
Why Does Apple Offer Free Engraving? - iuguy
http://elidourado.com/blog/free-engraving/
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xenophanes
I thought the main reason was obvious: it's only available if you buy from
Apple directly, not from, say, Amazon. Apple makes more money when you buy
from their store instead of a third party.

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fuxx0r
I think another point is, that the most people wont buy a used engraved ipod.
Maybe they prefer a new one instead a used one.

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sanj
Did you read the article? That was the entire point.

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joshkaufman
There's another benefit to Apple as well: engraved products aren't returnable.

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cubicle67
I've seen this stated a few times previously, but never seen any evidence to
back it up. I'm pretty sure that'd be against the law in most countries; if a
product's defective consumer laws (almost) everywhere mandate it be replaced

As for someone changing their mind, do you really think that's Apple's
motivation behind offering engraving?. I'd guess less than 1% of iPods are
sold engraved, and of these the unwanted rate would be in single digits,
probably again close to 1%, so (with those assumptions) we're looking at about
1 in 10,000 units.

Instead, I'd put forward that Apple offer engraving for some other reason, and
the anti-return policy is simply a byproduct of that, not the driving force;
an engraved iPod can't be restocked and would be cost prohibitive to refurbish

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limmeau
In Germany, mail-order companies are required by law to offer 14 days money-
back service. There are exceptions for among others, perishable goods and
custom-made goods.

The mandatory six-month warranty for defects, however, is independent from the
money-back guarantee.

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ataggart
>Apple has a monopoly on iP*ds ... the durable-goods monopolist, Apple. ...
durable goods monopolists

Further evidence that "monopoly" has no useful meaning. At best it allows a
speaker to hang negative emotion onto a subject, and at worst, agitate for
government coercion against the subject.

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th
Apple does have a monopoly on devices that use the iPod connector. This
monopoly is enforced by patent 7632114 B2.

That being said, the term monopoly doesn't mean much on its own. There is an
alternative to everything.

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ataggart
The author's misuse is all the more painful for being an econ grad student at
my alma mater, GMU. A former professor of mine, Russ Roberts (the man behind
the Hayek vs. Keynes Rap video), even used a similar example ("Does Ford have
a monopoly over the Taurus? Cars? Means of transportation?") to show how
little objective utility the term “monopoly” holds. The more narrowly one
defines the market, the more one is likely to “discover” monopolies.

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barrkel
Don't forget though, Russ Roberts has an ideological dog in this hunt, and
he'd like to recruit more anti-regulation followers, so he'll bend the
argument to suit his biases. There is a sorities paradox element to it, but
that doesn't mean "pile" is undefined; Ford has a government-granted monopoly
- a trademark - on Taurus.

That substitutability is defined in a distributed way isn't a well-formed
argument against tying it down in any particular case. Legal courts make these
determinations every day concerning the meanings of texts, whose intent can be
similarly hard to divine.

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stretchwithme
We should all have a legal monopoly on who we are. Protection from others
pretending to be us. That's all a trademark is. Its not at all like a
government granted monopoly that enables a company to be the sole provider of
phone or automobiles.

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dantheman
Which we generally call a patent - in my understaning the only real monopolies
are government granted ones - i.e you must use ATT for phones, or no one else
can manufacture widget X

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siglesias
Cynicism aside, it also turns them into phenomenal, personalized gifts.

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confuzatron
Surely any engraving might detract from the Apple logo, thus reducing the
phenominality, fabulosity, etc

By the way, I crave downvotes from humourless Apple devotees.

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tjogin
Normal people don't care about the Apple logo, and the vast majority of
Apple's customers are _normal_ people — not fanbois.

The engraving makes the gift special, intimate and remarkable.

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bruceboughton
Normal people crave logos. Not just fanbois. They also like to personalise
their stuff though.

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jsz0
Could work both ways. If someone receives an iPod with personalized engraving
they would possibly be more likely to hold onto the device longer since the
object now has some sentimental value. For re-sale the engraved models sell at
a lower price which makes the second hard market more attractive to thrifty
buyers. I suspect xenophanes is right -- Apple wants people to buy iPods
directly from them instead of other resellers who might put competing products
side-by-side.

