You’ve decided that you want an Apple Watch. Where should you buy it? When it comes to Apple products, we strongly recommend purchasing manufacturer-refurbished products from the Apple Certified Refurbished Store. We have purchased iPods, iPads, Macbook Airs, and an Mac Mini from the site. However, Apple does not sell iPhones or Apple Watches on their refurbished store website. You have two options – shop the used market on eBay, Craigslist, or Amazon, or shop new.
As part of the Everyday Apple Watch Series, the first step in using an Apple Watch is purchasing an Apple Watch. Because the watch is such a personal item, and if worn everyday, can collect dead skin and oils from the body – we recommend that you buy a new watch. Unless you pick it up from a buddy. There are still deals to be found.
If you aren’t sure which Apple Watch model is right for you, check out this great MacRumors article.
Black Friday
The Apple Watch was first released in April 2015, and by Black Friday 2015, you could get a $100 gift card from Target:
Best Buy offered “up to $100 off” of the Apple Watch, with only $50 off the Sport model:
February 2016
With rumors that the Apple Watch 2 might be announced at the March 15 event (or maybe not), are there any deals out there now? Yes, there are!
Target
Right now, Target is offering $100 off all Apple Watches:
HOWEVER, finding the watch that you want might not be that easy. The ad indicates that the $249 Apple Watch Sport is available in silver, space gray, gold, or rose gold. And in fact, if you do a search for items that are available online, or in a store, it looks like that is the case:
But when you try to add the gold, or rose gold, or any band color except black and white to your cart, you learn that not only can you not purchase it online, it is not even available in stores:
But they will still try to sell you insurance for the watch that you can’t purchase.
Best Buy
Best Buy is also offering $100 off the Apple Watch:
And if you trade in your oldie but goodie phone (5s or newer, which sell online for a minimum of $250), you can have a $150 Best Buy gift card. Don’t do that. But DO order your Apple Watch from them. All of the color combinations that we checked were in stock, and included 2-day shipping for free!
Looking for Deals
If the sales mentioned earlier in this article are no longer available, you can always do an online search for a deal. Do a basic google.com/shopping search, but be specific. For example, a search for only new items priced $200-$299 for “Apple Watch Sport 38mm Gold Aluminum” returns the following results: