Buying Discounted Apple MacBooks, Essay Example

A good plan is to follow the marketing strategy of Apple and in particular the emerging economies like India and China. In 2008 Apple offered a huge promotion of Apple Mac Books to the Educational establishments in India. The promotion wiped off 12% on the Retail Selling Price (RSP).  Hence if you are in Education and in particular Universities you can use your international connections to purchase your MacBook from India.  It is also worth exploring online discount sites like eBay and swoopo.ca. In the latter site, a Canadian site, a recent highly specified MacBook sold by public online auction for just $41.68 cdn.  Like any online auction site you have to be prepared to take risks caveat emptor (let the buyer beware) and the quality of the goods may not always meet your expectations.  In this case the product was new and somebody latched onto a bargain.

Nanjibay won with 73 Bids and saved 94%!

Appleguide.ca is another excellent source for purchasing discount Mac books online.

Purchasing an Impounded Car

The best place is to check out local Police auctions.  These are cars that are re-sold after being impounded by the police.  A number of these are good cars which have been seized for varying drive infractions. Good sources for these are the internet, local paper advertisements, police information bulletin boards.  Plan to turn up early at these auctions as you are normally allowed 2 hours viewing / inspection time before the cars go to auction.  It is advised to have a car mechanic with you in order that the important and costly features can be examined.  Most of the auction sales are final so it is important to bring Cash with you.  A valid drivers license and proof of insurance will be required before you are permitted to drive the car away from the lot.

It is a good plan to have a used car price guide with you and equally check the vehicle identification number online at carfax.com where a vehicle history report should be available. This is essential if you don’t want any further surprises down line after a successful bid. It is important to familiarize yourself with the auction and its’ bidding rules before you go in. Ensure you understand the position regarding “reserves”, the correct procedure for bidding and remember that some auction houses will charge up to 15% commission on the sale.  Equally as these are second hand cars don’t expect any type of warranty or guarantees.  Some people have been shocked when they find the car they recently acquired does not even start.  Some times the vehicles may have been sitting around for a long time before being auctioned off.  Another thing to look out for is hidden costs.  Ensure the vehicle has not been tagged with any hidden costs. Examples of this might be fines, storage costs, towing charges etc.  You do not want to get saddled with someone else’s bills, despite the face that you may have a bargain.  Look out for the sales clauses at an auction.  In particular the disclaimers like ” we are not responsible for any faults, damages or problems with the goods. Other words like “as is”, “where is” tend to be similar disclaimers and should make you realize that you are bidding on what they potentially are branding as junk.