Santa's Page

This is a follow-up to my earlier article Where can I get a Wii in the UK? where I revealed that despite the scarcity of the console in the UK and the high prices demanded by people trading in them in entrepeneur fashion, it was still possible to purchase from Amazon on the continent at the RRP. I reported availability in Germany, but it appears that Amazon France were also shipping to the UK.

Unfortunately, it appears that Amazon UK Marketplace sellers are being supported (or should I say "aided and abbetted"?) in demanding high prices by other European Amazon sites refusing to accept orders from the UK, not just Germany, but also France.

Shame that.... because it was working out the same price delivered from the EU compared to the RRP here.

I don't believe that there is much anyone can do about this, as it will typically be for the retailer to set their own terms of trade which we can accept or decline, but we cannot insist on a retailer agreeing a sale with us.

There has been much discussion on boards regarding Restrictions on Free Trade, but as this is just a Retailer deciding which markets they will service and not Governmental border issue, there does not appear to be any legal axe to grind.

However, it is curious that the Wiis have good availability on the continent yet no-one has the wherewithall to move stocks to the UK where the consoles are scarce.

And who loses out because of the incompetency?

• Kids - Santa Claus will refuse to buy at the premium prices, though I accept that there is still some market at these high prices.
• Nintendo - same reason as above - Santa Claus may wait until next Christmas or parents may buy next Birthday, however with Christmas approaching the sale may just go to Sony or Microsoft instead.
• Games Manufacturers (including Nintendo) - with a finite budget for Christmas, if Santa Claus has paid premium prices for their console, there will be precious little cash left to buy additional games & peripherals.

Is there anything that can be done in future to stop this abuse? Well, I have an idea that would possibly improve things overnight......What if it were to be made illegal to sell goods above a manufactures RRP (or a set percentage over it) for a given country? There are certain complications with this idea, but in principle if those practicalities could be worked out, it could stop the entrepeneurial purchases that are potentially creating a stock shortage at a decent price and give us back credibly priced goods.

You only have to look below here to see the latest prices being charged on Amazon Marketplace in the UK versus the standard £180 RRP.

Labels: Amazon, Nintendo Wii, wii, Wii availability

So hot, that at least one retailer has suspended its commissions to affiliates, presumably because it does not need affiliates to move the consoles. They go out of stock as soon as they come in.

So what can you do to secure a Wii if your kid has set his or her heart on it

Well, not surprisingly there are eBay sellers capitalising on the shortage..... you can check here to see current consoles on sale at a premium price.

Of course, in a capitalist society it is not surprising that someone is looking to make a fast buck via eBay, but are there other options?

Well, there are options to pick up a Wii at recommended pricing if you have a smattering of German language at your command, which I don't!! I actually suspect that a number of the current consoles for sale in the UK are German imports, because amazon.de has shown excellent availability of the consoles for some time whereas amazon.co.uk has no consoles available themselves at the RRP of £179.99.

Instead we have marketplace sellers selling at the minimum price shown below (deliberately left dynamic to see latest pricing). The best price appears to vary minute by minute (hit F5 for the latest best price).

Good luck to you if you can obtain a Wii from Germany.... to be honest, I would have been quite happy to go abroad and order from Germany (let's face it, Christmas is an expensive time of year) as it would appear that Wii's are selling for a £100 premium on eBay over Amazon.de prices with only the expense of a modest (around £4?) continental->UK adaptor plug required to have full UK usability, but I have yet to find a translation tool that will allow me navigate page to page with translated German to English pages and complete an order.

So..... the answer is that you CAN find reasonably priced Wii Consoles, but I fear that many of us simply do not have the nouse to order from a foreign language site and we will all be suckered in to paying inflated Amazon.co.uk (marketplace) and eBay prices.

So you managed to pick up a console........do you need to buy additional games straight off? In my opinion you do not, as the standard Sports game is actually a collection and contains a multitude of games already (e.g. Golf, Baseball, Bowling) with 10 pin Bowling being my absolute favourite.

To be honest, there are weeks of entertainment straight out of the box if you can only get hold of the console in the first instance.

If you do figure out how to order from Amazon Germany, please do let me know how, as I do not want to pay UK prices......though I fear many of us will end up paying the inflated price to avoid disappointing our kids.

Alternatively, you might just be lucky and get a right-priced UK Wii by looking at consoles on Kelkoo via the search box below, but do shout if you find availability!!

Labels: Amazon, eBay, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, wii