1-800-Buy-A-Mac

Over a three week time period, My Mac conducted a survey of the top sellers of Macintosh related products. Some of the companies would not talk to me, or wanted me to call their corporate offices. I wanted to talk to the operators, the heart and soul of any mail order operation.

The purpose was simple. I wanted to find out what you (those of you who have the money!) are out there spending money on! What are the top sellers in software, hardware, and related products? For those businesses that sell them, how are the Mac clones doing? I found the answers to many of these questions, and more!

MacWarehouse
Well, I decided to start with one of the biggest mail order retailers of all. MacWarehouse. My first attempt to get ANY info. From them was met with caution. They simply referred me to the office. Undaunted, I called back, pleaded with my operator Tony, and got some answers!

One word: Zip. Seems Iomega has a real winner with the somewhat still “new” Zip drive. I myself would like one, but alas, no money!
Another hot MacWarehouse seller is the Speed Doubler-Ram Doubler bundle. And Grolier’s Encyclopedia is still doing real well.
Here is a fact I also learned: Hewlett Packard printers out sell Apple printers by a huge margin!
Competitive upgrades are also hot. (Like QuarkXpress to PageMaker, or Freehand to Illustrator.) Quad speed CD Rom drives are doing very well, also. Seeing as how MacWarehouse does sell Mac Clones, I asked Tony how they are doing. It seem they do sell a few (though not many) but most people still want the Apple Mac’s.

Mac Bargain$
Mac Bargain$ was the next call I made. They were only too happy to talk to me! The new Zip drive is selling very well, I was told, but SyQuest drives were still moving out the door. This should come as no surprise, as SyQuest has been around for a good long time now, with a faithful following of users.
On the software side, Mac Bargain$ informs My Mac that Adobe Photoshop does better than most other high end programs. Do not look for this to change anytime soon.

CDW
I talked to Pat, a very nice lady with CDW, who was more than happy to take a break from her work to talk to me.
The Power Mac 8500 is so hot, Pat told me, that they sell out almost as soon as they get any in stock. Seems Apple cannot produce them fast enough! (I wonder how many other computer manufactures can say that?) The Newton 120’s, however, is not doing as well as the 100 line. Not a big surprise, really, when you look at the price!
And what had become a regular theme, the Iomega Zip drive is selling really well. In fact, all the mail order businesses listed here sell a lot of them.

Mac Connections
Ann was very kind the day I called Mac Connections. At first, she prompted me to call the sales department, but I convinced her that she would be of more service to My Mac than any sales division. She agreed, and told me a few interesting things.
A lot of people seem to be calling for the new Jazz Drive. At the time of My Mac’s survey, however, Mac Connections did not have any of the Jazz Drives in stock, but it was Ann’s observation that they would soon outsell the Zip Drive, no small feat. (I tend to doubt it) Time will tell if Ann has a gift for predicting the future!

ClubMac
Not able to spend much time with me on the phone, Brian nonetheless gave me a few items on the hot list. Once again, Iomega’s Zip Drive top’s the charts. They also sell many of the Quad-speed CD Rom drives for $199.00, a very good price! Hard Drives also top the hot sales list for ClubMac. When asked what does not sell so well, Brian (after a brief pause) told me he does not remember EVER selling a Optical drive! I guess the price for CD-R and DAT is just still too much money for the average buyer.

MacMall
Of course, no article on mail order retailers would be complete without MacMall. They were the hardest to get ANY information out of, let me tell you! I waited on hold while one person after another directed me to someone else, trying to find anyone able to answer a few question! After twenty minutes of this, I gave up (read: hung up), and called back a few days later. This time, after convincing an operator (who does not wish to be named), I got some basic information.
Once again, I hear tales of Apple’s inability to produce Power Mac 8500’s fast enough! MacMall cannot get enough of them, and they sell out almost instantly. Looks like Apple has another winner with the 8500, if they can meet demand, that is!
When asked how the Zip Drive is doing, I was informed that the new SyQuest EZ 135 is starting to close the gap. Brand recognition and 35MB more storage space, for only $39.00 more, I am sure, has a lot to do with it.

From talking to the various mail order retailers, a few things become clear.
External Hard drive’s and removable storage is the hot items for this Christmas season. And with so many choices, from the ultra hot Zip Drive from Iomega, to the new EZ 135 from SyQuest, the prices are coming down.

Apple once again has a very hot computer in the Power Mac 8500, but for whatever reason, they are unable to make them fast enough. Not a good way to win customer loyalty.

More people now ask for the CD versions of software rather than 3.5 diskettes. Not Really a surprise, as almost every new computer now produced has at least a dual speed CD Rom drive.

Software bundles sell VERY well, if the offered bundle is the right Merchandise. Speed Doubler and Ram Doubler is a good example. MacWarehouse reports that they sell just a ton of such bundles, so look for more of this type of bundled software in the future.

Companies that offer the competitive upgrade are indeed luring customers to their products. Claris MacDraw or Adobe Illustrator users can upgrade to Macromedia’s Freehand 5.5 for only $149.00! Or ClarisWorks owners can upgrade to Microsoft Office 4.2.1 for $279.00. Good deals, and they work. More companies will follow suit to be sure.

High-end software, such as Adobe Photoshop and QuarkXpress, still sell very well, even if the price is beyond the average user. With luck, maybe some of these products will lower in price in an attempt to garner even more sales.

Sales of the 14,400-baud modems are slowing way down, as more people buy the faster 28,800 models. And prices for both have been falling for the last three to four months! Two years ago, a 14,400 modem was selling for close to, and over, $225.00! Now the same modem is under $100.00! And 28,800’s are falling into the $179.00 range.

So, is it best to wait for prices to dip even lower? Or should you buy now? The choice is yours, but now is a good time to find some very reasonable prices on hot items! And if it is an 8500 you want, be prepared to wait!

Tim Robertson, Editor.