Wii U eBay resale / sellout / availability discussion

What's the best way to avoid charge backs on eBay?

I have read that people can randomly file a charge back on any purchase they make for up to a year.

I got some extra Wii U swag that I want to put on eBay (along with some other gaming items) but I am downright terrified that some scammer is going to claim the boxes I sent him were empty. I've read enough horror stories that I believe it's at least a little bit possible.

hope the buyer isn't a piece of shit. Ebay doesn't care about sellers, so any buyer can rip you off if they want to. You can only do so much with delivery confirmation signatures and postal insurance.
 
When is the last time flipping consumer electronics was highly profitable? The Wii?

iPhone, iPad, Wii U, none of these have really been in short supply.
 
hope the buyer isn't a piece of shit. Ebay doesn't care about sellers, so any buyer can rip you off if they want to. You can only do so much with delivery confirmation signatures and postal insurance.

It especially easy to remedy overpaying for a console. All they have to do is say that it is defective and it is coming back with a full refund including the initial shipping that the buyer paid. Now the seller has an opened unit and is out whatever they paid to ship it out. There is no way to defense that move. Like you mentioned, it comes down to hope.
 
It especially easy to remedy overpaying for a console. All they have to do is say that it is defective and it is coming back with a full refund including the initial shipping that the buyer paid. Now the seller has an opened unit and is out whatever they paid to ship it out. There is no way to defense that move. Like you mentioned, it comes down to hope.

1 Offer them a refund on receipt of "defective" console
2 Verify that console is no long defective
3 Offer a partial refund due to the item no longer being in "new" condition
4 Sell opened console on eBay
5 ??
6 Profit!
 
If you can find a WiiU anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it.

5 Targets around me(Northern CA) have Wii U's in stock. Surprising as I thought these would be sold out and impossible to find through Christmas.

Either Nintendo produced mass stock or no one cares about the Wii U :(
 
When is the last time flipping consumer electronics was highly profitable? The Wii?

iPhone, iPad, Wii U, none of these have really been in short supply.

Wii and PS3, yeah... I remember freezing my ass off camping out for the PS3. Managed to flip it for $1300 though, so it was worth it.
 
1 Offer them a refund on receipt of "defective" console
2 Verify that console is no long defective
3 Offer a partial refund due to the item no longer being in "new" condition
4 Sell opened console on eBay
5 ??
6 Profit!

Those were the days. Unfortunately, the first three choices have been eliminated for the most part. Ebay's second rate Amazon emulation expects the transaction assurance of an Amazon purchase, minus the Amazon caliber seller support. Confirmed tracking kicks that full refund right in, if not sooner. And no matter what preemptive measures you take such as 15% restocking fee and the like in the description, it is tough to enforce. Ebay will sometimes take the hit to keep both parties happy, though that is rare and usually low ticket. There are always exceptions, some much more rare.
 
My local area is seemingly sold out, but several stores within a 2-3 hour drive have units, and they're barely going above retail on craigslist. One of the newer entries is a deluxe unit for $400...barely worth it at that point.
 
5 Targets around me(Northern CA) have Wii U's in stock. Surprising as I thought these would be sold out and impossible to find through Christmas.

Either Nintendo produced mass stock or no one cares about the Wii U :(

Thought a few people said that the online search was broken(Retail Musings thread)? They walked into the same stores and they either had limited/none stock?
 
When is the last time flipping consumer electronics was highly profitable? The Wii?

iPhone, iPad, Wii U, none of these have really been in short supply.
Where I live it was profitable for a few days to sell Iphone 5s (with 100% profit)
 
5 Targets around me(Northern CA) have Wii U's in stock. Surprising as I thought these would be sold out and impossible to find through Christmas.

Either Nintendo produced mass stock or no one cares about the Wii U :(

I'm sure black friday will clear the consoles out, then it will be interesting to see how quickly stores are stocked through christmas. I think the people flipping are doing it too early.
 
Auctions seem to be converging around $450 for the deluxe model.

Big thing to keep in mind is that it's likely there are certain parts of the country where they're impossible to find and others where it's easy. Prices will stay high until most of the country has stock. The next shipment will tell us a lot.
 
Idiots buy the systems for the purpose of profit, because of a "shortage" that Nintendo fronts with, because the idiots buy it the sell more, because people THINK they are rare they buy them at the store when they see them, even if they aren't 100% on buying it..
 
Idiots buy the systems for the purpose of profit, because of a "shortage" that Nintendo fronts with, because the idiots buy it the sell more, because people THINK they are rare they buy them at the store when they see them, even if they aren't 100% on buying it..

