jjseth said: @Bodhesatva
Good job here in this thread, and keep up the good work. It will be interesting to see how the numbers start to shake out later this year when more popular (Long awaited) titles start to roll out for the Xbox360 and the PS3. I'm sure that the Wii demand will continue for quite a while, but it will be good to see how the 360 and ps3 start to pick up. Especially when Halo 3, Lair, GTA4, etc come out and to see how much those numbers begin to get closer to each other.
I'm a current owner of a xbox360, xbox, ps2 right now, and I just can't convince myself that I need a Wii, but I can't wait for some games to come out so I can justify getting the PS3. |
Yep, I'll be as forthright as I can. There is another Toys R Us employee in almost the same boat as you, by the way, in terms of consoles owned and planned future purchases. Okay, on to the news.
I got back from my shift today a while ago. The big news is: I did pick up my Wii today! I'm very happy so far. My girlfriend loves it, and we're actually playing games together, which is an enormous shift. We got 25 consoles in total -- much less than I had anticipated -- and to combine with that, we got many more people waiting in line this time around. We had to turn many people away at the door, and we were sold out 15 minutes after we opened (would have sold out instantly, just need time to check peopel out at the register). I had mentioned before that the Wii sales seemed to be waning slightly -- slowly approaching the point where we didn't sell out on day 1, and from there perhaps heading towards equilibrium -- but that trend seems to have reversed itself again, at least at my store. We're recieving as many questions about the Wii in the last couple of weeks as we were receiving back in January ("Do you have a Wii? Any chance of getting a Wii? Hey, how can I get a Wii?") and the sell out time is just as fast as ever.
The PSP has decidedly picked up sales in our store since the price cut. It took me this long a time to confirm that I wasn't just making it up, but now I'm sure. We sold two more today, and I'd say we now sell 5-6 a week. We were selling 3-4 a week, so that's a mighty big pickup, 25-50 percent.
We marked Call of Duty 3 Wii edition down to 19.99, and we sold out of them very quickly when we sold our Wiis this morning. If you know a local Toys R Us and wanted this game on the cheap, now is your chance. Assuming they didn't sell out like we did.
We're still sold out of Forza 2. Waiting on another shipment there, and have no idea how long it will be: perhaps tomorrow, but I'd say 1-2 weeks, based on personal experience.
Just like Circuit City, we have extended warranties (which we call Buyer Protection Plans). Ours are 24.99 for a year long extension on the Wii, and 39.99 for the 360 and PS3. This covers accidental damage, not just manufacturer fault. I'd be curious to know what the Circuit City prices are! We sell warranties on about half of Wiis and 2/3 the 360s. And yes, we hammer the customer with stories about 360 defects -- not because we hate the system, but because we are trying to sell those warranties in any way possible. We gamely try on the Wii -- I focus on the sensitive nature of the Sensor Bar -- but there aren't as many direct or anecdotal stories to draw from without simply lying.