[Atheist]

Wasn't sure exactly where to put this. So here goes. I'm attempting to purchase a MacBook Air from MacMall but it's proving difficult to say the least. I made the mistake of logging into the site from my computer at home (Dominican Republic) and placed an order to ship to a friends house in Virginia. I paid via PayPal which is connected to my Visa debit card which is issued from a US bank and has a US billing address. The order processed fine however I got an email an hour later telling me that they couldn't "verify" the payment method (not sure why... it was PayPal) and that the only way I could pay was via wire transfer. I suspect my problem is that I logged in to the site from outside the US.

I called and told them to cancel the order. I then initiated a remote desktop session to one of my computers at work in Virginia and logged in to the MacMall site. I figure I can't go wrong if I place the order from within the US.

Now here's the weird part. I went with MacMall because it was $140 cheaper than from Apple. It was the original discounted price with an additional instant discount. Here's a screenshot:


So that first image you see is what my shopping cart looks like when I log into my MacMall account from my Mac in the DR.

When I log into MacMall from a windows box in Virginia and view my shopping cart I see this:


I called MacMall sales and they were no help. They say the price should be $1369 and have no idea why I'm seeing a discounted price from outside the US.

I'd like to buy the damn thing but hate losing out on the additional $41 discount.

Can anyone from either inside or outside the US tell me what price they get for the item. You may have to add the item to your shopping cart to see the additional discount.

[Big Mac]

$1,369 is the price displayed on the product page for me.

[Atheist]

It gets curioser and curioser. Seems to be browser specific. This is from my home computer. On the left is Safari and on the right is Firefox:

[The Final Dakar]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

It gets curioser and curioser. Seems to be browser specific. This is from my home computer. On the left is Safari and on the right is Firefox:

I've heard of this happening before. n the other instance a bank changed an interest rate offered based on browser.

[Atheist]

I've since quit Safari and now when I go back in to my shopping cart it shows the higher price. Some weird caching thing.

And of course it now shows on backorder. The whole point was to get Saturday shipping so it would be in Virginia when I arrive tomorrow.

[ort888]

This is just a thing some places do. Changing prices for different parts of the country, your cookies, past shopping you've done there, time of day, etc...

It's very shady but it happens.

[imitchellg5]

For only saving $41? Just order from Apple.

[Atheist]

Actually, considering the lack of sales tax, it was a $140 difference. That's not small change. It's $1469 if I order it from Apple.

UPDATE:
Mystery solved. The original discount appeared because I had clicked on a MacMall link from the AppleInsider.com website.

I ended up ordering the 13" instead of the 11". Same specs as the 11" except has the 1.86GHz processor... and $10 cheaper no less. Should have it in my greedy little hands tomorrow night