perhaps this type of channel cleansing is a good thing, no?
Re:Bottom line (Score:3, Insightful)
because he didn't buy the machine from apple, he bought it from a reseller and if he has a problem with his machine then it is the reseller he has a contract with and it is the resellers duty to resolve that problem. the resellers problems with their suppliers, and details of any profit they may or may not make are none of his concern.
I'm sorry but it annoys me when shops refuse to car
I agree (Score:4, Informative)
Let 'em die. (Score:1, Redundant)
Last time out, the assneck employee spelled my name wrong on the invoice. Twice. Despite the fact I was still wearing my work ID AND I SPELLED IT AT HIM. Then there's the several phone contacts with said service place- during which they'd refuse to specify wha
In Holland, 'Apple Stores' are 3rd p. resellers (Score:1, Interesting)
for instance the 2 'Apple Stores' Amsterdam are Apple Center Centraal Station [macsupport.nl] by MacSupport and MacHouse Amsterdam [macamsterdam.nl] by MacHouse.
both resellers recieved financial aid to open their stores, as long as they looked like "Apple Stores"
Just bought an iMac (Score:5, Interesting)
All in all, it was a better customer experience, if you ask me.
Re:Just bought an iMac (Score:2)
well of course apple stores are shiny (Score:1)
since the markup for the reseller is so incredibly tiny the reseller can't make money selling macs. they can only make money in service that is out of warranty or by training or consulting time.
no one can survive just selling macs. it's impossible. there's no profit to be made in a 10-20% markup on products.
ok iBook 1,000 dollars. dealer p
Re:well of course apple stores are shiny (Score:3, Insightful)
Apple Retail Stores. I was in a retail store not to long ago hanging around waiting for my wife to arrive. I saw no less than 5 different computer purchases walk out the door during the hour I was there. That was in one hour on a Friday afternoon. This may not be typical but I doubt it was their allotment for the month either.
Having said that, 10% profit is not bad at all. Compare this profit margin to other markets and see. The problems I have found with most reseller
Re:well of course apple stores are shiny (Score:2)
Re:well of course apple stores are shiny (Score:1)
Apple makes little more than the resellers. The real difference as has been reiterated time and time again is service and availability.
Here in South Florida there are a few Apple resellers as well as CompUSA and they ALL suck. Now we have 3 Apple stores and the resellers can complain all they want but they suffer in comparison of service, knowledgeability, and service... not on price.
Re:well of course apple stores are shiny (Score:2)
cost of parts to make ibook: $0
cost of r&d: $0
cost of marketting: $0
dave
Re:well of course apple stores are shiny (Score:1)
Cost of parts 0... what bizarro world economics class did you take?
Re:well of course apple stores are shiny (Score:2)
Book 1,000 dollars. dealer profit 100 bucks. apple profit 900 bucks.
if the cost of an ibook is $1000, the dealer makes $100 profit and apple makes $900 profit then the cost of manufacture (and overheads) must logically be zero.
my point was that apple don't make $900 profit on ibooks. at a guess, ibooks probabaly don't make much pr
Re:well of course apple stores are shiny (Score:1)
From the article (Score:3, Insightful)
I don't think anyone has an emotional attachment to CompUSA. These are Apple customers. They would continue to buy Apple products, but from either the Apple online store, Apple 800 number, or an Apple retail store. Personally, I did my research online, went to an apple retail store to look at their products, and bought my Powerbook either online or over the phone from Apple. Can't remember which.
Re:From the article (Score:2)
Re:From the article (Score:2)
They're a big Apple reseller, but definitely not Apple-only, and their 'never knowingly undersold' motto really works. If you can find it cheaper elsewhere, they'll sell it at that price.
The staff seemed knowledgeable and were very helpful, and while my local store had sold out of the particular model iBook I wanted, they delivered it for no extra cost from another.
Plus, I seem to have a two year warranty on this machine...
Re:From the article (Score:2)
Either that or you could be like everybody else and get a Dell or something.
Re:From the article (Score:2)
It's probably likely to outlive Apple - it's already been going since 1864 [johnlewisp...ship.co.uk].
did anybody else catch this? (Score:4, Informative)
I read that, blinked, checked my calendar, and sho' nuff, it hasn't been 30 years. It's hard to take gratuitous embellishment seriously.
