Wii Shortage Blame Game: Don't Just Blame Nintendo
You can blame this year's Nintendo Wii shortage on, well, Nintendo. But consumer frustration over the shortage of Wii consoles is compounded by resellers and retailers who are using the Wii drought as a marketing tool and way to make money.
Blame the Resellers
In 2006, people made a lot of money selling Wii consoles on eBay. There were some gamers I know who bought the Wii for themselves, but decided to make a quick buck by selling their Wii instead of keeping them. Others bought the Wii just to resell it for a substantial profit.
But in 2007 the reseller market has matured in ways that Tony Soprano might be envious of.
I've heard of people who have made a fulltime job out of reselling Nintendo Wiis. Just search for "Wii resellers" on Google or check eBay to see what I mean. There are loads of Web sites and Wii dealers on eBay selling the Nintendo console for at least twice the MSRP of $250 the unit sells for at retail stores such as Best Buy.
I've heard of some resellers stalking UPS drivers that deliver Wii shipments to retailers. Why? so they can get a jump on the stores that have fresh Wii inventory. Other Wii resellers make friends with the inventory managers at stores just to get first dibs on a Wii.
Reselling may sound like an easy job on paper, but it isn't. One reseller told the Web site Consumerist he received death threats from frustrated buyers wanting to buy a Wii at a reasonable price.
Blame the Retailers
Retailers have also done plenty to frustrate potential Wii customers.
The retailers' role in 2006 was fairly simple. Sell the units as they came in.
In 2007 retailers approach to selling the much in demand Wii changed. It seems the retailers themselves began to exploit the Wii hype using questionable marketing tactics. According to an anecdotal report posted to the Web site Consumerist, at one major electronics retailer, an employee repeatedly walked through the store with a Wii in hand, while another employee made an announcement over the public address system that it is the last Wii. The process was repeated every 15 minutes with numerous Wiis, according to the account.
One year after the release many stores like Best Buy, Target, EB Games and even the Nintendo Store in New York City still have consumers waiting in line outside the store for hours to be the first to buy Nintendo Wiis when limited shipments come in. Of course retailers could lessen the Wii spectacle by issuing rain checks to those customers wanting to buy a Wii in advance of a store receiving new ones. But perhaps the media attention of those Wii lines is worth more to retailers than making the lives of would-be Wii customers more convenient.
I should point out, one enlightened retailer Gamespot has issued a rain check system allowing customers to pre-order and pay for Nintendo Wiis. That eliminates the need for waiting in line outside the store.
I'd like to propose some new rules for retailers and resellers when it comes to selling the Nintendo Wii. First, retailers must take down all those Nintendo Wii marketing signs, marquees, and huge in-store Wii promotions until they get more Wii consoles in stock. As for resellers, please just stop creating artificial scarcity by buying up every single Wii when they go on sale.
Okay, I know that's not going to happen.
Lets just hope Nintendo opens up more production plants and Wii resellers turn their attention to scalping Hannah Montana concert tickets instead.
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Here's what I don't get. Quasi-news show Inside Edition did a report on the Hannah Montana ticket scalping "story", with people complaining about the whole "why should I have to spend five grand on a ticket?" and that the resellers were rude for doing what they did, but nothing about the Wii/PS3/360 fiascoes? What's the big deal with Hannah Montana? Sure, kids love the show, but the fact that when the 360 was released somebody shot a guy, you'd think they would have had a field day with that and the subsequent gouger resales. Nope. Only one time did I hear of the shooting. Only one time did I hear about the 360/eBay prices. Gougers are crooks, and I'm not just tossing around that term. If they're stalking UPS guys and making "friends" with inventory managers, then they're stealing something away from someone who wants one. Stores should be trying to prevent this crap from happening, and eBay should shut out people selling Wiis for more than MSRP.
