12.02.07
Posted in Auctions, Electronics, Entertainment, Gadgets, Games, Gift Cards, Hard to Find Items, Shopping Tips, Toys at 2:41 am by Deb Savvy
It’s actually hard to understand exactly why this has happened. Worldwide holiday shortages of the Nintendo Wii gaming system were predicted as far back as April. You’d think that with 7 month’s lead time, Nintendo would have stepped up production. One article I read in Forbes Magazine included a comment that this is par for the course for Nintendo, they make a play for the year and stick to it. Regardless of demand and consumer response. Funny, you’d think that a company whose products are so innovative would be managed more flexibly. Go figure! Anyway, if you’ve been shopping for a Wii then you already know they care just about impossible to find in stores. Or online. At least not at anything close to retail price. The basic Wii starter kit generally retails for $249.99 and includes a five game sports pack, one controller and a couple of other accessories. The same Wii bundle is abundantly available on eBay
, with dozens of auctions ending every hour. I’ve watched the auctions several times over the past few weeks. The $249.99 ‘basic’ bundle goes for anywhere from $400 to about $450. Many systems are being sold by well established eBay sellers with high feedback ratings, stated return policies etc. Many are not. I’d be very careful selecting your seller if you choose to go this route. Also make note of whether or not your selected Wii system includes the original purchase receipt. About a third of the posted systems I looked at included the original receipt – it’s worth having just in case. There are also lots of the basic Wii packages available with the eBay “Buy it Now” options. You should be able to snag the basic Wii package for $400 to $425. Don’t forget to compare shipping charges from seller to seller. Don’t forget that if you and the seller are both in the same state you may have to pay sales tax.
Another online option is one of these new ‘Wii only’ webstores that have cropped up in the last few weeks. I’m not going to post any of the site names here because I have no idea how reputable they are. If you go this route expect to pay at least $550 for a Wii package – the bundles from these stores generally include more items than the basic bundle but far fewer than the package price would imply. The markups are generally comparable to eBay – expect to pay about $150 over retail. Shop carefully, pay with PayPal or a credit card that provides purchase protection and try to choose a website that includes a phone number for customer service.
My next suggestion actually came from the guys at the Radio Shack near my house. Try Craigslist. The systems are selling for slightly less – $350 to $375. Choose a local seller, insist on picking the item up in person and if you’re not satisfied you can simply walk away.
If you absolutely cannot bear to pay more than retail – and who can blame you? – then you probably are going to have to wait a bit. Barnes & Noble is now accepting pre-orders on several Wii bundles that are expected to ship on 1/31/2008.
The Wii systema are theoretically carried at Best Buy, K-Mart, Sears, Target and a ton of the other ‘big box’ retailers. Most of these stores will not accept pre-orders and the bricks and mortar outlets do not maintain waiting lists. Check with your local store just to be sure. Radio Shack also carries Wii and many stores are keeping a waiting list. Another tip from my pals over there is that each time a store gets a bundle for release, they can’t sell it until Sunday. All the new Wii releases occur on Sundays – if you are ever going to get supremely lucky it will be first thing on a Sunday morning.
If you were hoping to gift a Wii system to your kids this holiday season, one ’sorry you can’t have it right now option’ is a special Wii gift card, available at Target in denominations from $25 up to $1000.
So that’s everything I know about the Wii shortage – hope it’s helpful. The games, accessories, controllers and other add-ons are abundantly available – which makes the system shortage even more annoying.
Ho Ho Humbug!
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04.05.07
Posted in All Time Favorites, Auctions, Great Ideas, Jewelry, Modern Marvels, Shopping Tips, Silver Jewelry at 2:50 am by Deb Savvy
I’m a bit of a Georg Jensen freak. I’ll admit it. I am a huge fan of their minimalist silver jewelry, especially pieces from legendary modern designers like Torun and Ditzel. I also love their serving pieces. And the watches. And the classic jewelry designs like the grape leaves. Georg Jensen silver, like everything else, has gotten quite expensive. Here’s one of my best savvy shopping secrets. True confession: I buy my Georg Jensen through eBay. I order from the Skov Larsen eBay Store.
They are located in Denmark and are an authorized retailer of Georg Jensen. At any given time they have as many as a couple of hundred pieces of Jensen jewelry for sale. Some are posted for auction. Others are ‘buy it now’. Depending on the piece, you can save between 20% to 40%, sometimes more. They also generally have a nice selection of vintage pieces. If you’re looking for a specific piece, drop them an e-mail. They’ve had things I wanted in stock even though they had not yet posted them into their eBay store. They have no other website. The eBay store is their only on-line outlet. Check it out. You’ll thank me later.
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12.01.06
Posted in Auctions, Shopping Tips at 6:03 pm by Deb Savvy
My nieces Peanut, Ketchy and Duncan go crazy for Hardtail and Juicy. My super savvy sister is not a zillionaire nor is she completely crazy so she was unwilling to even consider buying designer label clothes for them to wear to school. At least not at anything close to full price. Ever a resourceful woman, she turned to online auctions – with great success. She generally saves about 50% and sometimes even more. There are tons of reputable vendors on the auctions sites selling authentic merchandise at significantly less than bricks and mortar retail. Give it a try – you have nothing to lose, especially if you follow these savvy tips for buying brand name clothing at on online auction:
- Do your research first. Know what the logos, tags, trims and stitching look like on the items you plan to buy.
- Buy from sellers who are rated highly by other buyers.
- Look for a guarantee of authenticity. Most reputable sellers will back this up with a return policy.
- Avoid sellers from the Philippines, Hong Kong and other countries where counterfeiting is rampant.
- Look for products that are new with tags (NWT).
- Pay with a credit card or payment service.
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11.30.06
Posted in Auctions, Housekeeping, Shopping Tips at 6:29 pm by Deb Savvy
Brenda’s been having a blast these days, placing a few cast-off ‘objets’ for auction on the internet. One item (a collectible soap dispenser that had been in a box in the basement for years) actually sold for more than twice what she had been hoping to get – and three times her reserve price. She says it’s easy and fun.
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