Best time to buy iPad for Xmas?

It's never too soon to be thinking about this so I'm needing some advise on when is the best time to buy a new iPad during the holidays. My mother who's in her 80's (and hopefully around many more years) wants to do something special for all of us by buying myself, brother, sister, and all the grand kids iPads for Xmas. She would be looking to buy a variety of 9 iPads consisting of iPad 4's /iPad Mini's depending on what each person wanted and then would make up the difference in cash to those who wanted Mini's just to keep things equal. I was going to suggest to her to plan on allowing $600 per device (plus tax) so that would allow for a iPad 4, 16GB, Wi-Fi + Cellular for those that wanted that particular setup and then anyone not wanting Cellular could use the extra money for more storage or a cover... of course if you wanted a iPad Mini you would have a lot more cash to spend.

I know Apple is known for not discounting their New products much or at all so I'm not getting my hopes up but anything would be nice. Keeping in mind there's always the possibility of short supplies for the iPad 4 and iPad Mini plus any possible discounts when would be the best time to make these purchases?

Also the option of an easy exchange in case someone changes their mind on a iPad 4 vs iPad Mini, or even color may be worth considering so with that in mind where would be the best place to buy them?

We live in a rural area but we have a Best Buy, Target, etc. within driving distance and I also wouldn't be opposed to buying online either as long as exchanges would be an easy process if needed and a 30 day return date would be nice.

My mother will want me to handle all of this for her so I'm looking for an easy process to buy all of these different iPad 4/iPad Mini configurations.

On returns, the easiest is to get through Best Buy in your case. Save receipts (get each on a different order is both possible and preferrable) and do not open the boxes. Do not open the boxes. That way, you can walk in with the receipt and do an even trade with no hassle.

I say this because I am going through the same thing with my parents. They are buying for the grand kids this year. I dont know if they are going to do it, but I suggested to them to get gift cards in the amount they are wanting to spend (for them, iPad Minis with a smart cover) that would allow the kids to go to the store and get the color of iPad as well as smart cover they wanted.

Also, keep in mind, that 30-day window applies to purchase date, not when a person receives it as a gift.

Just for visual ease and larger screen area/keyboard size, I would only look at full sized iPads. Unless she is a gamer or movie watcher or photo junkie, she should be fine with the 16 wifi only model(does she travel? If not, the 4g isn't necessary either) and just use the cloud as storage for content that might use much space.
As far as returning and switching if she doesn't like it, well a lot of retailers have 14 day return periods on electronics(some have 30 though, so be sure to check!) so I wouldn't buy it until very very close to when I would be giving it to her.
I got white because when your screen is on, the boarder fades away since I mainly use web pages and read news stuff. And to me, white stuff says "apple". Everybody else makes a black boarder tablet but nobody but apple makes a white one. But that was why I chose what I did, so only you know her best.
Good luck! I wish I could do the same for my mother. Man, she would totally dig one!

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Originally Posted by mike2874

It's never too soon to be thinking about this so I'm needing some advise on when is the best time to buy a new iPad during the holidays. My mother who's in her 80's (and hopefully around many more years) wants to do something special for all of us by buying myself, brother, sister, and all the grand kids iPads for Xmas. She would be looking to buy a variety of 9 iPads consisting of iPad 4's /iPad Mini's depending on what each person wanted and then would make up the difference in cash to those who wanted Mini's just to keep things equal. I was going to suggest to her to plan on allowing $600 per device (plus tax) so that would allow for a iPad 4, 16GB, Wi-Fi + Cellular for those that wanted that particular setup and then anyone not wanting Cellular could use the extra money for more storage or a cover... of course if you wanted a iPad Mini you would have a lot more cash to spend.

I know Apple is known for not discounting their New products much or at all so I'm not getting my hopes up but anything would be nice. Keeping in mind there's always the possibility of short supplies for the iPad 4 and iPad Mini plus any possible discounts when would be the best time to make these purchases?

