[Nyororin]

Actually, you can get a number of Apple products for well below their official Apple store prices at major electronic retailers.
Apple Store charges for the sheer experience of buying in an Apple Store. :P

Try the major electronics chains - Bic Camera and Yodobashi are known to sell well below normal retail price (which the Apple Store never drops below). You just have to catch them during a sale - usually around bonus season. Same with Yamada, Eiden, Kojima and Compmart.

Another path is to check Kakaku.com. They often have some very good deals, especially on older models.