OK, so I entered day three of my seemingly bottomless Wii lust with the usual mixture of hope and expectation of disappointment. 9:30, my buddy Richie and I head out to Circuit City to catch the opening, just to see if they got any in. Nope. None at CompUSA either. Just for yuks we decide to run up to Toys 'R Us and give them a swing.
So, we get there and wander around the videogame area, quickly ascertaining that there were no Wiis to be had. Then , as we were leaving, we spot the FedEx guy making a delivery. So we wander over and take a peek at his car to' stuff, and he casually says "So, what're you guys looking for?"
"Wii. Got any?" I reply.
"Nope, not here," he says, "but I just delivered 20 boxes of them to the Best Buy across the way 10 minutes ago."
WHAT! WHOA!!!! So, big thanks to the FedEx and we hightail it over to the Best Buy. Now, word is out that Best Buy is sitting on their Wiis until Sunday (not putting them out for Black Friday, even), but we figured that if they had plenty, then we might have a shot at grabbing one.
So, we get to the videogame section and I spot a friendly looking younger saleswoman who I figure I can sweet talk a bit. So we get talking and I ask about whether they've got any Wiis. she says nope, we will have them Sunday, though. And I say, "whow, hold on -- the FedEx guy just told me he delivered 20 boxes of them here not even 10 minutes ago."
So she looks at me kind of casually, smiles, and says, "Well, he doesn't know his systems. He delivered 20 boxes of ... well, something else."
I say,"What, PS3s?" She nods, and I say "And are you guys actually selling them?" And she says they're not putting them out on the floor, but if customers ask they are selling them, so ... would I like one?
Now, I have no interest in a PS3. I think they're an interesting hardware platform, but at $600 for the good one I think they're insanely overpriced, especially when that same $600 could buy a pretty damn nice HTPC instead. But my mercenary gears were turning, and I started considering just how much cash I could get by buying one and then reselling it on Craig's List or Ebay. I could easily get a grand profit on this damn thing.
And then I saw this woman with her kid, who was picking up one of the PS3s, and she was saying how she couldn't believe they actually got one and how they totally made her son's Xmas. And the kid's eyes were like little fires, he was so excited. And I realized that, well, that whole reselling thing is a pretty damn crappy way to go about this thing. Yeah, no one's forcing anyone to pay these insane markups on these stupid things, but it's like selling seriously marked up or cut down dope to junkies. You know they'll pay whatever you want to get their fix. And honestly I just think that's just a shitty way to treat people, even if no one's putting a gun to their heads.
It's the same reason I've never resold a concert ticket for anything more than what I paid for it, aside from saying "Hey, buy me a beer when we get inside and we're even." I love music, they love music, so isn't it messed up to rip off someone who likes the same stuff you do, just because you can? And while I don't really care about the PS3 on any level other than technical interest I enjoy games and presumably the people who are buying these (insanely overpriced) things enjoy them as well. So I think it's would just be shitty to gouge someone, even if they're falling over themselves to be gouged.
So, I passed. I figure maybe there's some PS3 fanatic going from store to store, day after day, hoping that maybe they're going to get lucky, and they'll wander into Best Buy and ask, with no real expectation of getting one, whether they got any PS3s today and and then their entire day will be made because the system they figured there was no chance whatsoever of being there is, in fact, about to be placed in their hands. And at the retail price, no less.
Now, if there's any such thing as instant karma then I fully expect a Wii to fall into my hands within a day or two. But even so, if one does not I know I did the right thing. But it stings, dammit!!!
Mood: Frustrated!!!
Now Playing: The Beatles, "Love"
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