Gizmodo
I4U points out that when acquiring some Wiis from wholesalers, they were surprised to find that the price had increased from last year. While the Wii retails for $250, in 2006 they had to settle for a $476.11 pricetag for just the Wii system. This year, that number has inflated to $538.80...or become $60 more expensive. We can't believe it either.
Obviously our first reaction, sorry I4U, is never buy a Wii from their store (and for other absurd prices, just check out Amazon's third party seller options). Direct from your favorite chain retailer still seems like the best bet to score a Wii, because while they are in short supply, at least you can buy one for $250 (what the Wii should cost).
And hopefully consumers won't give in this Christmas and spend too much on the console...again. A wholesaler moving a Wii for over double retail is nothing more than a scalper. It's hard to believe that modern technology distribution models would support such deplorable behavior that benefits so few.
I don't pretend to know the ins and outs of the wholesale world, but I think it's time for Nintendo to take names and be more choosy to whom they sell their consoles. And maybe resellers who are complaining about ridiculous wholesalers shouldn't be supporting them either. [i4u]
Comments
Makes me somewhat thankful I got mine last year in time for Christmas now.
'Round my area, craiglist sellers are asking in excess of $500 for them. And someone will probably buy them, too. That's crazy.
Thats freakin ridiculous. Amazon has them for $520 and up.
[www.amazon.com]
i ended up buying mine through walmart.com but i had to buy it in the bundle which came w/ 6 games...ended up costing me like $680 w/ shipping...i really wish i'd spent more time researching each game i got, but i was so scared that i wouldn't get one at all i made quick rash descisions.
i want a 360 this year
And since its christmas and little Billy HAS TO HAVE a Wii for Xmas mommy will buy it for $400-$500
Can you? Walmart is listing them at $670, EBgames at $600, Best Buy doesn't even list them, and Circuit City doesn't give a price. Take note that none of the above are actually in stock. Where can you get them for $250?
I signed up on a web page that sends a text message for when Wiis come in stock on major online retailers and scored a Wii on Amazon using the one click purchase feature, and I paid the regular price of $249.99! Amazon put up 1,000 units which were gone in 10 minutes....
on ebay they sell for about 450 dollars. i snagged a used one with 2 controllers and 6 games (in addition to the wii sports) for a total of 12 games for 365. but i got lucky the seller spelled it "Nitedo Wii" so im guessing not too many people came across it.
you might want to check out [www.refreshthing.com] this page will refresh every 5 seconds telling you what wii's are in stock, and where. most of them are "bundled packs" 600 bucks buys you the console with 6 games you have to select from a list.
hope that helps some of you.
oh and btw, try to do what i did when buying on ebay. search for "NITEDO WII" and "NINTEDO WII" and "NITENDO WII". a lot of these sellers are old farts that were in line on black friday, and they're flippin the wii to make money to buy presents for their familys. They dont even know what a nintendo wii is, therefore they often misspell it. You can save hundreds with their stupidity.
@frink: CompUSA lists for $249.99 - of course, it's out of stock though. Can we say rain check!
uh, supply and demand anyone? the price will continue to be high until there is more supply. it's not evil corporations, just the market going to equilibrium.
@MacAddict21: Wouldn't just searching for the word wii on eBay be easier, and yield broader results? (and then sort by price, highest to lowest). Maybe i'm missing something here.
it is illegal for major retailers to sell the Wii higher than its sticker price. best buy, circuit city, game stop, toys r us, and other stores like that CAN NOT charge a penny over $249.99. That is why they sell them in "bundles". The bundle forces you to buy 6 more games and usually some third party peripherals. They often include games that they are overstocked in the bundles. This insures sales of stagnant inventory. Without the bundle, retailers wouldn't make any money.
@bez_online:
yes but you'd have to look through an ocean of wii's that are all selling for 400+. By searching for the misspelled name, you come across listings whose prices are still very low due to lack of traffic.
