The origin of cheap MacBooks and iPads flooding the online market

Through Apple's education incentive program, many people are buying MacBooks and iPads at low prices and then reselling them for profit.

MacBook Air M4 is being sold for less than the listed price, with gifts from the student program.

Recently, some users have been selling MacBook and iPad models on social networks for several million VND cheaper than Apple's listed price. Most of the devices are in original sealed condition, ordered directly from Apple's online store.

In fact, most of the devices are available at a discount through the Back to School program, where users with a qualifyingeducation email account can purchase products at a discount with a free gift. However, there are still some caveats for both buyers and sellers, mainly related to Apple's reputation and policies.

In addition, this product is under warranty since it leaves the warehouse. Therefore, when traders hold on to the product for a long time, the product's after-sales guarantee period will expire. Some sellers in recent days have had to take a loss to sell the product early, making the resale price even cheaper than the Apple Education program's listed price.

Low price with gift

Back to School is an annual program of Apple worldwide. The program aims to support students, lecturers or people in the education industry to access products such as MacBook, iPad at preferential prices.

This year, the Back to School program in Vietnam takes place from July 10 to September 30. For example, the MacBook Air M4 on Apple's education store starts at VND23.8 million for the 16GB RAM, 256GB SSD version. That number is VND2.7 million lower than the listed price (VND26.5 million).

Some other devices are also cheaper by 1 million VND or more, such as iPad Air M3 (from 16.7 million to 15.3 million VND), MacBook Pro M4 (from 39.2 million to 36.8 million VND), iPad Pro M4 (from 28.4 million to 25.6 million VND) and iMac M4 (from 34.4 million to 33 million VND).

MacBook, Mac Mini are for sale at cheap prices, all are new, genuine products.

Not only discounts, the highlight of the program also comes from gifts. When buying a MacBook or iPad on the list, users can choose to add accessories such as Pencil Pro, AirPods or Magic Keyboard. The incentives for accessories range from 3.4 to 4.7 million VND, meaning users can receive accessories for free or pay a small amount after deducting from the price.

According to Apple's policy, customers need to verify to ensure they are eligible to purchase products at a preferential price. Through a third-party partner, users need to register for an educational email or provide documents to prove their study or work status at school.

Once authentication is complete, users are redirected to Apple's dedicated store for education to purchase the desired device. The purchasing, payment, and warranty process is similar to Apple's regular online store in Vietnam.

Apple limits each eligible account to one device during the program. If a buyer is found to be ineligible, the company may revoke the offer.

Currently, on Apple buying and selling groups, many people are selling products under the Education program at a price lower than Apple offers. This product gradually loses value as the warranty expires. In addition, Apple does not allow installment payments when buying under the promotion program. Traders who buy large quantities of goods have to pay in debt and cannot hold onto the device for too long.

Note when buying cheap products

With Apple's gift-giving discount program, some people have the need to "buy and resell" to make a profit, while people who do not work in the education industry can also buy the product.

For example, the MacBook Air M4 has a listed price of about 26.5 million VND, when purchased under the student program, it is reduced to 23.8 million VND, with AirPods 4 headphones priced at 4.7 million VND. The seller only paid 23.8 million VND but received a total product set worth 31.2 million VND.

On many social media groups, accounts are selling MacBook Air M4 “Edu version” (purchased under Apple’s Back to School program) for around 21-23 million VND, and selling AirPods separately for around 3.5 million VND. In total, they can earn 24.5-26.5 million VND, equivalent to a profit of several million compared to the initial cost.

The Back to School program applies to many Apple products.

Another approach to users is to rent or borrow educational accounts. In this, the account provider finds qualified students who do not need to buy a computer, then pays to rent the account.

These accounts are sold to those in need at different prices according to agreement, on average about 100,000-200,000 VND. Meanwhile, some others ask relatives and friends who are students to order for them.

However, Apple also takes steps to limit this situation by noting that the recipient “must be a valid purchaser (a parent purchasing for a college student child cannot be the order recipient),” and may request additional information to verify validity before shipping the order.

If purchasing a device through social networks, users should carefully check the warranty status, configuration and VAT invoice (if any) to receive warranty and support from Apple if any problems arise.

Source: https://znews.vn/ly-do-macbook-ipad-gia-re-bong-xuat-hien-nhieu-post1569032.html