Ten Ways to Get a Wii or PS3
December 14th, 2006
After spending weeks looking for a wii (and interviewing everybody in the waiting lines), I believe I know the best ways of getting a wii or PS3. Now that I have mine, I’ll share the ten secrets that I have discovered with you guys. Feel free to add more…
- = = Online attack= = -
1. Online Scan
You can check the status of most online stores through refreshthing. Refreshthing is scanning the most popular online sites.
http://www.refreshthing.com/wii/
http://www.refreshthing.com/ps3/
2. Amazon Attack
Amazon will soon have a new shipment of both of these devices. If you want to snipe one off of amazon, you’ll need to have done some prep work first. Log into your amazon account and visit the appropriate pages — wii or ps3-60g / ps3-20g
You may want to consider searching amazon for the bundles and adding them as well.
When you visit the appropriate page, click on the Add to Shopping List link. Bookmark your shopping list page. When you hear that amazon has them in stock, jump straight to your Shopping List and refresh like mad. If it is in stock, you’ll see the option to add it to your cart. Once it is in your cart, you should have it. When the servers get slammed, this will save you a very important step.
3. Follow the crowds at FatWallet
Fatwallet has a great thread for following the availability of wii consoles and PS3 consoles. By subscribing to those threads, you will receive email updates. Of course, it’ll be a zillion updates a day, but ain’t nothing easy in life.
4. Follow the availability through RSS Feeds
You can also subscribe to RSS feeds regarding online availability:
wii rss - http://revolutiontracker.com/rev.xml
ps3 rss - http://ps3finder.com/ps3.xml
5. Buy the bundle, (try to) return the games.
Many times stores will package a console with games and other extras. Stores such as Wal-Mart and Target will frequently take back items without a receipt. In theory, you should be able to buy the bundles and they return the extras you do not want. This worked with the xbox360 bundles but eventually stores will catch on.
- = = Offline Attack= = -
Fatwallet always has accurate information about where consoles can be found. Here are some generalities about getting one in person.
6. Get there early.
Best Buy / Wal-Mart / Toys-R-Us / Target — all have allowed people to line up in the morning for devices. In my area, people have typically needed to get there at least 4 hours before opening to get a chance of getting a device.
7. Scan the shelves anytime you are in Target or TRU
Both Target and Toys-R-Us have slipped a few out into the general stock during the day. I just missed a couple at target this way. At both places I have been told that they are on the shelves for about 30 minutes before they are gone. Other than hanging around and pestering the clerks, I don’t know any way to get a leg up. (Okay, maybe I do. Hang around to the end.)
8. Hang around for the random extra ticket
So you line up and somebody steps out of the store and says, “We only have 10.” Everybody does a head count and typically all except 10 people go home. Don’t. Stick around! I stayed around interviewing people when this happened to me. I was guy number 11 and the store said they only had 10. One of the guys told me that he had picked his first PSIII up by hanging around in case a credit card did not go through. Another person in line said that target had previously announced twenty-five but really had thirty.
So I stuck around. The store actually decided to give a ticket per family instead of per person; thus I got a ticket! Woo-hoo!
9. Try to purchase tickets from innocent bystanders
One of the people who got a ticket was really just waiting in line to keep his friend company. Another guy who stuck around with me bought his ticket for $100. $100 is a bargin when compared to ebay prices plus shipping. At Target, they handed out tickets to everybody including children. A few wise people approached these families and bought these “extra” tickets from them.
10. Poor spelling may save you dollars
Speaking of ebay… the misspelled playstatons are typically going cheaper than the correctly spelled ones. I haven’t been able to find anybody dumb enough to misspell wii.
11. Unvalidated secret hint.
(One of the guys in the line was an ebay master. He told me that he has been able to stealth grab a bunch of wii consoles at target using the price checkers. The price checkers are those devices and the end of the isles that show the price when you scan a barcode. Well, you can also manually insert a product number as well. He was getting the product number for the wii off the shelf and typing in the product number into the price checker. The price checker will actually show how many are on the floor and how many are in the back! If there were consoles in the back, he would hang around until they put them out.
I have tried this trick at my local target. It correctly pulls up the wii with the price, but it has always said 0 on the floor and 0 in stock for me. Of course, maybe I have just never been to target when they had the consoles in the back either.)
Please add to the list if you have other ideas…
December 14th, 2006 at 6:48 pm
Cool. I picked up one from the back of the line as well. Great story.
