Options to purchase many of the mini size of the iPad

November 19, 2012 6:24 AM

I want to give out the mini size of the iPad (the 16Gb Wifi) as a Christmas bonus to our employees, the most that the Corporate Gifts & Rewards division of Apple will sell to us is 10, so that is 10 accounted for. How likely is it that we will be able to cobble together the remaining 40 through multiple other orders.

From testing online through Apple store chat it looks like you can bypass the 2 maximum per order by special request and buy 4 at one time. Do they check aggressively for multiple orders, or is the whole restricted availability an attempt to keep an exclusive aura around the product and we will have no problem getting all we need. We are planning a couple of trips to the Apple store, couple of online orders using company and personal credit cards, trips to Best Buy, etc.

Also does anyone know what the stock situation is like? If we are doing this we have to make it to 50, failing at 21 would be a disaster. Plan is to have them all on way or in hand before Wednesday in case there is a Thanksgiving sellout. We will be giving the out in the first week of December. We are in the Bay Area.

posted by anonymous to Shopping (7 answers total)

I think it's 10 per department. Check that info. You can also call Tekserve. They will ship for free and wave taxes outside NYC.
posted by Yellow at 6:39 AM on November 19, 2012

Drop by your local Apple Store and ask to speak to a Business Specialist. They may be able to help.
posted by TTIKTDA at 7:00 AM on November 19, 2012

My housemate's job is to check for multiple orders, and yes, they are very aggressive and strict about this.
posted by fiercecupcake at 8:23 AM on November 19, 2012

Perhaps look into eBay or another auction service. You'll pay a premium, no doubt, but you'll probably be able to meet your target pretty easily.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 10:25 AM on November 19, 2012

Seconding TTIKTDA. Unless they're massively low on product, the Business Specialist should be happy to accomodate you. Our company bought about 80 iPads last year without problem.
posted by dripdripdrop at 12:11 PM on November 19, 2012

Is there a MicroCenter near you? In my experience those have tons of iPads in stock.
posted by Ike_Arumba at 1:11 PM on November 19, 2012

I have a lot of experience buying products in bulk from Apple's online store. Often times the limits change, for example change in quantity from 2 to 10, and/or change from "quantity per customer" to "quantity per order", etc. You may also be able to avoid quantity restrictions by using a different credit card and shipping address (if you do that, you want to purchase as a guest rather than logged into an account). I don't think the mini iPad is in highly short supply, so Apple really has no incentive to restrict sales quantities too tightly.
posted by Dansaman at 3:40 PM on November 19, 2012