Wii scalping is big business
By James Walker
The owner of game retail chain “Slackers” has been accused of ordering Nintendo Wii consoles for his stores, only to sell them on eBay for upwards of $400.
“In the past year, none of the 12 [Slackers locations] have sold any Wiis except for a one-time promotional deal, where we did force customers to buy a game with it,” an employee for the Columbia, Missouri-based retail chain told Ars Technica.
So how many consoles have the retail chain essentially stolen from Nintendo? According to one employee the number could be as high as 20 per shipment. When asked about the numbers, their source told them “Twenty probably wouldn’t be too far off. I believe that they just received a considerable amount recently, but I can’t confirm that.”
Kurt Jellinek, President of Slackers CDs and Games, has issued a formal response to the Ars Technica articles that attack the store. In the response Jellinek accuses writer Ben Kuchera of sensationalism, and goes on to say that the articles make “factually incorrect” statements.
“Since November of this year, the total number of Wii systems Slackers has been able to acquire from distributors this holiday season is 44 units – that’s it,” Jellinek states, going on to point out that the the majority of those consoles were already claimed. “With respect to nearly all of these systems, the units are held for a specific individual, e.g. loyal customers, family members, business associates, employees and friends – 35 of the 44 units Slackers was able to acquire this holiday season went to such individuals at the suggested price of $249.99 (our cost).”
So what of the other nine consoles? Well, one was donated to a silent auction with the proceeds going to a children’s hospital in St. Louis, and another was given away on a local radio show. So this leaves seven. Jellinek does admit that Slackers has sold five consoles via eBay, while two remain in stock. So why does Slackers sell their consoles on eBay? “Like all small retailers we are trying to improve our profile on the web. We have a website and an eBay store site. By offering even a small quantity of a hot system like the Wii on-line drives many hits to our sites.” He goes on to say that, even with the $150 mark-up, Slackers only makes a $75 profit after shipping costs. He finishes his statements by saying that selling the Wii at the RSRP ($249.99) makes Slackers no money. “Slackers does not make money on the sale of Wii systems.”
I have spent the better part of the day pondering this over in my head, and in the end there is simply no justification for taking a product you order from Nintendo, marking the price up, and selling it online. Other businesses are able to sell products online and not mark up their costs, and in fact most businesses make a small bit of profit from any sale they make. If selling the Wii at retail price made Slackers no money, as Jellinek claims, then I would think Slackers wouldn’t carry it in their stores. After all, in the end the purpose of every business is to make money.
Instead of trying to justify trying to rip off the consumer, Slackers would have been better off simply taking responsibility for it, and swearing to not do it again. I don’t live in Missouri or Illinois, so I’m not directly affected by this. But if this were the business practices of an outlet I frequented, they would have lost my business and I hope they’ve lost yours as well, readers.
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