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arithmetic
>>If someone receives an iPod with personalized engraving they would possibly
be more likely to hold onto the device longer since the object now has some
sentimental value.

You're right - I still hold on to my old engraved iPod because it was a gift.
It's not something I'd want to dispose of, even though it looks terribly out
of fashion now (what with new models of iPods releasing every year).

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Hacktivist
Does anyone have any sales statistics comparing volume of iPods purchased from
apple.com to volume of iPods purchased at retail (including Apple retail
stores since they don't offer engraving?)

Because even if what he is saying is true I doubt that the fraction of people
that get engraved iPods and then resell can influence the secondary market
filled with iPods from almost all technology retailers and Apple's retail
stores themselves.

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bugsy
It's an interesting point that some personalized gifts are less resellable.
Books with the owners name stamped in it have to be sold used with a note
there is a marking and it is not "like new". But the same book as a first
edition with a dedication signed by the long dead author and dedicated to a US
president is worth a lot. So it depends.

This said, I object greatly to the article's outlandish posturing that he
knows WHY Apple offers free engraving and it is for the cynical reason he
stated - to subvert the customer's future gift giving activities. He knows no
such thing and to claim he does know goes is simple BS. Article pointing out
interesting effect of personalization, that's a great article. Article pulling
out one of many effects of a business decision and claiming that was the
primary, or even a considered reason for making the decision, that's totally
bogus.

As many others have pointed out here and in that article's comments, there are
many business reasons and advantages to offering free engraving. One good one
is increasing its perception as a luxury good. Many high end jewelers offer
free engraving with a Rolex purchase.

Or how about to help the customer protect his property from thieves? I could
note that products that are engraved are probably less likely to be stolen,
and then claim that that's the reason WHY Apple offers the service with the
purchase - they want to help customers.

Or how about so many people buy iPods that its now a common occurrence for
people to mix up their iPods with those of their friends. Engraving helps the
customer avoid such mixups. I often get out the dremel tool and put my name on
things so they don't get mixed up. Dremel scratches look terrible though and
mars the finish. It would ruin the appearance of an iPod. Perhaps Apple
noticed customers doing this, and to maintain artistic standards of appearance
even after the sale, started throwing it in.

These reasons, as examples only, are not any less likely a sole explanation
than the more cynical one, especially with Apple's history of focusing on
customer total experience and reducing trouble and increasing happiness for
the customers, with even details such as styrofoam packaging being carefully
designed by specialized artists.

On the issue of engraving being free or no cost, that is not correct. Apple is
not offering engraving service on things you have NOT bought from them, such
as Zunes or watches. The cost of engraving is included with the purchase
price, which is premium priced. Not everyone uses it though.

Now there's a thought. When you buy your iPod at WalMart or Target you don't
get engraving do you, yet you pay the exact same price or maybe $5 less as you
would from store.apple.com. WalMart and Target though take around 33% of the
selling price as profit. So there's where the engraving can be paid from -
every order from the Apple Store means more profit for Apple. Engraving is an
incentive to buy direct from Apple at full list price rather than from a
reseller.

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cookiecaper
Are you sure about the supposition that retailers make 1/3 profit? I'm not so
sure. Game consoles, for instance, are usually sold for only a few dollars of
markup and the retailers depend on things like sales of games, controllers,
and other accessories to make selling the actual console worthwhile.

I assume that an iPod is less this way, but still a 33% margin sounds a bit
high for a consumer electronic device ... maybe it's different with Apple's
philosophy, but in general I doubt there's that much profit to be found in MP3
players -- they may depend on the sales of headphones, cases, iTunes/Amazon
gift cards or tracks, CDs to rip onto the device, etc. more than on the actual
sale of the device.

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nick5768
When I worked for Radioshack a couple years ago, they only made a few dollars
per iPod sold, it was all about the high margin accessories added on.

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stretchwithme
Because it makes giving one as a gift even cooler.

I gave my sister her first iPod as a graduation gift when she got her masters
in social work after surviving her first bout with breast cancer. Being able
to put this quotation on the back of her gift meant a lot:

"Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."

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stretchwithme
I also think Apple does this to impress the shit out of you. I typed the
quotation in on Monday afternoon and got a happy call from my sister on
Thursday morning. All the way from China in less than 70 hours.

