[edswife1970]

Just seems like a waste of money to buy 3 pieces when you only need 2. Apple (and 3rd party companies) need to just offer the 2 pieces you will actually wear. Anybody know why they sell 3 piece sets only??

[Just_Me_D]

Everybody's wrist size is different, and therefore, Apple provides you with one for smaller sized wrists and one for larger sized wrists, along with the adjoining band. It's not a waste of money, but rather practical, in my opinion.

[edswife1970]

Everybody's wrist size is different, and therefore, Apple provides you with one for smaller sized wrists and one for larger sized wrists, along with the adjoining band. It's not a waste of money, but rather practical, in my opinion.

Well, if you need the larger size band, you should be able to buy JUST the larger size! I wear the smaller size, so right now I have 7 "extra" band pieces that I will never use.

[Just_Me_D]

Well, if you need the larger size band, you should be able to buy JUST the larger size! I wear the smaller size, so right now I have 7 "extra" band pieces that I will never use.

Okay. If it's bothering you that much, sell 'em, give 'em away or trash 'em. As for mine, I'll keep it for backup purposes, just in case.

[edswife1970]

Okay. If it's bothering you that much, sell 'em, give 'em away or trash 'em. As for mine, I'll keep it for backup purposes, just in case.

It's not bothering me. I just wondered why it's done that way. I love Apple products and even though I don't agree with the wastefulness of the extra piece of band, I will still continue to add to my band collection. Have a nice day!

[Just_Me_D]

It's not bothering me. I just wondered why it's done that way. I love Apple products and even though I don't agree with the wastefulness of the extra piece of band, I will still continue to add to my band collection. Have a nice day!

I don't doubt your love for Apple products, but Apple specializes in customer service. They tend to do more than what is expected. Back in the day, when you purchased a mobile phone, you got the phone and the charging cable. With the iPhone, you got a set of earbuds, and some Apple stickers......With the Watch, you got a short and long band. Anyway, take care and enjoy the rest of your evening.

[Rob Phillips]

Apple is pretty strategic about everything they do. It's probably more cost effective for them to simply offer both size bottom straps in the same package versus dealing with two different sizes of the same band in separate packages. There's a whole lot that goes into pricing than the physical goods being sold.

[robertk328]

Inventory. Ever had to keep track of different sized items of the same thing? Driving all over town because the local store only has small and you need medium/large bands in red? How would they know how many of each to produce?

Overall it's probably cheaper to put them both in there than it is to create all that extra packaging and track it all.

[Dave Marsh]

In addition to the simpler inventory control rationale, imagine the hassle of buying the wrong size (from Apple's perspective), and having to process the return and deal with the dissatisfied customer who had to return the item.

Apple may charge you $50 for that band, but don't for a second think it costs them that much to produce it. Then, throw in the labor cost of dealing with the return, repackaging the item for resale, and I'm sure it's less expensive to throw in both sizes and avoid the issue.

[robertk328]

In addition to the simpler inventory control rationale, imagine the hassle of buying the wrong size (from Apple's perspective), and having to process the return and deal with the dissatisfied customer who had to return the item.

Apple may charge you $50 for that band, but don't for a second think it costs them that much to produce it. Then, throw in the labor cost of dealing with the return, repackaging the item for resale, and I'm sure it's less expensive to throw in both sizes and avoid the issue.

Definitely.

I also realized while reading the blog post about bands that there are two widths available as well. So each band would have 4 SKUs instead of just 2. That times the number of band options would make it even tougher to keep inventory under control. I would think the material itself isn't expensive enough to save much money, and once you're making the sizes you might as well just throw them in the box

[ab21au]

I can wear either of the 2 sizes on my wrist so it suits me fine to have both. Also wife can use the watch using the smaller band.

[Rob Phillips]

I can wear either of the 2 sizes on my wrist so it suits me fine to have both. Also wife can use the watch using the smaller band.

You let your wife use your Apple Watch? You're a nicer guy than I am

[Haalcyon]

Apple may charge you $50 for that band, but don't for a second think it costs them that much to produce it. Then, throw in the labor cost of dealing with the return, repackaging the item for resale, and I'm sure it's less expensive to throw in both sizes and avoid the issue.

It prolly cost Apple less than $3 to produce that band. The profit margin is huge. Happy investors.

[tsparks1]

You let your wife use your Apple Watch? You're a nicer guy than I am

Yeah, nicer than me too, no one gets their grubby paws on my watch!