This is just capitalism at its worst, brining out the greed-driven lowlifes out of the woodwork. And before some of you come up with the basic supply/demand argument remember that you are dealing with real human nature not theories. As with any system, rules need to exist to prevent abuse otherwise the regular retailers would do the same exact thing that the scumbag greedBay profiteers are doing,
Nintendo could of prevented this situation by simply having prospective purchasers register with them and sending them a personalize coupon to be redeemed at their local retailer. Of course they would have to limit it to one per home address but that simple of enough to setup specially with all the profits they've been bringing in. The 'normal' population may also stop the madness by not giving in to the herd mentality and making sure that they don't pay a penny more than $250 for the console. It is possible to purchase it at the regular price without resorting to lining up at 5:00am. I did.
LOL WE ALL NEED TO MAKE A BUCK THIS YEARS FLAVOR IS THE iPHONE WHERE EVER THEY ARE NOT SELLING IT TILL NEXT YEAR I WILL BE.. THATS HOW YOU SURVIVE A FUBAR ECONOMY A CRAP JOB MARKET AND RISING RISING HEALTH CARE.. DONT TREAD ON ME BRO.
divuer is right. Either you need it or you don't. Corporate greed and such is all driven by dumb consumers. Scalpers and greedy resellers thrive on ill-witted bargain shoppers who think they need an unecessary product. The Wii is great for sure, but really you can do a better job raising your brats and not listen to them.
Here Here! I find it fascinating that people will belittle resellers and be digusted by their markup. Hey, I don't show up at your business and make those same type of comments about your profit margins. I don't care if your a doctor, lawyer, furniture sales rep, auto dealer and need I go on? If I don't like your margins or prices I vote with my wallet. The same applies here. Folks buy from resellers period. If consumers found it was as disgusting a practice then resllers would be out of business. So take it easy on resourceful folks fulfilling a clear need in the marketplace.
Are you serious bdoster? "Fulfilling a clear need?" Since when did "fulfilling" become a euphemism for "superfluously creating"?
Take these redundant resellers out of the equation and you'd simply have moms and pops picking up Wiis at retail at fair market prices.
It's one thing for a handful of individuals to post their purchase, one a piece, and play the "it's worth whatever someone's willing to pay for it" game. It's another for this entirely redundant and superfluous reseller layer that's formed to parasitically (and let's be honest, that's all it is -- parasitical) and artificially drive up market prices. I'm fine with grass roots capitalism, but whoever thinks completely unfettered free wheeling and dealing benefits consumers is either incredibly wealthy or incredibly naive.
To all who support, I wish you each and every one a $1000-$5000 Wii for Christmas! ;)
Matt, don't be bitter because you paid too much for your Wii. I had to look up about half your words in the dictionary but in layman's terms benefitting the consumer is exactly what it does. Take for instance, the mom or dad who works during the times that Wiis are released by retailers. How much is your time worth, to stand in line or take time off work to get one. For those that fulfill the clear need (yes I said it again I hope your head isn't spinning) they now have an opportuntiy to purchase one whether they would not ordinarily be able to due to their work scedules. So we should probably hold the retailer accountable for releasing the Wiis at the wrong time. Perhaps if the retailers all kept 'em until everyone was off of work then that'll level the playing field for everyone huh? ;)
To the extent it's convenient for someone to buy something online, I'm totally with you bdfoster, and bless each and every whoever with the means to drop that kind of money on a video game system.
I'm talking about the parents who can afford $250 but not, say, $500, or $5000. And I'm talking about the guys who trail the UPS guy to instantly snap up a store's entire stock whose only purpose is to contribute to an artificial demand-driven market to make a ton of money while providing no supplementary services.
Retailers offer buy-time insurance coverage. They occasionally offer buy-one-get-one deals. Gamestop has a trade in program where you can get up to 40% (or so) bonus credit if you trade in a certain minimum number of games. What ad hoc reseller charging five grand for a Wii's going to be able to match any of that, never mind the convenience of being able to *return* a problem item straight to the store (as opposed to the who-knows-where reseller)?
I'm not so quick to just on the retailers. They sell what they have. All of these horror stories are incredibly rare.
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buy a nintendo wii
I do want to make it clear that I think reselling it for double is kind of a jerky thing to do.
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http://www.wii-shop.org