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icruise · Jan 20, 2006, 12:20 PM

I was pretty surprised to see that Amazon is now offering $125 back on the 17" and $150 back on the 20" Intel iMacs. I always thought that these rebates of Amazon's were more to clear out stock, but that doesn't seem to be the case this time. Anyway, at $1170.95, the 17" iMac is a stellar deal. You can get it and a huge LCD monitor to use along with it for less than you'd pay for the 20" iMac from Apple (assuming you don't pay sales tax at Amazon). Anyone have any ideas what is behind this?

robo74 · Jan 20, 2006, 12:29 PM

I was wondering the same thing myself.

I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the rebates from them?

Rob

harrisjamieh · Jan 20, 2006, 12:54 PM

Ive heard reports of people ordering the new imacs from amazon with the rebates, but delivery times are mid-feb

icruise · Jan 20, 2006, 01:08 PM

I went ahead and ordered a 17" model and my delivery estimate is January 25th (with a shipping estimate of January 23rd). I paid for 2-day shipping. So we'll see.

Josh Reid · Jan 20, 2006, 04:31 PM

Yesterday they were listed on Amazon as "Not yet released, order and get in line". But as of today, they are now listed as a 2-3 day ship time. Within the next week, as long as inventory stays up, they may move it to a 24hr ship time.

How often do they have rebates on iMacs on Amazon? The current rebate says you must purchase by 2/7/06 to be eligible. Is it likely that shortly after that they'll have the same rebate posted just with a newer expiration date? No tax, free shipping, and a $150 rebate makes it verrry tempting.

Crusoe · Jan 20, 2006, 05:03 PM

They had the rebates all holiday season for the G5s. Was suppose to end 17 Jan, guess they decided to keep it going with the Intel annoucements.

mduell · Jan 20, 2006, 08:27 PM

They must be selling terribly, so Amazon has a huge inventory they need to dump!

John123 · Jan 20, 2006, 09:36 PM

Amazon always runs rebates on all Macs. They've been doing it constantly for well over a year now. This is nothing new; shortly after any Mac is introduced, they post the rebate forms.

I've ordered 4 Macs from Amazon with rebates. Had a little difficulty with a rebate issue on one of them (it was an Amazon screwup -- they put a $200 coupon on a 12" iBook about a year ago, bringing the price to $800...they then pulled the coupon off the site and tried not to honor it, but after calling in, they relented). All other rebate experiences have been successul and uneventful. Especially if you use A9 and have an Amazon VISA, you can basically get a steal on a Mac from them.

Unless you need BTO, buying a Mac from anyone other than Amazon is stupid. You can even beat education prices a lot of the time, once you factor in sales tax.

icruise · Jan 20, 2006, 09:56 PM

I know that they've been doing rebates for a long time, but I don't recall them starting them immediately after a machine was released. But perhaps that's just my faulty memory.

John123 · Jan 20, 2006, 10:02 PM

Originally Posted by Icruise

I know that they've been doing rebates for a long time, but I don't recall them starting them immediately after a machine was released. But perhaps that's just my faulty memory.

Yeah, it is.

I bought that 12" iBook about a month after their introduction, my two PowerBooks days after their introduction, and a 20" iMac about a couple weeks after its introduction. The rebate forms are always forthcoming...

mrplow · Jan 21, 2006, 01:05 AM

ok, so since there is so much wild and inaccurate speculation going on... I must intervene.

I order a 17" iMac from amazon on the 11th, at which point it was est to ship on March 20th. I was most upset, but I waited. There was no rebate at this point, but I ordered with my AMEX Wish List gift cert and got $150 off... on the 18th they started the rebate promotion. I decided to call Amazon about 1) march 20!??! and 2) $125!?!?... the first lady told me she'd look into it and call me back.. an hour later I called again and spoke to a man, who helped me out very quickly. He said that Amazon should get their shipment on Feb 6th and he attached a note to my order to ensure I am first on the list (I don't know why he did this, but I didn't argue.. and judging by my order now, he also upgraded my shipping to 2 day!) Then i asked about the rebate- they told me to just cancel and reorder, but i explaiend I'd lose my $150 coupon in doing that---- so they just deducated $125 from my bill! 17" Core Duo is now stated to arrive on the 25th for $1019.99!

putting my g5 1.6 up on ebay tomorrow morning

freakin' sweet.....

icruise · Jan 21, 2006, 06:26 AM

What wild and inaccurate speculation was that again?

mrplow · Jan 21, 2006, 03:57 PM

1. They had the rebates all holiday season for the G5s. Was suppose to end 17 Jan, guess they decided to keep it going with the Intel annoucements.

There was no rebate on the imacs until Jan 18 (the intels that is, so it wasn't just a matter of it carrying over)

2. They must be selling terribly, so Amazon has a huge inventory they need to dump!

They didn't have any at all until just the other day-- They were expecting a shipment on Feb 6th, and a rep on the phone told me that the reason they took preorders and conducted business this way was to ensure they didn't over stock.. I'm not complaining to hear they're shipping on monday though.

so it wasnt WILD speculation, but when I saw the form I got excited and was a little disappointed at the inaccuracies.. just wanted to clarify, didn't mean to come off negatively towards anyone

kcm3 · Jan 21, 2006, 04:16 PM

I went through the ordering process for a 20", and with the free (5-9 day) shipping it gave me a ship date of Jan 30th. Not a terrible wait time, considering the rebate and no tax.

John123 · Jan 21, 2006, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by mrplow

ok, so since there is so much wild and inaccurate speculation going on... I must intervene.

I order a 17" iMac from amazon on the 11th, at which point it was est to ship on March 20th. I was most upset, but I waited. There was no rebate at this point, but I ordered with my AMEX Wish List gift cert and got $150 off... on the 18th they started the rebate promotion. I decided to call Amazon about 1) march 20!??! and 2) $125!?!?... the first lady told me she'd look into it and call me back.. an hour later I called again and spoke to a man, who helped me out very quickly. He said that Amazon should get their shipment on Feb 6th and he attached a note to my order to ensure I am first on the list (I don't know why he did this, but I didn't argue.. and judging by my order now, he also upgraded my shipping to 2 day!) Then i asked about the rebate- they told me to just cancel and reorder, but i explaiend I'd lose my $150 coupon in doing that---- so they just deducated $125 from my bill! 17" Core Duo is now stated to arrive on the 25th for $1019.99!

putting my g5 1.6 up on ebay tomorrow morning

freakin' sweet.....

Amazon's customer service overall is quite good....