Wii Tracker

Black Friday is creeping up.  Like I said in the earlier post, early bird does get the worm.  It seems that some retailers are starting to increase their inventory.  Wired Magazine, says GameStop has enough inventory to last through Black Friday.  Also, BestBuy online finally has a some inventory for the base Wii model.

Buying a Wii shouldn’t be that hard, yeah right.

 

Woohoo, I have bought our first Wii! But can’t open it ’til Christmas! Let me tell ya, I’ve tried every which way to convince my wife, but no go. We’re waiting on Santa to deliver it on Christmas morning. Nonetheless, this was the toughest ordeal. As with any of these new gaming consoles the initial investment was toughest, but this one had the added benefit of being hard to find too. It reminded me of the funny line in

Disney Pixar – Toy Story. When, while driving around Al’s Toy Barn, Tour Guide Barbie tells them as they were driving down a Buzz Lightyear aisle “back in 1995 short-sighted retailers did not order enough dolls to meet demand”

That’s exactly how I felt. But now we’re coming up on the 2 year anniversary of the Wii release here in the States and the units are still hard to find in some places. Some retailer are starting to bundle them with other games/accessories, now driving the initial investment up. I bought ours at Bestbuy, which was the only place at that time which that had it stock, locally. But that’s not where I first started.
BUYING STEPS

1. Save some money – The first initial investment won’t be your last purchase. Just the basic Wii console retailed around $250 w/o taxes (included Wii Sports, 1- Wii Remote, 1- Nunchuck, batteries for the Wii remote, and a composite AV cable containing RCA connectors) add extra controllers, games, cables, etc.. You get the picture.
   
2. Shop around Online - Check online retailers sites for package deals or just the stand alone console. I used sites similar to http://wiitracker.com/, just to see what the prices were and who had the consoles in stock.
   
3. Pick up the phone – After browsing around on the web and when I was ready to buy, I called the local stores. Many of them did not have any units in stock and this was just a few months ago. Find out when they’ll get their shipment arrive.
4. Early Bird - Once you get the shipment information, try to get their early. I had a weird experience w/ BestBuy. When I finally settled on BestBuy I called ahead to check availability. I got the answer I was looking for they had units available, WOOT! The funny thing happened when I got to the store, about an hour later after calling, one of their floor sales guys in the gaming section said they were all out. WHAT!? Well, needless to say I kept my cool and asked them to call the manager or to check again. He decided to check again and sure enough they had a few units in the back.
   
5. Be Patient - Don’t settle, unless you really, truly are forced too. Keep calling and going to the local stores, you’ll see soon enough persistent will pay off
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TIPS

1. Target Shoppers Hack – Try locating on the price checkers that they have around the store. Enter the following Wii product code: 207-25-0001 and press the [ENTER] button. It’s supposed tell you how many Wii are on the floor or in the back stockroom. (unconfirmed)
2. Keep your cool - I’ve heard that our local Target gets their shipment in on Tuesdays. So when you get there try to remember that being polite goes a long way, when asking for help.
3. Rentals/Pre-owned – Rent games before you buy. It’ll save you alot money down the road. If you must buy, try going w/ the pre-own games.
4. Avoid the holiday rush
5. Becareful with ebay & craiglist

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STORES

• Target
• Blockbuster
• Costco
• Toys “R” Us
• EB Games
• BestBuy
• Sears
• K-mart
• Circuit City
• Walmart
• Sams Club
• GameStop
• Fred Meyer

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Good luck and please let me know what has worked for you and maybe what hasn’t.