It's as simple as having a credit card and some brains. I buy consoles list them on eBay and if they sell I make a profit. It's literally zero risk. As for desire ability Nintendo isn't even advertising yet. Most people do not know the wii u exists. Every mom/dad that's seen my wiiu wanted one for their kids. It's cheaper and better than an iPad for kids around the house.


Auctions seem to be converging around $450 for the deluxe model.

Big thing to keep in mind is that it's likely there are certain parts of the country where they're impossible to find and others where it's easy. Prices will stay high until most of the country has stock. The next shipment will tell us a lot.
I had two deluxes sell for 490 and 505 shipped today at noon. The only bummer is I had two whites with non paying bidders so far. However I have two families that are friends that want one so if the buyers don't pay I will just let the families have them for what I paid.
 
Auctions seem to be converging around $450 for the deluxe model.

Big thing to keep in mind is that it's likely there are certain parts of the country where they're impossible to find and others where it's easy. Prices will stay high until most of the country has stock. The next shipment will tell us a lot.

If that's all they're getting then that's pretty sad. An auction that finishes at $450 will have $40 in eBay fees and $15 in Paypal fees. Then you include the sales tax it cost the original buyer and shipping and you're looking at a very little, if any profit.

Looks like the real winners are eBay and Paypal.
 
I'm sure black friday will clear the consoles out, then it will be interesting to see how quickly stores are stocked through christmas. I think the people flipping are doing it too early.

Yeah, I really don't think it's worth flipping for $100 profit. I'd wait.
 
$450 is about where it's stabilized on Amazon too (note that Amazon US isn't even selling the console, this is just marketplace people)

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B009AGXH64/?tag=neogaf0e-20

If black friday pushed them up higher I might consider selling... but at this point it doesn't look like it'd be enough to make it worth it.

It's only worth it in volume. If the two whites get paid I will clear 400 in profit if not around 250. Still pretty good for like 2 hours of work.
 
If that's all they're getting then that's pretty sad. An auction that finishes at $450 will have $40 in eBay fees and $15 in Paypal fees. Then you include the sales tax it cost the original buyer and shipping and you're looking at a very little, if any profit.

Looks like the real winners are eBay and Paypal.

Absolutely. They're god damn bandits considering they pass off all the chargeback risk to the seller. It's why I only use ebay once or twice a year now. One of the shining stars of the internet has been a corpse for many years now. Shame it's such a POS now.
 
Is anyone else having a problem with after hitting search on ebay it just loads a blank page? No matter what I type in it loads just a blank white page is the url is like touch.ebay.com/(random stuff here). Is this happening to anyone else? I tried on 2 computers and it's not working for some reason.

It's only worth it in volume. If the two whites get paid I will clear 400 in profit if not around 250. Still pretty good for like 2 hours of work.

Are you selling these in person then I'm assuming? Because whites are going for only about $100 over MSRP and between tax, shipping costs, and then both the ebay and paypal fees I'd be charged I would actually lose money if I wanted to sell a wii U. I think the only way you could probably even make a profit right now is craigslist or maybe amazon since I don't know what they charge for fees.
 
I saw 2 at a local Fred Meyer (Kroger) but when I went hunting for that $175 3DS deal for a Christmas present at Target it was sold out of the Wii U. But they had a buy 1, get 50% off deal on all Wii U software, thought that was pretty crazy for launch titles. Great deal.

Also had a chance to mess with the controller although no games, just video =(. I will say, the screen is a lot sharper than I thought and was really light. I'm glad they were sold out since I'm a gadget hound and probably would have picked it up then not played it until Pikmin.

Thought this was funny looking at CL
WiiU.jpg
 
Is anyone else having a problem with after hitting search on ebay it just loads a blank page? No matter what I type in it loads just a blank white page is the url is like touch.ebay.com/(random stuff here). Is this happening to anyone else? I tried on 2 computers and it's not working for some reason.



Are you selling these in person then I'm assuming? Because whites are going for only about $100 over MSRP and between tax, shipping costs, and then both the ebay and paypal fees I'd be charged I would actually lose money if I wanted to sell a wii U. I think the only way you could probably even make a profit right now is craigslist or maybe amazon since I don't know what they charge for fees.
100 profit eBay and PayPal fees are 30 shipping is 20 and I charge for shipping so that leaves around 70 in profit each. Not worth it for just 1 but worth it in volume.
 
I love watching flippers eat shit.

Because of the holidays stores are giving extending time to return stuff for refunds. EB games where I bought my extra WiiU gives until January 15th to return it. Either I sell it for a profit or return it for a full refund. There is no "eating shit" for flipping.
 
price keeps dropping, $450 units aren't selling. Selling closer to $400 now.

edit-look at it again and it's back up around $450. not sure what happened to those couple of auctions was looking at before, why they went so cheap.
 