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dmoney
_as anyone considered product personalization as a way to mitigate the durable
goods problem? Are there other examples of firms doing this?_

Scion pushes the idea of customizing a new car: spoilers, rims, paint jobs,
removing the logo, whatever else.

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ams6110
That's because the market segment for that car is young people who will spend
money on foolish stuff like that.

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dmoney
Aside from the expense, I don't think it's more foolish than e.g. styling your
hair or wearing a tie: both completely useless except for their effect on your
appearance. Older people would probably buy modifications to new cars if
marketers invented a way for them to be classy.

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easyfrag
It's probably because Apple sees itself as a luxury brand and thus its
products are deserving of engraving. This is all about product positioning,
even if you don't avail of the engraving, the fact that it is offered tells
you something about it: that people love this brand/product so much that they
choose engrave their names and messages on them.

That and Steve probably likes to give personalized gifts....

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MrJagil
Is it just me or is there an unusually high amount of pointless/useless
comments in this thread?

Is that what putting "Apple" in the headline does to a thread? It reminds of
Digg...

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Tichy
Maybe not putting "Apple" in the headline, but simply blogging about something
that's bloody obvious.

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eddieplan9
How about making customers happy? How about making a personal gift more
personal?

I call this baseless speculation.

It's not like you are forced to have engraving. If you want to resell it,
don't engrave it. If you want the person at the receiving end of a gift card
to be able to reuse the card, don't sign on the card.

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brianpan
More like, they already laser etch the back of the iPod. Why, _not_ take a
small step further to differentiate your product and make customers feel even
more attached to their purchase? And the reason they charged for it before was
not to offset the cost of an extra step in production, but to monetize
something that the customers want.

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nir
The whole Gruber-school of finding hidden meanings in whatever Apple does read
like Talmudic Torah interpretations, pontificating on why a comma is in a
certain place in a certain sentence.

If you want to resell your iPod, don't engrave it. Modern Apple products seem
to be designed to expire after a few years anyway - see how Apple really
doesn't want to let you replace the battery in said iPod, for example.

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eiji
I don't think this is it. Here is why: Almost all Apple products have a "build
in" expiration date. And that is the lifetime of the batteries. Maybe someone
could proof me wrong and affirm if iPhone Gen 1 batteries are not good
anymore. But it's true, Apple pushes generations fast out of the door, so the
engraving is not useless.

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akl
Perhaps, but Apple has some extremely friendly replacement policies that I
personally have used (busted iBook replaced with a black macbook!) and have
heard of others running into. Just the other day there was a reddit thread
about this, actually:

[http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/eaqm5/its_this_kinda_...](http://www.reddit.com/r/apple/comments/eaqm5/its_this_kinda_shit_steve/)

The points about directing people to their store over other stores and
minimizing the secondary market are probably the main reasoning behind
offering engraving.

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vkdelta
Any idea why Dell/HP and others do not offer engraving for their products?

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dstryr
Was this not obvious from the start?

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napierzaza
Caveat emptor. If you plan on reselling you should think twice about stuff
like this.

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aristidb
I don't know about you, but I plan to resell something only long after I
bought it.

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ergo98
I wrote about trying to get my Nexus One engraved, and how I was going to go
about avoiding the depreciation in the secondary market. See the section "On
Engraving One's Phone" at
[http://blog.yafla.com/Android_22_Engravings_and_the_Google_N...](http://blog.yafla.com/Android_22_Engravings_and_the_Google_Nexus_One/)

I think it would be a clever solution for next year's YCers

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pedanticfreak
Why doesn't Apple engrave Macbook Pros for free, too?

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dbrannan
I would suspect that once you engrave your iDevice that it would be harder to
resell, thus bumping up the market for new devices. Or, it could be that
people are more likely to buy them as a gift if they can somehow personalize
it.

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davnola
That's actually the claim made by the original article.

As a commenter there points out, though, if it's harder to resell your old
machine you may be less likely to upgrade to a new one. So there is pressure
in the other direction.

The real reason? Apple make more money if you buy from them direct.

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snow_mac
I don't resell, just reuse. Reselling is stupid.