I’ll digg it…
get a wii/ps3 digg
December 14th, 2006 at 6:55 pm
Dude. Forget about returning the bundled games. Just sell them on ebay. Much less pain involved.
December 14th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
excellent post davak! !
weirdly enough, i was lucky enough and did some similar type of planning (offline that is) and got my Wii on launch. I was lucky in that i was able to talk to a guy (who i knew from talking with him) was a good employee/person. he loved gaming and when i asked about the wii he excitedly told me that they had 69 in stock for launch w/69 copies of zelda.. and he was right!
if your in mpls, mn area. check out the target off of France ave in Edina. its one of the biggest selling Targets in the area and has a good stock of most things they get or even try the main target headquarters in downtown mpls, its a 3 story one..
peace
December 14th, 2006 at 10:22 pm
This is a great post! My friend just asked me if I’d seen an article about this yesterday… I’ve sent him the URL.
December 15th, 2006 at 2:16 am
thanks for the info…
Regards
anil
http://www.errorforum.com
December 15th, 2006 at 4:42 am
Once you get your wii, be sure to check out all of our tutorials and hints regarding this sweet new system…
Tech-Recipes - Wii
December 15th, 2006 at 3:18 pm
sorry, my friend. These Jedi mind control tactics don’t work a week and a half before Christmas.
December 15th, 2006 at 3:22 pm
re: talking about misspells. You can find a few wiii on eBay…
December 15th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
i got a wii on lauch day. one of my friends got to a local walmart at 10 am on launch day and convinced them to start handing out vouchers at 10 am instead of the usual 10 pm. we left, watched football all day, then showed up at midnight and got our wii’s.
i think the only reason the store manager did this is because they had a bad experience with the PS3 launch the night before.
December 15th, 2006 at 3:33 pm
“10. Poor spelling may save you dollars”
http://www.fatfingers.com searches Ebay for many variations of the word you type to help you in this process.
December 15th, 2006 at 3:34 pm
[…] Here are some good tips for finding a Wii or PS3 this holiday season. […]
December 15th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
I bought the Gamestop.com bundle, 20gb ps3 with 6 games, I took all the games back to my local Gamestop and they refunded them back onto my card. When asked if it was part of a bundle i simply said ‘no’
December 15th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Regarding the in-store scanners/pricecheckers….
What IS the Target product number for the Wii? Does anyone know?
December 15th, 2006 at 3:40 pm
Stick to the back of the line! There were supposed to be 30 and I was behind number 31 so much chances seemed slim. Then they announced they actually had 32.
The girl behind me wasn’t too happy.
December 15th, 2006 at 3:45 pm
[…] This article off of Digg has some clever ways to find one, but it’s no guarantee. This link off of that website seems the most promising, however, as it scans all of the major online spots with a simple refresh. Someone find me one! […]
December 15th, 2006 at 4:29 pm
Wii barcode, print it, don’t type it into the scanner:
http://www.upcdatabase.com/item.asp?upc=045496880019
PS3 60gb barcode:
http://www.upcdatabase.com/item.asp?upc=711719800002
December 15th, 2006 at 4:35 pm
[…] Read the other 5 here […]
December 15th, 2006 at 4:36 pm
Good advice. I seems that around my area though, nearly all retailers: Target, TRU and even Gamestop are holding their wiis back until Sunday. On Tuesday I was told at a TRU that they would have some in on Sunday. When I asked if they had some in already, the clerk admitted that they did, but could not sell any until Sunday morning. Same thing at Target.
Clearly, this makes marketing sense for Target and perhaps TRU - get a bunch of parents in line on Sunday morning after they see the ad in the morning paper and they will increase sales of other items. But Gamestop! come on.
Anyway, this practice really has taken the sport out of it for me. Looks like it will be a 2007 purchase.
December 15th, 2006 at 5:08 pm
[…]Ten Ways to Get a Wii or PS3[…]
December 15th, 2006 at 6:07 pm
[…] This is an excellent post on different ways to score a PS3 or Wii. […]
December 15th, 2006 at 7:26 pm
[…] read more | digg story […]
December 15th, 2006 at 9:12 pm
Just go to http://www.outtastock.com/wii and http://www.outtastock.com/ps3 . Both have RSS feeds as well and are much more responsive than refreshthing.
