Best price for iPad mini 2?

November 11, 2015 8:59 AM

We are getting iPad mini 2's for our 3 kids for Xmas, and I'm trying to decide how to get the best deal, particularly with Black Friday/Cyber Monday coming up in 2 weeks. How do you know when to wait vs. buy?

This will be their main gift this year, and since I'm getting 3 of them I really want to get the best deal I can. We're only looking for the WiFi enabled ones - no need for phone capability. The iPad mini is currently on sale at Walmart for $199, which looks like a pretty good deal considering the Apple retail is $269. But with Black Friday / Cyber Monday coming up I'm wondering if the price will be better if I wait. Does anyone have any insight? Is it possible to see what the deals will be in advance? BTW, I'm only interested in online deals - I will not be going anywhere near a store on Black Friday...

posted by widdershins to Computers & Internet (6 answers total)

Buy them now, save the receipt and don't open them, return them in 2 weeks if you manage to find a better deal at Black Friday. No reason not to hedge your bets here.
posted by brainmouse at 9:02 AM on November 11, 2015

Yeah, that.

Honestly, you're probably best off snatching up those $199 ones. Black Friday deals aren't actually all that great (especially online), and you only get them if you're there when the doors open.
posted by Sys Rq at 9:04 AM on November 11, 2015

You are absolutely right and that's what I've just done - thank you! For future reference, is there a way to find out what the Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals will be in advance?

I saw the 'leaked' Target story (which will price the iPad mini 2 for $269 but with a $80 Target gift card - not worth it to me for the $10 savings since I'd end up with $240 credit to spend at Target, where I don't normally do a lot of shopping).
posted by widdershins at 9:27 AM on November 11, 2015

/r/blackfriday on Reddit tries to gather up leaked ads and pre-sale rumors. Might be worth checking that once in a while. Although a lot of their links seem to funnel to bfads.net, which looks like a decent site as well.
posted by JoeZydeco at 9:36 AM on November 11, 2015

Also keep the Apple refurbished store in mind. An iPad Mini 2 with 16gb is currently $229 US and comes with a warranty.

Looking at the Walmart refurbished store, it shows an iPad Mini at $189, but I'm betting those the original Minis, not 2es. Don't know if that matters, but worth mentioning.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 10:00 AM on November 11, 2015

For the $10 definitely get the iPad mini 2s rather than the original.
posted by barnone at 3:07 PM on November 11, 2015