Annual 'Lucky Bags' Coming to Japanese Apple Stores on January 2
Apple has participated in this tradition for several years, and will once again be offering its "Lucky Bag" in seven different Japanese Apple stores on January 2.
Lucky Bags, which Apple sells for 33,000 yen or $390, traditionally contain items like iPods, headphones, and t-shirts. A few fortunate folks, however, have received big ticket items in previous years, like MacBook Airs or iPads, which have made Lucky Bags ultra popular in Japan.
Apple's grab bags are sold as is, and returns are not accepted unless a product is defective. Still, the bags have been quick sellers in previous years.
According to Tech in Asia, people begin to line up the night before in order to get their hands on a bag, as the sale is similar to Black Friday.
Unfortunately, you'll have to get in line very early if want one of these Lucky Bags. People typically begin lining up at the Apple store on the night before, so if you show up in the morning, and still manage to secure a bag — well, consider yourself lucky. I tried a couple of years ago, but walked away disappointed.Like Apple's 12 Days of Christmas, this promotion is regionally limited to Japanese customers, though other countries, like China, may see the same traditional Apple Store sales during the new year.
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I'd love to go but I don't have a car... :eek:
Considering you live in California, are you referring to this car? :D
when in rome...
Crazy people are crazy anywhere. Can't really pin that on the US. If that kid had been in Europe when he went nuts, I wouldn't be pinning that on Europe. It's just a rare circumstance creating a rare horror, that wasn't dealt with in time to prevent the disaster.
Europe is a continent and the US a country. Please don't be so small minded
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Wait, are you talking about the attack in Norway that left some 69 kids dead? Terrible regardless of where it happens....which unfortunately is the world over.
but week after week in the US
There was a kid in Europe who killed all those school kids 1-2 years ago in Sweden or Norway.
Crazy is everywhere.
Crazy is indeed everywhere... It just occurs a lot more often in the US
... whereas mass shootings occur weekly in the US.
or our US troops kill tons of people in the Middle East every day, including women and children, but that doesn't make the news over here, because that's not what they want us to see. The US is likely responsible for millions of innocent lives, from invading foreign countries. But hey, it's not on Fox, or MSNBC, so it's not real, right?
I don't think there would be any empty bags or bags where the retail total was less than $390.
I think Apple is making sure these bags are filled with at least $390 (likely more) worth of Apple products; so even the worst bags are worth the $390 price.
My guess is every bag's content has items that in total is worth more than $390 retail if they were bought separately (making them in such high demand); but a few random bags has content worth a lot more than $390, such as the MacBook Air, etc. If I were to take another guess, likely about $490 worth of Apple products from last generation as a minimal. So everyone feels they have at least 20% off -- only they do not get to pick the product itself.
Your guess is correct. Retailers here — including Apple — fill fukubukuro with items whose combined SRPs are at least equal to (and usually in excess of) the price being charged for the bags.
While I've never purchased an Apple Store fukubukuro, friends of mine have. A couple of years ago, one of them got a MacBook Air in his bag.
My daughter, meanwhile, lines up every January 2 at her favorite fashion store to buy a couple of lucky bags. The best part — if she gets an article of clothing that doesn't fit her, the store allows her to exchange it for the same item in her size. She gets pretty much an entire season's wardrobe out of those two bags, and at a fraction of what she would pay for the items "off the rack."
It's a fun tradition, and not much of a "gamble" as long as the store sells items that you are interested in having.
I would imagine that many customers win. Apple is banking on the halo effect - if you own one Apple product, you're likely to buy more from them. Easy example: if you end up with an iOS device in your bag, you're likely to purchase media for it from iTunes. Apple collects 30% of each purchase you make on the store.
The reason they can probably do it in Japan and not the United States is due to the fact that the easterners tend to be not as wound up and agressive as Americans. If they did this in the U.S they'd be swamped with people threatening lawsuits because they didn't get the product they wanted.
You might want to take a look at South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and rethink your statement.
That's right, people die week after week in the U.S.! People die week after week everywhere. More people die from cancer or auto accidents than "assault rifles", so what's your point? Don't be so small minded.
Copying previous comments is just pathetic.
Please dont post unless you actually have something worth while to add.
Stop wasting peoples time
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