December 15th, 2006 at 10:42 pm
I’m a student at a university in Los Angeles and here’s what happened that will make university bookstores a great place to get Wii’s. I pre-ordered a Wii in July and the bookstore here told me that there would be no problem delivering it on opening day, but on the Thursday before opening day, their regional distributer called and told them that no college campuses were getting Wii’s until much later. I then had to scramble for one and ended up paying for a spot in line. The thing is, this week is when all those pre-ordered Wii’s got in to the bookstore on campus. Problem is, everyone either already has one (like me) or is home for the winter break. I just went by today and the bookstore has a huge pile of Wii’s in the back that they can’t sell and can’t return. If you want a Wii with no lines and no excessive ebay markup, just hit up your local college campus bookstore and see if they have any lying around. Chances are they’ll be more than happy to sell you whatever they’ve got just to get them off of their hands. The bookstore here told me they got 30 in this week and are expecting another 40 early next week and no one is returning their calls about pre-orders.
December 16th, 2006 at 1:02 am
Which university in LA are you talking about?
December 16th, 2006 at 2:43 am
LOL my brother is waiting in line for a wii as im typing this imma call him and tell him to stay in line after they announce how many they have
December 16th, 2006 at 3:14 am
I preorderd my Wii 5~6 weeks in advance (no line) with a 50 euro downpayment. Got to pick up my console on 7 dec … 1 day before launch day.
the morning i walked in that store after a quick phone call, there were 5 employees applauding for me and give me the console proudly.
my brother on the other hand hass been in 6 rows. Only after being lucky and some handy information, waiting 3 hours in a line and thus getting up middle of the night … he got one.
WII FTW! (proud Wii60 owner … no PS3 launch here yet .. thinking about it)
December 16th, 2006 at 10:40 am
[…] Ok so you’ve been looking high and low for a Wii. You’ve even tried to get to certain stores early in efforts to beat the crowds only to realize the crowds have been camped out way before you got there. Here’s a good writeup showing you 10 possible ways you can get a Nintendo Wii! Great tool for those still looking to get their hands on one of the hottest item this holidays, here’s sample of the ideas: 3. Follow the crowds at FatWallet […]
December 18th, 2006 at 8:49 am
Don’t Target/Walmart/Toysrus and other stores realize they are losing business by not announcing when they have Wiis in stock?
December 18th, 2006 at 12:41 pm
How are they losing business? If you have 10 and selling them all within the first few minutes of putting them out… why announce?
Announcing actually COSTS them business. For example, target and TRU puts out wiis at random times. This encourages people to drop by and check if the wiis are there. Of course, once you have people in the store, those people are going to have an increased chance of buying something else!
December 18th, 2006 at 10:57 pm
just a note!
ToysRus claims to have ‘thousands’ before xmas.. (via destroid.com)
http://www.destructoid.com/toys-r-us-to-receive-thousands-of-ps3s-and-wiis-before-xmas-28716.phtml
January 4th, 2007 at 9:36 am
I’ll second the http://www.outtastock.com/wii/ link. Scored my Wii with that page.
January 7th, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Hey, nice post there goood tips :)! Me and my Brothers still don’t have a Wii. But I played my friends wii and I was all like, ” IT”S SO AWESOME!!!” The ony problem is, is that in Abbotsford (Canada), (My hometown) we only have like 2 EB’s, a Zeller’s and a Wal -Mart. Another thing is that I live in a prarie-ish part of Abbotsford that is pretty far from the town so, going out to look for a Wii is a thing where you have to do it when my Mom is going out get groceries. What would be your best tips for getting a Wii without actually having to like camp-out or buy one online? Please reply soon. Thanks!
February 20th, 2007 at 11:10 am
we dont have any target or best buy we steal the wii
you can remove barcode and poste another one just like this!!!!
February 25th, 2007 at 8:49 am
ok listen i need a wii or im going to literatley go insane my dad sais once its in stock we will buy it i cant find it in stock!!!!!!!!!!!
February 26th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
ive been trying to get a wii for weeks i still dont have one.
February 26th, 2007 at 2:36 pm
I really want a Wii and I’ll follow you guys tips and see how soon I will get one.
I looked around and this page gives me most comprehensive information by far.
Thanks a bunch!!
February 26th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
Personal opinion:
Did you all notice eBay sellers have a bunch of Wii.