Re:did anybody else catch this? (Score:2)
Resellers have to get their act together (Score:4, Insightful)
But when I deal with independent computer stores today, I am appalled. I was just helping a friend via email on buying a new iBook, he had an old iBook and wanted an upgrade. He went to a local independent dealer, they quoted him the same prices on the iBook as the Apple Store, but gouged him for upgrades. Like $250 for a 256Mb RAM stick plus $110 to install. They're insane, even an Apple Store RAM upgrade in a Build To Order machine doesn't cost that much, and BTO prices are a bit on the high side.
When I worked in computer sales, we used to call accessory sales "point builders" because you could sell a CPU cheap but build up the profit percentage (points) with accessories. But this independent dealer was way out of line.
In today's market, dealers are expected to make profits with service beyond the sale, but that's not going to happen with customers who buy overpriced accessories. They're eventually going to learn the true value of what they bought, realize they got a raw deal, and they're not going to be inclined to go back. Don't people know the most basic sales lessons? Your best customers are your previous customers. Keep them happy and they come back and bring their friends.
Good experience with Tekserve, Apple dealer in NYC (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Good experience with Tekserve, Apple dealer in (Score:2, Informative)
Tekserve has been an amazing Apple resource in NYC for over 15 years. I bought my Powerbook from them. Their tech department is legendary. I would trust their word over Apple (especially about things like Logic Board problems, etc.)
Welcome to Free Enterprise (Score:3, Interesting)
A non-anonymous memo to all Apple Retailers.
Get off your fucking asses and invest in advertising campaigns to help sell your business. Apple wants to be more than a niche player who mostly caters to an ecclectic audience.
As Apple enters the Enterprise Markets what better way to demonstrate, regionally, the power of such Enterprise Services, than to be able to augment existing Apple Sales Points and bring in new potential businesses.
Waiting and coordinating with hundreds of independent resellers to do this is a complete waste of time.
Personally, I'd be leveraging the fact that Apple has a local presence near my business, advertise that you are an Apple Certified Reseller and coordinate with Apple to help push inventories.
being an apple reseller. (Score:5, Interesting)
Having worked for specialists, I've learned more about the mac, and this niche market than I ever thought I would. Back before the Apple Retail Stores, there were the catalogers, and the independent dealers. Within the dealers, there were resellers, and specialists. Resellers were places like CompUSA, etc who sold macs, along with everything else on the planet. Then, there were the specialists. The SP's were all mac. It was their bread and butter, their primary focus. They took care of it all. And today, despite the retail stores, we still do.
As an Apple Specialist, we're required to perform in and out of warranty service, staff certified technicians and a technical coordinator, perform in and out of warranty service, and we participate in Apple's Direct Dispatch program. All of the people I work with have been doing this as long as I have and longer. My owner can quote old beige system specs from memory, and can fix the antiquated dinosaurs that show up from time to time, with no problems. Me and my other techs can play "Name That Screw" which consists of picking up a screw from a machine, and being able to name not only every machine it goes into, but how many of that screw there are. (yes, we're huge nerds) My guys can go out on apple dispatches and repair machines onsite, and even correct the Apple support people when they send the wrong parts. My sales guys know what works, what doesnt, and how it all goes together. Similarly, we run our stores on nothing but mac's. Our point of sale stuff is mac based, along with our databases, and the like.
The problem however is cashflow, and it isnt all related to the Apple retail stores. Its a hard time to be a small dealer in the computer industry in general. Profit margins are very, and I mean very low. hypothetically figure that we buy an epson printer from ingram micro or tech data (the wholesale channels for retailers) and we spend $70. then, we have it shipped to our store. thats another $15. we're at $80. Epson is selling them for $79, and CompUSA bought a pallete of 1000 of them and is selling them with a $30 mail in rebate. Epson makes pure profit, Compusa gets a bulk discount, and we break even. Dont think there's much margin in machine sales either. There isnt. Apple is selling volume. Thats where their money is. The specialist culture grew up around selling the machines they love, fixing them, and offering the high end support that goes with them. All our money is made in services and third party items we make some margin off of. So, no matter what computer hardware your selling in a small shop, it's not easy.
