Hacking What's up with skyrocketing NDSL price?

[deathfisaro]

Well this happened a week ago. I wanted to get my girlfriend pink NDSL, so I called nearby EBgames, out of stock.
I started calling all EBgames in nearby cities (3 cities), all out of stock. So I called all Sears, Future Shop, Circuit City, and even Dell. ALL out of stock in all 3 cities.

So I started searching online stores, ebay, winsunx, and their prices are generally like US$179. There were a few that end up $160~170 with shipping. I was like no way local stored sell them for CAD$ 149, I'd wait until some of them get restocked.

Fortunately I was able to track down the last pink NDSL in stock in Rogers (yeah, the mobile phone company Rogers) that was like 10 minutes away. And guess what? I got it for roughly US$109 (CAD$129.99).

I also bought my onyx NDSL for the same price. And because I saved so much on console, I'm also getting her funky stylus, pink pouch, screen protector and clear case which I ordered from dealextreme.com and gamersection.ca.

Anyway, with whoever got stock selling for US$179+, I'm pretty sure I could have bought a bunch at Rogers and resell them at like US$160 (which is like $50 profit per console) with people willing to buy them.

I have some friends in Asia, it appears that they are buying it for like US$170~180 ish. Or was I supposed to name my topic "What's up with super cheap NDSLs in North America?"

 

[Fieryshadowz]

*shrugs* overproduction in not-"named" stores... its really hard to find a NDSL now... the only one i saw in SF was this pink one in this Stacker game.. the stores i go to dont have one... i see PS3's Wii and such everywhere.. but NDSL is so rare for some reason o.o

 

[joe_gamer]

Try Costco. The DS been sold out for the past few months, but it's starting to come back into stock....

 

[nintendofreak]

I have some friends in Asia, it appears that they are buying it for like US$170~180 ish. Or was I supposed to name my topic "What's up with super cheap NDSLs in North America?"

No, you should have named this topic "who wants to buy a DS for $150 USD"

 

[superkyre]

I have some friends in Asia, it appears that they are buying it for like US$170~180 ish.

Here in the Philippines we have lots of NDSL's in stock in practically every store that sells videogame stuff, even department stores and appliance chains. Prices range from PHP7000 (US$120) to PHP10,000 (US$200), depending on where it was shipped from. So yeah, we're kinda paying a little more because of those shipping charges, not to mention Value-Added Tax, which is an additional 12%

. Black market prices for the NDSL here though are about PHP5,000 (US$100), and are tax-free to boot, you just gotta know where to look

 

[TLSpartan]

theres heaps here in australia. my friend bought one a couple weeks ago

 

[OSW]

theres heaps here in australia. my friend bought one a couple weeks ago

not exactly heaps
over christmas i tried to buy a black one and only the third major department store i went to had one,
but alas, now theres definitely enough to go around!

 

[fli_guy84]

There are noticeable shortages across the US and Japan since Christmas.

 

[andrew505]

i bought mine used so i never really thought of the issue. for some reason i thought it was somthing you could just get anywhere.. tried getting one for my lil bro recently, went to 3 or 4 best buys/futureshops , gone like the wind.

 

[mavis]

There are noticeable shortages across the US and Japan since Christmas.

Try 'since last March' for Japan. Seriously, I've yet to see any white NDSLs in stock ANYWHERE in Tokyo since launch day (March 18, 2006) ... Of course, I haven't exactly been looking everywhere (because I got one on launch day) but I've kind of kept an eye out for a few friends. So far, nothing.

 

[deathfisaro]

All the stores I've called have no idea when they'll get restocked. Anybody know how many units are sold so far? I noticed some people with XBOX vs Wii vs PS3 units sold sig. I wonder if there's PSP vs NDSL sig (I own both =P)

 

[six-five-two]

Just get a used DS Lite. I got one used from Craigslist, the guy only had it for 3 months, even included the original box and stuff all for only $95 CAD. Best deal ever..

 

[joe_gamer]

available at:

www.frys.com
www.walmart.com
www.costco.com
www.toysrus.com
www.buy.com
www.amazon.com


Don't know if they ship to Canada....might want to check......

 

[gatorade]

will they stop manufacturing the ds anytime soon? I'm planning on getting on in the near future and was hoping on price drops...

 

[juggernaut911]

dont think they'll stop (its setting records!

) and Nintendo is doing fine w/o price drops!

 

[gatorade]

looks like I might as well purchase a used one then if there's no price drops

 

[gummy]

As hot as this item is, I seriously doubt the price is going to drop soon. You might get a free gift (E.G. free case). I just bought one for my bf's b-day from buy.com yesterday. It's 129.99 + 6 dollars something shipping. I signed up for the google check out and got 10 dollars off. I am now waiting for my product to come. I think buying online is not bad cause I don't have to pay tax.

 

[Hooya]

There are loads of them in my town. Meijer had about two dozen in all colors. Wal*Mart always has a few, as does Target....

If anyone wants me to buy one for them just pay me the shipping costs (and of course the price of the unit). I won't ask for any extra fees. I would require the money up front though as money is kinda tight.

 

[deathfisaro]

It appears the States have ample loads while Canada suffers =P
I also picked up the last Mario Kart DS my local EBgames had in stock, I'm lucky enough to get the last ones

 

[eseyo1]

Yeah, I'm from the California bay area and they are fully stocked everywhere for the usual 129.99.