So 3 or 4 months ago, when we didn’t have the cash, a Nintendo Wii was easy to find. But now with people starting to shop for the holidays, they are out of stock EVERYWHERE.
Here’s what’s bizarre. Right now, on gamestop.com, I can buy Guitar Hero III for the Wii for $89.99 including the controller, with $10 shipping and an additional $5 handling charge due to size. On eBay, they are going for around $125 plus $20 or more shipping & handling! I can order a Wii bundle with the console itself costing the retail price of $250, yet on eBay naked Wii consoles are selling for $350+.
WTF? How does this price gouging work when it’s available all over the place? And how do I capitalize on this sort of demand without being stuck with hardware myself?
How People Get Them
So we talked to friends who managed to get one. Invariably, they just checked the local store at the usual delivery times to see if they were in, and bought when they were in-stock.
Gamestop: 2 Barnsons: 0
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Matthew P. Barnson
How we got one…
When we got ours, I bought it from Toys R US. The stores here put them out on Saturday night, so Sunday morning is the time to get them here. We were able to call Saturday evening and ask if they had any and how many of them. I arrived at the store about 30 minutes before it opened and was # 10 in line. May be one way of getting one.
The Gamestop here has had them off and on. They reccommended that i could buy the bundle from Walmart.com since they were typically in stock. He said the nice thing with that arrangement is that you may pay a little more up front, but if there are items in the bundle you don’t want Walmart will return them at shelf pricing in the store.
Found!!
So Jon Brusco found one for us. Thank you, Jon!
With shipping & tax… it still ain’t bad. He paid a few bucks less in taxes than we would have paid locally, but shipping will (of course) eat up that savings. Regardless, a nice lucky strike for my buddy having lunch with his wife!
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Matthew P. Barnson