Best Buy Taking iPad mini WiFi + LTE Reservations

Best Buy will now take a $50 down payment towards the iPad mini WiFi + LTE so that buyers can reserve the new tablet and get one when they get restocked.

Local Best Buy stores might still carry a few of the first round of iPad mini in the Wi-Fi only version, but the stores didn’t get the LTE version when it became available late last week. The Best Buy Website showed the iPad mini as “coming soon” until last night when the status changed to available for in-store purchase, though every store shows the iPad mini as “unavailable.”

Best Buy doesn’t offer any details on when the iPad mini WiFI + LTE will be available in store, but customers can reserve oen with a $50 gift card purchase.

How it Works

To reserve an iPad mini WiFi + LTE, go to the computer department at the store and ask to reserve one. They will do so for a $50 down payment, which goes towards the cost of the iPad mini. Customers can use the gift card they get from Best Buy for any purchase they choose, which means buyers aren’t locked into buying one even with the reservation.

Once the iPad mini becomes available at the local store, Best Buy will email the customer, who then has a week to claim the iPad mini.

Why Buy from Best Buy

Why would a iPad mini buyer go through Best Buy instead of ordering directly from Apple?

First, Best Buy might get them in stock as early as Friday according to the sales person at the local Best Buy in North Carolina. The same person told us they’d get them in stock last week, which turned out to be wrong. Still, ordering directly from Apple will likely take at least two weeks.

Also, ordering from Best Buy doesn’t lock the customer into the purchase. The customer can use the $50 gift card for anything in the store if the iPad mini arrives in stock somewhere else earlier.

Finally, Rewards Zone members can get bonus points for buying from Best Buy, which translates into gift certificates when the customer accumulates enough points. It’s not worth buying an item just for points, but for planned purchases this is a slight incentive.

For those who haven’t already ordered an iPad mini and don’t live close to an Apple Store, Best Buy’s down payment option gives buyers a chance to get their hands on an iPad mini in the next week to ten days, before they could from Apple directly.