iPad mini Apple selling returned units?

[MonksAndDruids]

Hi

Finally decided on getting the iPad Mini. Tried to order it last night from the Apple website but all units at our Apple Store were sold out with a delivery/collection date being the 12th of January. Went back on the Apple website 5 minutes ago and we had the option to collect it from the very same Apple Store this Thursday! Could this be a return unit? Thanks.

 

[russell_314]

Hi

Finally decided on getting the iPad Mini. Tried to order it last night from the Apple website but all units at our Apple Store were sold out with a delivery/collection date being the 12th of January. Went back on the Apple website 5 minutes ago and we had the option to collect it from the very same Apple Store this Thursday! Could this be a return unit? Thanks.

If it's a refurbished unit it will be sold in a plain white box. Usually a bit cheaper also

 

[MonksAndDruids]

Ah nope, not a refurbished one. Just found it a bit strange how it was out of stock last night with a collection date of 12 Jan to it suddenly being available for collection in 2 days time!

 

[ericwn]

Apple’s stock is either new or Apple refurbished. They don’t sell open box items. Other sellers might differ.

 

[russell_314]

Ah nope, not a refurbished one. Just found it a bit strange how it was out of stock last night with a collection date of 12 Jan to it suddenly being available for collection in 2 days time!

Online inventory is never 100%. I'm sure Apple does a great job of figuring out when the product is going to be there but I don't think they're perfect. I've seen availability change like that with other items. At least in the USA I have. I can't speak for other countries because they might have a different system there.

 

[jm31828]

Is it possible someone returned one that had not been opened- and they are reselling that?

 

[darngooddesign]

Ah nope, not a refurbished one. Just found it a bit strange how it was out of stock last night with a collection date of 12 Jan to it suddenly being available for collection in 2 days time!

It probably means they received some between last night and this morning.

 

[haydn!]

There could be a couple of reasons.

1. A delivery of new stock (the obvious one)
2. Pre-orders not collected, so reserved stock going back into circulation (for other stores, these typically expire at midnight, so I suspect it will be similar at Apple).

 

[posguy99]

Is it possible someone returned one that had not been opened- and they are reselling that?

No.

 

[Choco Taco]

They only sell new and refurbished items. They never sell returned items that have been opened without doing a full diagnostic on them.

 

[MonksAndDruids]

New issue (sorry). Ended up ordering it with the collection date being today. Went to check on my order and it’s stuck on ‘shipping to store’ despite there being units with the exact same model/configuration/colour being available in store. We haven’t received the order collection email either, just the ‘we’re processing your order’ email, the e-invoice, and the text message telling us to perform an iCloud backup before going down.

Today’s a free day for us to be making the trip into the city so if we were to go in will we be able to get one of the available units instead of the one that’s still being ‘shipped’ to the store? Thanks.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

I am amazed that no one here has suggested the obvious thing that happened. The elves living in the Apple Store attic quickly made another unit.

 

[russell_314]

New issue (sorry). Ended up ordering it with the collection date being today. Went to check on my order and it’s stuck on ‘shipping to store’ despite there being units with the exact same model/configuration/colour being available in store. We haven’t received the order collection email either, just the ‘we’re processing your order’ email, the e-invoice, and the text message telling us to perform an iCloud backup before going down.

Today’s a free day for us to be making the trip into the city so if we were to go in will we be able to get one of the available units instead of the one that’s still being ‘shipped’ to the store? Thanks.

I'm not sure if it's the same where you're at but here when you buy something for pick up in store, you set a pick up time. This way, you know exactly when to go to the store to get it. I'm guessing it's not like that everywhere.

Now is probably a bad time to buy anything because of the Christmas rush and everyone buying stuff for gifts.

 

[MonksAndDruids]

Went to the Apple Store since we were going into the city anyway and the collection email popped up just as we were about to enter the store!

Have the iPad Mini 6 in purple now. My wife loves it, I love it, it fits into all our bags (and my pockets!) and we could not be happier. Thank you!