Also the option of an easy exchange in case someone changes their mind on a iPad 4 vs iPad Mini, or even color may be worth considering so with that in mind where would be the best place to buy them?

We live in a rural area but we have a Best Buy, Target, etc. within driving distance and I also wouldn't be opposed to buying online either as long as exchanges would be an easy process if needed and a 30 day return date would be nice.

My mother will want me to handle all of this for her so I'm looking for an easy process to buy all of these different iPad 4/iPad Mini configurations.

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bear in mind that as soon as the ipad's are bought the warranty starts to tick away even though they wont be used until christmas,maybe you could order them but not collect until just before christmas.........also if it was me i would try and get a discount for such a big sale.

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Originally Posted by Somerled

On returns, the easiest is to get through Best Buy in your case. Save receipts (get each on a different order is both possible and preferrable) and do not open the boxes. Do not open the boxes. That way, you can walk in with the receipt and do an even trade with no hassle.

I say this because I am going through the same thing with my parents. They are buying for the grand kids this year. I dont know if they are going to do it, but I suggested to them to get gift cards in the amount they are wanting to spend (for them, iPad Minis with a smart cover) that would allow the kids to go to the store and get the color of iPad as well as smart cover they wanted.

Also, keep in mind, that 30-day window applies to purchase date, not when a person receives it as a gift.

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So you're saying Best Buy would be my best bet and I never even considered having a different receipt for each sale. You say not to open the box but I'm sure everyone would want to open and check it out first before they even considered returning it surely Best Buy would still take it back?

I was hoping that a iPad bought as early as Black Friday would have an extended holiday return policy until say Dec 31st but maybe Best Buy doesn't do that. I don't know if Target keeps iPads in stock but from their website:

"The following items must be returned within 30 days: netbooks, laptops, eReaders, tablets, cameras, camcorders, digital audio players, GPS systems, video game hardware, personal DVD players, and no-contract cell phones. For these items purchased between 11/1 – 12/25, the 30 day refund period will start on 12/26."

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Originally Posted by poisonivy

bear in mind that as soon as the ipad's are bought the warranty starts to tick away even though they wont be used until christmas,maybe you could order them but not collect until just before christmas.........also if it was me i would try and get a discount for such a big sale.

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Is Best Buy known to give discounts when buying quantities of something when there's no actual sale going on?

When I bought my iPad 3, I bought a SS Range too. So with something like $1400 tag running, I called the Manager over to see what he could do on discounting the iPad. He said what they made on the iPad from Apple was so thin he couldn't help me much, he could give me the iPad cover for less then half price (the official Apple sleep one.) And another $30 off the Range. That gave me over $50 more. So maybe you could go that angle with Best Buy for those iPads. Also, that is so true on when the warrently starts. And not only that, but that very important 90 day period new owners can call for help as the iPad comes with little info. New owners really need that.

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Originally Posted by cyndy

When I bought my iPad 3, I bought a SS Range too. So with something like $1400 tag running, I called the Manager over to see what he could do on discounting the iPad. He said what they made on the iPad from Apple was so thin he couldn't help me much, he could give me the iPad cover for less then half price (the official Apple sleep one.) And another $30 off the Range. That gave me over $50 more. So maybe you could go that angle with Best Buy for those iPads. Also, that is so true on when the warrently starts. And not only that, but that very important 90 day period new owners can call for help as the iPad comes with little info. New owners really need that.

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Sounds like I can't count on Best Buy helping us out much on the price then.

I read that last year on Black Friday Apple discounted 8% on their iPads if you bought directly from them but how are returned handled? Do they extend the the 2 week return period for Xmas purchases? Do they delay when your return period starts over the holidays like I see some retailers do?

I'm going to have to say a iPad for Christman would be a great gift. The gift that keeps giving. Excellent plan Grandmother.

Does she want to adopt a big grandkid? :D