If there is no such “jerks” holding all the consoles, we should all have one or at least soon, and without these hassles.
Of course, demand and supply, this is how this world works now.
Still suck!
March 30th, 2007 at 7:54 pm
i hope this works. i’m looking forward to getting a wii.
April 17th, 2007 at 4:33 am
[…] These are your ten best chances for getting a wii or ps3 without paying killing ebay prices for one. I picked up one for my son by using the “back of the line” method. I wish I had known about the target trick!read more | digg story […]
December 18th, 2007 at 2:40 pm
Here’s another tip: (Great article BTW) I speak from experience on this one. When the xbox 360 first came out, I got word that Kmart was having a raffle because they only had something like 15 of them to sell.
I went up to Kmart and low and behold there were 70 some odd people up there waiting. I asked who was doing the raffle and the employee said the store manager.
I then ask to speak to the store manager, they get him and I tell him I’ll pay him x amount of dollars to draw my number in the raffle. He agrees without thinking twice, I slip him the cash, and low and behold I’m the first number drawn
Just another idea for anyone and it wouldn’t necessarily have to be a raffle either. People are easily persuaded with money
January 1st, 2008 at 2:48 pm
A good place to find the Wii is if you live near a small or poor town with a Wal-mart or Target that supplies the Wii.
January 6th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
Follow the fatwallet link and follow the advice from the non reseller thread topic. The recent walmart posting got many people the wii’s they were looking for.
I got mine by persistence and by learning of the walmart sale prior to it actually occuring.
GL
January 13th, 2008 at 5:27 pm
In search of wii
My search started in mid-october when my 10 year old son asked for a wii for Christmas. I knew from the start that I had to find him one because of the connection with my name. You see, my name is William Isaac Ishman with my initials being WII and my sons name being William Isaac Ishman the 2nd, WII 2. As a matter of fact my wife refers to us as wii 1 and wii 2. Every weekend in October and November my time was spent searching all stores in the city I live in, including walmart,toys r us, best buy,circuit city,comp USA and many others with no results. I spent hours standing in lines and even witnessed a fight in best buy, when two elderly men reached for the last wii. When December arrived I was about to tell my son that their would probably be no wii for Christmas this year, but first I wanted to give the online stores a try. I check all of the big box stores, always with the same results”out of stock”. I ended up checking a couple of the wii tracker sites, and their it was at amazon.com “in stock”. Amazon was selling the wii for $250.00 that morning. I immediately went to their site and purchased one.It was worth every penny just to see the look on my sons (wii 2) face Christmas morning. The wii trackers had really done the job for me.
http://www.instockonline.org
http://www.wiitracker.com
February 9th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Well I’m going to get to Wii hunting but I only have enough for the regular Wii Console, plus how do I know what day to wait in line for? Or what store? I spent all day today, yesterday, the day before, and probably will spend tomorrow calling all around asking the same 2 questions….(Do you have any Wii’s instock?) I normally get a no, then I follow up with (Do you know when you will be getting more?) Then I get a “Im not sure at this moment, or we get them randomly durning the week”
Personally I dont have to time to go to all the stores in my town at opening hours every day of the week. For the fact I have school and my parents are like we will bring you after school dont over react they will have them later in the day too. Sadly most sell out right away or within an hour or 2 of hitting the shelf.
Any tips on how to get a lead on knowing when to wait in line and where? I tried lots of Wiitrackers but idk…
March 12th, 2008 at 8:59 am
I just checked the Best Buy website and was able to purchase one 10 minutes ago. Tried to get two but they limit you to one. Went back right after I completed my order and the “Out of Stock” status was up again. Perhaps they put a few out there from time to time.
March 12th, 2008 at 10:52 am
get a freind that sells wiis on ebay! lolz i have a freind that does that he is willing to sell me the wii on nomral price
April 20th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I’ve been frustrated for some time ow, trying to find one. Everywhere I went kept telling me to come back every day @ open, yada yada yada… today we stopped in Toys R Us for some gifts for the nieces and there was a sign saying We Have Wiis. I went to the game dept, but of course they had forgotten to take down the sign. The wonderful young man, however, did inform me of Toys R Us’ “Golden Ticket” which allowed to me to reserve a wii for next sunday from the week’s shipment. I put a deposit on my cc and got the receipt. I can go in next sunday any time and pick up my Wii.
Not sure if other Toys R Us do the same thing, but it may be worth a check out.