Prices have come down to $390-$420 range. Not much profit for a seller who needs to pay

~$20 taxes from buying it
~$20 to ship it
~$20 in ebay paypal fees
 
Why are we even having this discussion pre-black Friday? 80% of the people out there have barely begun, or not begun shopping at all.

My entire extended family all just found out about the Wii U with the release of the Black Friday ads and 3 of my aunts and 4 cousins are all hitting the town with elbow pads and beat-down sticks this weekend to try and get the system.


The people that are willing to pay 800 a piece have just found out the system exists

They will realize that they can't find one easily (in all likely hood this will remain the case through Christmas)

They will turn to online resources and craigslist as Christmas draws closer and will pay a hefty premium
 
I saw 2 at a local Fred Meyer (Kroger) but when I went hunting for that $175 3DS deal for a Christmas present at Target it was sold out of the Wii U. But they had a buy 1, get 50% off deal on all Wii U software, thought that was pretty crazy for launch titles. Great deal.

Also had a chance to mess with the controller although no games, just video =(. I will say, the screen is a lot sharper than I thought and was really light. I'm glad they were sold out since I'm a gadget hound and probably would have picked it up then not played it until Pikmin.

Thought this was funny looking at CL
WiiU.jpg

Yeah it seems there are plenty to be had here in Portland.
 
Because of the holidays stores are giving extending time to return stuff for refunds. EB games where I bought my extra WiiU gives until January 15th to return it. Either I sell it for a profit or return it for a full refund. There is no "eating shit" for flipping.

You consider your time worthless? What about the gas in your tank? Your public transportation fare?

I'd feel like I "ate shit" if I wasted even 3 hours of my life waiting in line, buying the Wii U, trying to scalp it online, having to drive it back, wait in line to return, etc.

Why are we even having this discussion pre-black Friday? 80% of the people out there have barely begun, or not begun shopping at all.

My entire extended family all just found out about the Wii U with the release of the Black Friday ads and 3 of my aunts and 4 cousins are all hitting the town with elbow pads and beat-down sticks this weekend to try and get the system.


The people that are willing to pay 800 a piece have just found out the system exists

They will realize that they can't find one easily (in all likely hood this will remain the case through Christmas)

They will turn to online resources and craigslist as Christmas draws closer and will pay a hefty premium

How many Wii Us did you buy to flip? LOL
 
I think we will certainly see a spike in grey market prices as Christmas fast approaches.

Plus I think something Patcher said 'The Bonus Round' makes sense:

Nintendo has purposely kept from hyping the machine to keep from having shortages like they did with the Wii initially.

Once Nintendo has their manufacturing in order, we shall start to see the war drums of hype begin.
 
You consider your time worthless? What about the gas in your tank? Your public transportation fare?

I'd feel like I "ate shit" if I wasted even 3 hours of my life waiting in line, buying the Wii U, trying to scalp it online, having to drive it back, wait in line to return, etc.



How many Wii Us did you buy to flip? LOL

Zero, it just bothers me that people are trying to say for a fact that the price will not go up when we havent even entered the holiday shopping season yet (here in the states at least).

Whole thread is pointless until this upcoming Friday. Betta get yo's now!!! (got mine with Scribblenauts, not opened yet cause i'm worried its not worth 60 bucks...)

Josh got his too.
 
Prices have come down to $390-$420 range. Not much profit for a seller who needs to pay

Not only that, but plenty of auctions are ending without finding any buyers, or only very few bidders. It doesn't seem like prices are going to rise from this point out - why buy from some shady eBay seller when the store next door has stock?

Nintendo has purposely kept from hyping the machine to keep from having shortages like they did with the Wii initially.

Once Nintendo has their manufacturing in order, we shall start to see the war drums of hype begin.

Nintendo is manufacturing less units due to the factory fire/protest - and still the console seems to be readily available in the US as well as Europe (many sites still allow pre-orders, prices have gotten very low: EUR 270/315 including taxes at some retailers).

Nintendo's corporate expectations don't necessarily translate into real demand.
 
I went to Best Buy and the Nintendo World Store. Both had Wii Us. And NYC is dense as hell. Granted these were only Basic White Units.
 
Nintendo is manufacturing less units due to the factory fire/protest - and still the console seems to be readily available in the US as well as Europe (many sites still allow pre-orders, prices have gotten very low: EUR 270/315 including taxes at some retailers).

Nintendo's corporate expectations don't necessarily translate into real demand.

I wasn't aware of the fire and protest. That certainly will impact sales due to even more limited quantities. But I think you are missing the point.

Lack of hype deliberately is what in part is due to the easier ability to find a console right this minute.

Least that is what some analysts, like Patcher, are claiming.

Either it's that or Nintendo just botched this launch horribly. (Possible, but not very probable, knowing the Big N's history and that gaming is their only bread and butter.)
 
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