Note: I talk about why new Apple products are better than used for the first few minutes of this post. Skip to the next heading if you don't care.
There's no doubt that the tech giant that is Apple makes some very nice products. There's also no doubt, however, that they charge a pretty hefty premium for these products. Despite this, a lot of people still prefer to purchase the latest iPhone or MacBook brand spanking new.
I'm not gonna lie - I'm a huge Apple fan and I like new products too - and not just because they're new. I find that purchasing tech products new or near new for the best price you possibly can is a great investment when compared to used tech for three reasons:
You know that everything from the battery to the screen has never been used before, and consequently it's got a whole lot of life in it.
By purchasing something new you'll have your own receipt, packaging, and warranty - so when you decide it's time to sell you'll have the upper hand.
The unboxing is pretty fun, let's be honest.
But if you don't mind a slower or more worn product, you might as well save a few hundred dollars, right? Well actually, you might not be saving a few hundred dollars.
View it this way:
Say you've decided you want the iPhone X, and after using the one of the methods I'm about to show you, you manage to find it for $2,000. You fire up eBay and find that it's going used for around $1,700 - a full $300 cheaper!
At this point, it's important to think about the future.
While you may pay $1,700 now, in a few years you might find that things are starting to break down - you pay $200 for a new battery and suddenly it's only $100 that you've saved.
Furthermore, when it comes time to sell your phone and get a new one, you might find that the $1,700 phone now goes for only $1,400 (since it's much older), whereas your $2,000 phone now goes for $1,700. Essentially, either way you've spent $300 to use your iPhone X over the years, but one way you have a brand new phone, and the other way you have an older phone and a higher risk of your phone parts dying on you!
Note that this isn't always the case and sometimes a second hand device is cheaper if you find a great deal, but it's something to consider especially with things like phones.
Anyway, that's enough rambling for now. Onto the four ways you can get some sweet new Apple gear for a much better deal:
Certified Refurbished
For those of you who don't know, on Apple's actual website they have a section called Certified Refurbished. Essentially, Apple themselves will repair devices which may have been faulty and then sell them here.
You can actually find most Apple products here, and there really is no reason not to buy a certified refurbished product - it legally has to work like new, it comes boxed just as any other product, and looks just like it's supposed to as well. Effectively, it's a brand new product that's sold cheaper under a different section of Apple's website.
While the savings won't be insane, you can see above that even on the latest products you'll still get a great discount of somewhere in the 10-20% range!
Note: if the prices look ridiculously high it's because they're in New Zealand Dollars.
Duty Free
If you're going overseas in the near future, or you know someone who is, consider getting your product from duty free stores at the airport. Personally, I purchased a pair of AirPods from a duty free store and saved about 20% - I ended up reselling them after a few months for more than I paid for them!
The idea is that in these duty free shops you don't have to pay any excessive taxes, and as a result you can easily snag a bargain.
Make sure you check the normal prices before you purchase duty free though, because these types of stores have been known to mark up prices so that they profit even more than they already would have.
Apple's Education Website
If you have any affiliation to tertiary education, you could qualify for education rates on Apple's education store. Essentially, if you're a teacher or student then you can get a nice little discount on products such as the AirPods, iPad, and MacBook assuming you use them for education purposes.
Compared to the options above, education pricing isn't as great, but you'll still save a good 5-10%, so if there's no other option then it's 100% worth it.
Trading Websites
Believe it or not, websites like eBay and TradeMe have a whole lot of potential for killer deals on brand new (you heard me right!) Apple products. In 20 or 30 minutes of searching around I managed to find this auction:
Yup! That's the newest Apple Watch going for $660 NZD, while it currently retails at about $750. $90 isn't a bad amount to save, and it's completely unopened!
There's a bit of a technique to finding deals like these, so I'll try to share a few tips with you all now:
Try searching phrases like "unwanted gift" or "brand new", and then adding whatever filter to your search will best find your product.
Make sure you have "buy now" switched on in your search, as getting a deal in a straight bidding war is almost impossible.
Try clicking on items with pretty mediocre pictures, as those are the ones that people tend to skip over the most.
So all in all, each of these methods can work wonders, and all of them will get you brand new Apple products for much cheaper than otherwise. Some of these methods are preferred over others, so here is my recommendation in terms of a plan of attack for finding the best deal you can:
First, try the trading websites and just double check that there isn't a crazy low buy now that's just been listed by a trader who just wants the item off of their hands. If you have no luck, ask around your mates and see if anyone is going overseas in the near future. If not, try the certified refurbished section of Apple's site. Finally, if all else fails, try Apple Education (assuming you qualify). If through all of that you still don't have yourself a deal and you really would like one, the waiting game begins!
Happy bargain hunting!
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