Filed under: Retail, Software, Internet Tools
Save money on a .Mac account
We've been running all sorts of posts that offer .Mac workarounds like Jungle Disk (to replace iDisk), and MySync for keeping your Macs up to date with each others' data. But what if you still prefer .Mac - just not its price?There are a few ways to save money off the purchase or renewal of a .Mac account, and the first two on my list are Amazon and Buy.com. That's right boys and girls, the Apple Store isn't the only kid on the block pimping .Mac retail subscriptions. As of this writing, these sites are offering a current .Mac membership (good for either new signups or renewals) for $79.99 and $82.99, respectively, both with free shipping. That's a nice chunk of change off of Apple's rock-steady price of $99 (yes, we know .Mac is sometimes offered at $70 with the purchase of a new Mac). Amazon also offers the .Mac Online Service Family Pack (5 accounts) for $149.99, down from Apple's $179.99. These prices should also hold relatively steady, as I've been purchasing my .Mac renewals for a couple of years now from Amazon, always around the $80 price.
While these prices obviously don't match the 'free' price tag of some of the workarounds for one .Mac feature or another, these should help make buying or renewing a .Mac account at least a little more attractive for those who've been on the fence about Apple's much-debated suite of online services.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
John said 12:20PM on 7-08-2006
Want to save money on a .Mac account? Just go to an Apple Retail Store! 9/10 times, if a Mac Specialist sees you eyeballing .Mac, sitting on the fence, they'll figure out a way to offer it to you for $69 per year. If you're looking to get more than one year, $69 per box is generally the accepted price. All it takes is a quick talk with a manager.
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Ralph said 1:19PM on 7-08-2006
I got a full family pack on eBay for about $60.
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FritzLaurel said 1:45PM on 7-08-2006
I just bought a Macbook at an Apple Store and the guy gave me .Mac for free. My father got a new Intel iMac at the same store about a month earlier and they gave him .Mac for free, too.
Maybe they're getting mroe aggressive with it, trying to hook people so they have no choice but to renew.
Cheers,
FL
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Nathan said 1:48PM on 7-08-2006
Perfect timing! I just got my 30 day renewal notice a few days ago.
So if I buy the .Mac 4.0 DVD from Amazon I'll be able to renew my account? Not totally clear on this since I always got my membership through the .mac website.
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MUTE MATT said 5:11PM on 7-08-2006
About three days too late. Boo :-/
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Ralph said 5:25PM on 7-08-2006
As I understand it, when you purchase it in the retail pack (like I did from ebay) you get a code -- when you go to your renewal page, you can enter that code. So it doesn't matter where you get it or how much you get it for (or which version; there's no real "old" version of dot Mac since you're not actually buying any software in the retail box, just a year of service. A client did just that; bought "last year's" dot Mac retail box off of ebay for like $20 and he got the full 12 months credit.
Just be sure your account is not set to auto-renew.
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Nathan said 7:00PM on 7-08-2006
Thanks for the clarification Ralph. I just added it
to my cart since I had a bunch of stuff I was going to
order anyway.
Maybe next year I'll check ebay for an even cheaper renewal. Is it possible to buy, say, five "last year's" retail boxes at once for $20 and then use one a year for
five years or is there some sort of expiration on them?
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Ralph said 8:49PM on 7-08-2006
As far as I know -- and this is anecdotal -- they don't expire. I have had online acquaintances tell me that they've bought the one and two year old retail versions on eBay on the cheap and the code is still "live".
Does this mean you can buy up a bunch on eBay and store them, using them one by one in the years to come? I dunno.
Does it mean you can buy four and enter all four numbers and have four years of credit on dot Mac? Again, I dunno.
But FWIW, I have been to CompUSA locations that *still* sell the previous year's dot Mac box (the larger box). And there's always a mess of them available on eBay.
For that matter, you can also get iWork and iLife fairly cheap on eBay as well. I got iLife '06, the Family Pack version, for about half of what it sells for at the Apple Store.
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kajoob said 8:49PM on 7-08-2006
Always always always get .mac off of ebay
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Ralph said 8:54PM on 7-08-2006
To explain myself a little better, I can't say that Apple would have any grounds to say they're expired. That said, this is Apple, and they can and will do what they want.
But, for argument's sake, let's say you go in a CompUSA or a mom & pop Apple shop and buy a 2003 boxed version of dot Mac for $99, or you buy it off of eBay for $10. The registration code is the same in either case.
Apple couldn't say you didn't pay enough for it because they have no idea how much you paid for it. Again, as the original blog post states, the trick is to get you on it, get you hooked, and keep you hooked. They want you to like it, to spend money with their company, and to tell your friends how easy it is to publish photos, a blog, etc., and how easy it is to do it all on a Mac.
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Ken said 9:54PM on 7-08-2006
Is .mac really worth its $99 or $69?
I can have my own domain name, plenty of space for my website, email, my personal files or anything, for about the same price or less.
Of course, .mac offers seemless integration with iSync or iWeb, but the price is too high for what you get.
A mail account, bookmark syncing, and some space for web pages should be offered for free. This would prevent some of its apps from feeling crippled, just because the OSX & iLife user didn't opt for a .mac subscription.
Apple could charge for online backups, uploading and sharing files, or buying extra space.
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Jay Serna said 10:12PM on 7-08-2006
Yes but .Mac is great for real Mac users. If you have more than one machine .mac is a must. It takes all the pain of managing my two systems, but instead will perfectly sync them.
Also for all you who say I can get all this stuff somewhere else go ahead you have no idea what .mac is about. You are just making comments. Because you may be able to get all the web stuff for around the same price, but without the integration preferences that .Mac has. Lets face not everyone is computer savvy, and just the mention of FTP will drive them away; and why do more work than you have to.
Then there are also the video lessons, backup, and easy email set-up.
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turtleJP said 10:40PM on 7-08-2006
I have to agree with the above poster. Just ask at the Apple Retail store and they will usually give it to you for $69.00
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gtw3@excite.com said 1:02AM on 7-09-2006
eBay!
eBay!
eBay!
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Jonesy said 6:00AM on 7-09-2006
Also on UK Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0008GLG1I/qid=1152369541/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/026-1297653-6270820?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=229534
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Ken said 8:11AM on 7-09-2006
Jay, that was (partly) my point. The integration between iSync and .mac is great, and so is with iWeb. That's why I suggested that Apple should offer a few .mac features for free, as extenstions of the already bought OSX or iLife products.
It feels a little weird to have a one-click-Publish button on the app you have paid for, and not being able to use it unless you also pay for a service subscription.
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Hardware Forum said 8:13AM on 7-09-2006
Why dont you buy it on ebay? The price is quite better and its not that unsafeful, that many people think.
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David Chartier said 10:37AM on 7-09-2006
I love how y'all didn't even respond to #11's "Let's start up the 'is .Mac worth it' discussion yet again" fishing comment. Good work on keeping the comments on topic everyone.
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Ed said 11:54AM on 7-09-2006
I'd suggest www.box.net as a free alternative to one part of .mac.
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exilio said 10:56PM on 7-09-2006
Sadly ... .Mac is a good thing ... but the price sucks. However, thanks to this article I saved nearly 50% off the renewal.. so thanks! =D
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