The Wii Shortage, and other Disasters of Toy Economics

[Russ Pitts]

The Wii Shortage, and other Disasters of Toy Economics

Now a shortage of Wiis isn't news - they've been hard to find since they came out - nor, unfortunately, is a parent-induced holiday shopping panic. Breeders have been suffering anxiety attacks over the latest hot, new toy since Sears & Roebuck started selling Tinkertoys 100 years ago. Why should this year be any different?

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[GrowlersAtSea]

To be fair, the Wii has been quite a surprise to almost everyone you will talk to. The sales were really surprising, but the fact that they kept right on going well passed last holiday season is what was the big one and it cannot all be attribute.

But it can be difficult to draw the line, for example there's a local game store nearby that whenever they get Wii's in stock, they put up a few signs announcing that 'we have Nintendo Wii's in stock!'. Not surprisingly the sign comes down after a couple days and presumably they're all gone. Do the other local stores sell this well, I don't know, but I don't even know if they have them in stock since they don't put up their own signs.

The fine line between regular advertising and underhanded tactics.

That Best Buy story however is incredulous. I'm no fan of Best Buy and have heard from real horror stories from people about there (from absurdly aggressive upsellng to voiding product warranties) but even that seems beyond them. I really honestly have trouble believing it without some supporting evidence of it. If it's true though, just wow.