[www.hacknmod.com]
Im happy that I've got mine, but I was one of those evil people -trying- to sell the thing after I got it day one. Not a single bite on my auction. Oh well, it's a fun system to have.
Well .... look at the USD vs Yen ratio last year. and then look at it this year. Expect lots of importet consumer products to cost more this year.
@MacAddict21 and @bez_online: I wonder if now and then, looking for a "We" or "Wee" might also work.
I've heard a few stories of people scoring big on ebay due to seller misspellings. "Dimond" rings anybody?
@frink: Ummmmmmmmm..... NO.
Walmart has the Wii CUSTOMER CHOICE BUNDLE for $677. That includes the system, an accessory, controller, nunchuck, Mario Party 8, and a choice of 6 games. Not just the console.
Sort Price: High > Low, then scroll down a bit. You will find the system on Walmart's website for $249.24. Durrrrrr
[www.bestbuy.ca]
<3 Canada
@aR-Tard:
From your link:
"Quantity Remaining:0"
@Lorne:
Damn...I could have sworn there were some left a few minutes ago.
Kinda wierd...guessing Wii sales will go down because not too many people would pay more for a Wii than a PS3 or 360...
I got my Wii on launch day last year by camping out all night in front of my local Wal-Mart. It was cold, but all my friends were there with me getting theirs, and there was a utility outlet on the curb, so we played Smash Bros. and ate tacos all night. THAT's how I got my Wii. Everyone laughed at me at first, assuming the Wii would be in plentiful supply. When I turned on Twilight Princess for the first time, I realized that I had finally come home to the Nintendo I grew up with, and the all nigther was so worth it.
I don't think gizmodo staff knows what a wholesaler is, unless they are saying that game-stop (who buys their stock froma wholesale distributor) are selling the system at a $200. Unless by "wholesaler" you mean "people that aren't bound by contract to sell at suggested price and buy a ton of systems form the distributor or other retail outlets and price gouge on the internet.)
I'm planning to wait for a new Wii tomorrow morning before the shops open. Anyone know a good place to find them in Manhattan???
Supply and demand is in full effect in my parts. I traded my 4month old Wii with 2 controllers and 1 game, for a 60GB PS3 with 2 controllers and 2 games lol. The guy bought the PS3 because Wiis werent available at the time, and the kids just wouldnt play it because all of their friends had Wii's lol. Now I just need to get my mits on a Xbox360 some kinda way lol. No big deal to me because I know 3months from now I can buy another Wii lol, not alot of real advanced games or online games I was interested in playing yet anyway.
One store in my area is getting wii's tomorrow and I'm going to get one to sell. After black friday I need some money to finish paying off the monitor I bought and the wii's are going for a lot more than they are worth on ebay.
@nightmar3: Tsk! How evil!!!
@nightmar3:
you dont live in los angeles do you?
oh hum .. gratz on your slightly upgraded gamecube's The Wii shouldn't even class as a next gen console.
The Japaneses have tired of the Wii there are plenty left on the shelves in Tokyo stores Just a pity they are so region locked I could have made a killing on ebay ;-)
I live in Chicago and searched high and low for a Wii without success. So one weekend about a month ago I was out in Rock Falls (west of Chicago toward Iowa) and on a hunch checked out the local super Wal-Mart. They had four in the display case and who knows how many in the back. Score! So if you're looking for a Wii and live in a metro area, take a drive out to BFE and you might find one.
On a side note, I was in Philly a few weeks ago and the downtown FYE had three available w/o bundle.
I'm still on the fence about getting a Wii. It seems that the strong exclusives are still coming almost solely from Nintendo, but it is a pretty compelling purchase at around $280 CAD.
On the other hand, the 360 has a huge amount of top quality hardcore games.
I might end up with both, eventually.
@MacAddict21:
Try Gameplay on Venice, B/W Overland and Sepulveda.
Also last week the Best Buy in West Hollywood on Santa Monica and La Brea had Wii's in stock while I was buying Rock Band. They don't put them on the floor so you have to ask.
