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Anyone know a good strategy for scoring a Wii? (1 Viewer)

Jon_Are

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I'm hoping to grab a Wii before Christmas without paying more than retail or creating any major inconvenience for myself.

Whenever I'm in a store I'll ask a clerk, but I've never received any sort of response other than "you just have to be lucky and come in when we have them."

Is it really just luck? How can I improve my chances?

Thanks,

Jon
 

Patrick Sun

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Sadly, even a year later, if you want a Wii, your best bet is to read the sales circulars on Saturday, and if a store advertises the Wii to be on sale, you'll need to get there a bit early on Sunday and hope you're in luck. Otherwise, make friend with one of the sales associate and slip them some cash to give you a call when the Wii's come into the store during their weekly shipments of stuff.

Or, you could order an online Wii bundle, but then you are basically paying for games you might not want just to get the Wii console.
 

teapot2001

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It might be harder now because of Christmas, but I didn't have much trouble getting one 2 months ago. Just read the ads for Sunday sales, and go to a Best Buy or Circuity City to wait outside before the store opens. I think if you arrive an hour early, you should be safe.

~T
 

Rob Landolfi

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I used the "wii tracker" (http://wiitracker.com/) to help me see when various stores had them in stock after my wife and I decided to try to get one for the family for Christmas. This was three weeks ago, and after a few days, we saw a bundle show up on walmart.com that let us choose accessories and games that we would have gotten anyway. It looks like there may be some available at walmart.com now, but you will have to get a bundle.

Ordered from walmart.com and everything came in a week later (about two weeks ago). We started looking hard as soon as we saw a news story somewhere saying that the Wii was expected to be in short supply again this year.

The basic consoles ($250) sell out immediately wherever they are, and we opted for a pricier bundle as it came with a second set of cotrollers and a several games that look interesting. The basic sports disk that comes with it is great by itself, too.

Good luck.
 

Phil Kim

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I got mine using the Wii Tracker. It showed Amazon as having Wii on stock, and lo-and-behold, they had Wii for $249.99 for good 10-15 minutes or so.
 

TravisR

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That's what I did to get one last year from my local mall's Electronics Boutique. And to increase my chances of getting one, I went into the mall through a service entrance about 10 minutes before security was supposed to unlock the main doors and so I ended up being first in line. :)
 

drobbins

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My wife camped out in Walmart all night. Wasn't much of an inconvenience for myself. :D
 

Todd Hochard

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I just scored one last week from Wal Mart.

I was periodically dropping into the Wal Marts, Targets, BB, CC, and Game Stops in my area. Game Stop and Wal Mart were helpful, in that they told me they come in randomly, but the truck arrives M-F, around 11am. So, last Tuesday, I happened to be at Wal Mart at 11am, and they told me the truck hadn't arrived yet- check back in an hour. I had to get to work, so my wife dropped in about 12:15, and they had a few. She was only allowed to buy one, though.

Todd
 

BrianShort

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I think my local Wal-Mart has some... not really interested in one myself... though reading about how cool Super Mario Galaxy is sure is tempting.
 

andrew markworthy

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I don't know how to break this to you guys, but over in the UK until a week ago, they were giving them away free with mobile phones. I renewed my mobile phone contract, picked up a brand new Sony Ericsson phone, negotiated a £10 a month reduction in fees (I think that's about $20000000000 at the current exchange rate ;)) and got a free Wii as my gift (I could have had a Playstation 3 instead if I'd wanted). And it's not a dubious offer. The company offering the deal is reputable and I got the Wii delivered the other day. They've stopped doing the offer now, so I can't show you the deal, I'm afraid.

Sorry!
 

Jon_Are

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Here's where I'm at:

Went to Best Buy yesterday where the salesperson says they usually come in on Sundays (but admitted they haven't had ANY in the past 2-3 weeks).

Headed over to Circuit City. A helpful salesman (salesboy, actually) confided that this CC store gets screwed over by the distributor. Says they never get more than ten at a time while Toys R Us gets 100 or so.

Next, went to TRU. Saleswoman says they're getting some in tomorrow (meaning today), says she expects 15 -30 and suggested I come early because there were campers (people, not vehicles) last Sunday morning.

So, arrived this morning at 0615 (store opened at 0800) to find maybe 15 folks in line. Last guy in line says they gave out line tickets but there were none left.

As I was driving away, a chick near the front of the line motioned to me and said she had a line ticket she'd sell for $100. I rolled up my window and drove off without a response.

Guess I'll try next Sunday morning but a bit earlier. I guess I'm past the stage where I can claim I will not be inconvenienced. :)

Is she busy this Saturday?? :D

Jon
 

Jon_Are

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Regarding Wiitracker.com...

I'm not sure how it works. Do you simply go to the site frequently to see if there are any available? How often is it updated?

Thanks,

Jon
 

Jeff_CusBlues

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I feel your pain, Jon. My mom gave my son enough to buy a Wii in October and we I looked all around trying to find one. Finally, my wife started calling Game Stop every day, and when they said they got some in, she shot over there and bought one (she is a stay at home mom). It only took a week or so. They don't seem to camp out at the Game Stops like they do at Wal Mart, Best Buy or Toy R Us. I'm in Ft. Wayne, IN, so it may be different in your area. They are cool though. Our whole family plays it a lot. Good Luck

Jeff
 

Holadem

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A year after release supply has not caught up with demand yet? Geez.

Why is this?

I haven't owned a video game platform in more than two years so I am obviously very much out of that loop nowadays.

--
H
 

TravisR

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My guess is that if you were looking for one in June, you probably wouldn't have had that much problem finding one. At this time of year, alot of people have waited to buy one (and I can't blame them- who is gonna keep a Christmas gift for 6 months?) and so the demand is exceeding the supply again.
 

BrianB

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Because Nintendo is very carefully limiting supply to just not quite meet demand.
 

andrew markworthy

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But if they're really doing that, they're only doing it in some countries. As I said in my earlier post, they're (literally) giving them away in the UK, and go into any supermarket or games store and there's piles of Wiis on the shelves. It's not that the Wii has failed to sell (far from it) but it's like the Playstation a year after launch - after an initial period of demand exceeding supply, the market has stabilised.

Maybe somebody goofed and the USA has got the numbers of Wiis intended for the UK and vice versa. ;)
 

Michael_K_Sr

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Same way I got mine a few months ago. If they show the console in the circular, it will always show the minimum number that will be on hand (at least at Best Buy.) Problem now is that these circulars are printed weeks in advance and with the crunch at this time of year, I'm not sure the consoles will be showing up in there before the holidays.
 

Jon_Are

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I can't figure out how this is good business practice; sell 'em while they're hot, I say.

Jon
 

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