Why am I being charged for a gift card?

This makes no sense. I was very confused by the charges I am seeing on my credit statement, and I think the website presentation of the summary of charges is very misleading. I am being charged an extra 150 on top of the summary of charges statement. On the ordering page, it looks very much like you are getting a student discount AND a bonus gift card. If there was an option to remove the gift card, I didn't see it. So the deal is really not what it seems. If paying for the gift card is required for receiving the 150 off, then you are paying full price for the item, and then getting a 150 gift card credit to buy apple products. You are not getting 150 cash off of the item. It's very deceptive and frankly leaves a bad taste hanging over my purchase of a new apple product.

Price for iPad under the Back to School promotion is $ 549.00

1) I applied a gift card ($150.00) from a previous purchase

2) Price I paid = $ 549.00 + $ 17.96 (Tax) - $150.00 = $ 416.96

3) I was charged $ 416.96

4) I was charged $ 100.00 (in few min after)

5) I received a Gift Card for $ 100.00

So far I have to pay $ 516.96 and $ 100.00 I can use later. But I did pay for the gift card. My actual price is $ 416.96 - I would pay the same price without "gift card" Why it is called "Gift card"?

I hope you have your receipt handy.

If you look at the price of the item purchased (MacBook?), it’s $150 lower than the price quoted. That $150 lower price is the gift card you’re charged for. The gift card is paid back at$12.50 a month, interest free. You also received a $150 e-gift certificate.

So, you got charged $150 less than you were supposed to be charged and you pay that back interest free. You Come out ahead $150, like you’re supposed to.

Why is it done that way? It makes returns easier. I >>was<< an Apple Store Manager when it wasn’t done that way. Customers tried to return the product and not the gift card. It was a huge hassle. The process should have been explained better at the POS, if you purchased it in store. sorry there was confusion.

I am not sure you are right: for example, I am buy iPad Air , the listed price is $549.00. They charged my $549.00 + tax and then Apple charged me $100.00 for Gift card. I do not see any "savings"(

It took a while for me to figure it out. Think of it this way, like I did. I buy a $150 gift card from apple. So I give apple $150.00 and I get a card worth $150.00. Now I purchase a 1,000 computer, but apple deducts $150.00 to represent that gift card. So you can think now that that hundred fifty dollars you paid for the gift card went towards reducing the computer by $150.00. But when you get your computer, you now have $150.00 you can spend on anything Apple and you didn't pay for that $150.00. So thats where the free $150.00 comes from. So you DID get the $150.00 after some accounting mumbo jumbo... Its mind boggling, I don't understand why Apple doesn't just sell you the computer at $1000 dollars, and give you the gift card. Why they need your 150.00 to show a discount on the computer, which is not really a discount makes no sense to me but there has to be some reason for this. Who knows, maybe they can explain it on this forum. Normally you don't have to pay taxes on gift cards, so that can't be a reason.

What is the point of the gift card if all you want is the laptop and Apple Care for it? The ed store is forcing you to buy a gift card in the same amount as the alleged savings. Or, put another way: why not apply this gift card immediately to the purchase of the Apple Care plan? That, at least, would feel like a saving.

It's sleazy, IMO.

The way they do it is that they kind of deceive you into thinking that you get $150 off your order plus an additional $150 gift card but you don’t. They say you save $150 on your total purchase with their “special offer” and then even give you your total price after the special offer is applied, but if you scroll to the bottom where it shows your gift card, it says the gift card IS the “special offer” so it’s more of a hypothetical, “Oh you’re buying this product full price, but you get a $150 gift card so you’re basically saving $150 on your purchase because these are $150 that you’ll save later once you buy something else.” It’s deceiving because they charge you the full price in two portions, one being the price of the product with the special offer applied and then the 150 that you do actually have to pay. You don’t get money off your product, but you do get a gift card, the -150 applied is a hypothetical situation in which you would’ve been able to apply the gift card to your order but you can’t, it’s just future savings for once you do get to use your gift card.

It’s several factors, accounting, inventory and returns. I was an Apple Store manager when a physical gift card was handed to the customer. We had to get the card out of inventory for accounting purposes and so the store doesn’t show shrinkage/loss for the item. If the student decided to return the computer, we needed the card back and maybe they already spent it, or figured out was theirs to keep. It created a lot of anger and confusion in the stores and they eventually went to the e-gift cards and doing the accounting the current way.

Paying sales tax on gift cards is an individual state issue. Some states charge tax and some don’t.

I got a MacBook Pro for 2,299 under educational savings (Gift card offered - 150).

I chose the 1 year monthly payment plan and I bought it in a tax free state.

So, it asked me to pay 191.58/mo (179.08 + 12.50 - confusing to customers but necessary for Apple's accounting).

At 191.58/mo, I would end up paying the full 2,299. HOWEVER - I now have a gift card worth $150 that I can spend on other apple products.

So, we do get the 150 gift card but it's a bit tricky to understand.

So, get a free gift card, exactly what the website and promotional offers say. You also get your education discount. That isn’t enough? What did you expect?

If I buy an iPad Pro online (least expensive) I pay $899 plus sales tax, plus receive a $100 gift card. The $899 price already reflects the educational discount plus I get another $100 Apple Gift Card. Total savings of $200.

I’m not sure where the confusion is?

No, nothing happened. You just don’t understand your receipt.

For those that aren’t clear. It works like this. The price of the computer is sold at the educational store price. This is usually a discount from between $100 and $250. That’s a savings over non-educational pricing. The price of the computer is reduced again, but this time by the cost of the gift card, say another $100. That discount is in addition to the educational discount. Now, you’re charged $100 for the gift card. So, the additional discount and gift card are a wash. But you got a gift card worth $100.

Did you read my answer above, marked >Best Answer.<

Apple Retail stores get extremely busy during back to school sales and even busier (if you can imagine that) when a tax-free week happens. Mac specialists get stretched thin and many people/students/parents don’t understand the process and how it works. I see this question a lot across social media platforms.

maryann l wrote:

What is the point of the gift card if all you want is the laptop and Apple Care for it? The ed store is forcing you to buy a gift card in the same amount as the alleged savings. Or, put another way: why not apply this gift card immediately to the purchase of the Apple Care plan? That, at least, would feel like a saving.

It's sleazy, IMO.

Did you review what you can use the Apple Account balance for after redeeming the Gift card? You would not be able to use it for the initial purchase of AppleCare, but could continue coverage for an additional 1 - 2 years depending on the Mac and it would not cost you anything.

• For some recurring charges, like AppleCare+, you can't start your subscription with Apple Account balance. But as long as you keep another valid payment method on file and your Apple Account balance would cover an entire charge, your recurring charge will pull from your Apple Account balance.*

What you can buy with your Apple Gift Card or Apple Account balance - Apple Support

Refer to this document for ways to contact Apple ➞ Choose your country or region - Official Apple Support

Select your country (also look for "other" regions), then a product. If you don't see one that handles your issue then keep experimenting with selections until you reach one that gets you a chat session or a telephone call and get the representative to redirect you.

or:

Contact Apple for support and service by telephone ➞ Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support