I got mine through my old job, which was a boutique Home Theatre store. I got lucky in that they were going to take it out of my paycheck, then they filed Chapter 7 and I got to keep it. I got very lucky.
Still, for those that want one, it's not worth the exorbitant prices. I own all the consoles and I still play the 360 more than either.
Come to China- no shortage of Wiis, and they're pre-modded for convenience- all for only $300.
@jamar0303: Maybe that's why the US market is choking for Wiis - a lot of them (even US versions) just wind up in Asia and support pirated media.
@jamar0303:
what does the modding do?
@MacAddict21: Lets you play, uh, "backup" software.
I just saw a stack of Wiis at two Vancouver Future Shops as I was looking around for a cable. You just gotta know where to look and when, people.
I got a Wii from Ebay brand new, for 305 dollars last week. It's really difficult to find the suckers in a Walmart around here.
@topcatticus: I guess all the stories of Wiis being super-hard to find are coming out of the midwestern states or something. It seems most major cities get Wiis stocked regularly.
Nintendo should issue a warning to retailers against marking up the price of the Wii, otherwise they'll be losing one of their largest selling points this holidy season: the lowest price of all 3 next gen systems.
I mean if I'm going to spend 500+ dollars it might as well be on a PS3 not a system that will retail at $250 not even a week after christmas. This is ridiculous and this is why capitalism sucks.
i picked one up at cosco for $259. They had a whole pallet of them. as a matter of fact, when I was leaving the store about an hour later, i noticed that only two others were sold during that time. check cosco before you try crazy online prices.
@cellshadedninja: Too true. I love the Wii and all but paying over $300 for something that's only about 50% more powerful than a GameCube is a bit much.
man, not to trying to sound like a dick (in fact i'm being sincere when i say this) but i feel sorry for a bunch of u! i really do! about 6+ months ago i went to a target which advertised that it would have some wiis in stock. went there, waited in line, and got the wii for 250. i also got the last copy of zelda that they had at the time. Sadly however, despite the coolness factor of the wii, i played it all of 4 times, and then gave it to my bro who promptly shat his pants after finding out that i had one and didnt want it.
am i the only one on giz who bought this thing out of hype and the fact that it was the cheapest of the next gen, only to find out that, while a novel way to play video games, was at the same time just a fad?
@tokyobob: I guess you don't read the Japanese hardware charts. What is your classification of "next gen"? Does anyone care about "gens"?
All I care about is that Super Mario Galaxy is a lot of fun to play. Seriously people. Why hate a system? Games are games. Buy the system (or systems) that has the games you want.
@OmegaRed59: Even if it isn't ultra-powerful Wii still counts as "next-gen" anyway since it succeeded the GameCube.
@Nintenboy01:
you're best bet to get any hot rare items like the wii in the city (for retail) is the times square toys r us. they give vauge answers like "we should be getting some more in" or "we will definetly get another shipment before christmas but not sure when.you're best bet is to just check back" which is the gos honest truth. keep checking back. the weekends are the best times to go early in the morning.
dam nintendo makes 60,000 units a day, thats krazy and theres still sold out. but you have to handed to them though because wii is cheap and fun, most of these other consoles have games that are not even fun anymore its like your always on a freaking mission with then, that gets borring with time.
Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be able to get a Wii by 2009.... Maybe...
haha, remember when the wii was supposed to be in high supply and not have supply problems like the 360 did at launch? I got mine a week or so after it came out. One of my friends used to work at Best Buy and found out when they were getting wiis. We got there pretty early that morning and there was already a line. They had 12 wiis and my friend and I were 12th and 13th in line. We flipped a coin for it and I won. He got his a few months ago. I still play my 360 way more. Mostly cause thats what I bought Guitar Hero for.
I paid a high school kid 50 bucks to stand in line for me the 3rd week after release last year. Best 50 bucks I ever spent.
@Nintenboy01: I'd be inclined to believe you, but I've never seen a Wii sold in China with American firmware. It's all Japanese, which means that if anything, the shortages should be showing up in Japan.