As far as the Apple retail stores go, I find them very pretty, and they have a lot of stuff. And I commend that. It brings brand awareness to the platform. However...They tend to have a very high turn over of employees from what I can see thanks to the tysons corner and clarendon stores. Their sales people have a functional sales knowledge, but if you get over their heads, they automatically send you to the geniuses. The geniuses get two weeks training before they're put to work. Wow, thats a lot of training. I've spent ten years developing my skills. Unfortunately, I've also encountered times when the geniuses were backed up 6 deep with people waiting to be helped. I've also encountered instances where Apple told customers that they couldnt and wouldnt fix their machines, and that they should buy a new one. Yet, when they brought it to me, It took me about an hour, with a part I had in stock, to repair their our of warranty G4 Tower. (digital Audio machine)
I see things from both sides as I'm a consumer and I'm an employee of a Specialist. I love the Mac. Its the only computer I own. Thanks to the mac, I have a career, and a job I love. I could go corporate, and I could go apple. But corporate means wearing a tie, and Apple offer
Re:being an apple reseller. (Score:1)
All that talk about being better sellers and you didn't even leave your contact information. Shame
The Big Squeeze (Score:2, Insightful)
Resellers... and info on MacAdam (Score:2, Interesting)
I hate to repeat what everyone else on here has said, so I will just agree that most of the high rated posts in this thread are absolutely correct -- there are some excellent reseller
HTML tags a plenty (Score:3, Insightful)
What VARs and Apple Specialists need to do is turn themselves into support services for these markets. They can continue to sell Apple's hardware but they need to start focussing on the words in their titles. Selling a school some eMacs is one thing. Selling them some eMacs and setting them up a central directory, file, and mail server with a hardware support contract is something else entirely. These sorts of services they can bill by the hour and guarantee with contracts.
Many companies only stick with Windows PCs because they don't think there's anything else in the world that can possibly work. Part of the job of the Apple retail stores is to provide a place where people can come see their products in action. VARs and SPs should go a step beyond that and really show businesses that they could save money or make more money by switching away from Windows.
Re:HTML tags a plenty (Score:2)
Any scrupulous Apple Reseller will kick the sale if it is shipped to a school address or once they discover it's a school, because there contract says Apple has exclusive access to schools. Even The Apple Store will refer you to Apple Education Sales.
Third party stores need to step things up! (Score:3, Interesting)
I'm in the same boat here... I have two local reseller mac stores that are WAY too overpriced, and inside they both only have a front-area with a single desk that no one sits at, and a larger room in the back with a bunch of macs that I used about 5-6 years ago. They're a complete mess, have no prices anywhere for anything, no catalog, no displays, just ask some weird-looking guy, or his wife (or... whatever she is) whom you can ask how much something is, then they make a few calls to "someone" and tell you how much it is... which is always at least 4 times more than I can get it elsewhere. When I can get something cheaper at a CompUSA than a mac reseller... that is sad...
I think Apple and Jobs realized that macs were never really selling that well because their only business was repeat business. It was a niche/cult kinda thing, always was. With the move to these VERY awesome storefronts, they are showing off their cool, neat, innovative technologies to the public, attracting all kinds of new customers... and as you can tell, it's working! I praise Apple for their awesome innovations in design and technology, and hope to see some of these third party resellers step it up. I've seen a few good ones up in Silicon Valley, good mac area up there!
Ahhh well... maybe my opinions are biased, but come on now... just look at the Airport Express! There are NO devices on the market like it, so small, so cute, so feature-rich, so... awesome. I'm buying 3 of 'em myself! And for once... I think Apple priced it pretty damn well. Anyway... Viva la Apple! =P
Re:Third party stores need to step things up! (Score:1)
You don't happen to live in St. Louis, do you? 'Cause that sure sounds like one Mac reseller
Re:Third party stores need to step things up! (Score:1)
Comment removed (Score:3, Informative)
No smalldog == no more apple purchases (Score:1)
To be specific though, if they somehow manage to piss off Small Dog electronics [smalldog.com] and they stop selling apples, I doubt I will buy any more macs.
In Australia (Score:1)
We don't have AppleStores here in Australia (except the online Store). We only have AppleCentres and Second Hand Dealers.
The three AppleCentres I've been to (one a 30min Walk, one a 30min Drive, and the third and Hour Away) are all clean showrooms.
The guys in Berwick Village [macman.com.au] (closest to me) know me by name, and although they don't have everything in stock all the time, can provide me with a well-priced solution in no time. They also provide Internet Services and Database Design. They also do in-house Repai