The first time Adam Wallis wanted a Wii, he sat outside for 12 hours on a bitterly cold Sunday in November while he waited for a Target in Glen Burnie to open its doors.
The finger- and feet-numbing experience was worth it. The 23-year-old Abingdon resident and his two brothers each snagged a Wii, which had just been released, at $250 apiece - only to turn around and sell the extremely coveted Nintendo video-game machine on eBay for a tidy $600 profit.
Little did he know that eight months later, he and his wife, Stephanie, would be itching to own their own Wii and finding it difficult to get their hands on the hot, hot, hot console. Nintendo execs announced recently that the Wii has effectively been sold out for 33 consecutive weeks since its launch. Since November, Nintendo has sold more than 9 million Wii consoles, which are cheaper than Playstation and Xbox, appeal to a wide range of age groups and have a greater emphasis on interactive play.
"Now I feel kind of bad about selling them because I'm looking to buy one for my wife," said Wallis, a consultant for an engineering firm. "They're really hard to find, and they go so fast.
"I wonder if people are now doing what I did, just trying to make a profit."
That's a mighty good guess.
On Craigslist, Marc in Lansdowne wanted $650 for a used Wii and a box-load of games. A UMBC seller wanted $460 for a brand new system, four controllers and 15 games. Some dude in College Park is selling his slightly used one for $500 because the "GF [girlfriend]doesn't favor it."
In his second go at buying a Wii, Wallis made an executive decision not to budge much beyond the $250 retail price. He also decided to shop smart this time, instead of camping out overnight.
"I never considered myself that big of a nerd," Wallis said. "We had blankets and some food snacks, but we were so under-prepared. It was really cold."
This time around, Wallis decided to do most of his shopping and waiting online.
He had a triple-pronged game plan.
First, he sat down at the beginning of July to create a spreadsheet of all the Targets and Wal-Marts located in the Baltimore metro region. He then started calling each store to inquire about their Wii shipments.
"I chose Targets and Wal-Marts because I felt like they were getting the biggest supplies of them," Wallis said. "That's not based on any facts. It's just a gut feeling."
Most said they weren't sure when they'd receive another batch. Some said to check back on the weekend. Others assured him they weren't getting Wiis anytime soon.
In his second line of attack, Wallis perused Craigslist for Wii sellers and placed his own Wii want ad. His optimistic appeal was persuasive: "OK, so I know that people have been buying these things like crazy to sell on eBay and CL, but I hope that someone will be compelled to help a stranger out. My wife really wants one of these and I would love to give her one ... If you feel motivated to sell me a Wii at cost, I would really appreciate it! I will drive anywhere within an hour or so of baltimore and will BRING CASH! Thank you so much for your consideration!"
Not pinning his hopes on a game of chance or the goodwill of strangers, Wallis then started checking RSS feeds that monitor Web sites and databases that include merchants who sell Wiis.
Such free online trackers such as xpbargains.com, refresh thing.com and BensBargains.net gave Wallis a list of real-time Wii availability at retailers such as Amazon.com, Sam's Club, Buy.com and Toys R Us. Registering for free e-mail alerts also allowed him to react quickly to new reports of Wiis for sale.
Sadly for him, all the online and brick-and-mortar stores listed were sold out of Wiis on most every day he checked, or the ever-vigilant Wallis missed snaring a console by just minutes.
One week down with no luck. But Wallis kept at it, spurred on by a family weekend filled with rousing rounds of WarioWare games on his cousin's $550 Wii.
"It made me realize I really wanted this game, but I didn't want to spend $550," Wallis said. "It was a lot of fun. The thing is, you don't have to be a great gamer to play it.
"My wife is better than me at a lot of the games," Wallis said. "She really likes that she beats me at tennis, baseball and golf. The Wii is good like that. It's attracting people who have never been into games before."
As week two of his quest began, Wallis decided to get more serious.
"I'm planning on waiting outside of a Target on Sunday if I don't find one soon," Wallis said. "I could buy one now if I were willing to pay more. But it's hard to justify paying extra when you know somewhere down the road, they're going to sell for their real price. It just takes patience."
The Wii gods must have heard the tiny hint of desperation in his voice, or maybe it was just his determination that won the day. Five minutes after he explained his three-pronged approach on July 10, a Wii tracker alerted him to new batch of Wiis for sale.
Quickly, Wallis placed an order on Costco.com and paid by credit card for a combo pack that included a Wii console, the Legend of Zelda game - which he didn't necessarily want - and an extra controller, for a grand total of $320.
Twenty minutes after his purchase, the Costco site was sold out of Wiis.
"I was lucky because I sit at a computer all day," Wallis said. "Since the game machine is so popular, they're still selling over their value. ... I feel like I was pretty fortunate to pick one up so soon."
Exactly one week later, Wallis' highly anticipated package arrived.
It didn't take long before the Wii was opened and his wife promptly began whipping him at tennis.
dan.thanh.dang@baltsun.com
Snagging a Wii
1. Before you do anything, do some research online and decide how much you'd be willing to pay above the $250 retail price for the system. There's a good chance you will pay more if you buy online.
2. Call stores such as Circuit City, Best Buy, Toys R Us, Target and Wal-Mart to inquire about their Wii stock. Ask when the next shipment will come in and how many the store expects to receive. Then show up early -- ready to buy -- the day the consoles hit the shelves.
3. Type "Wii tracker" into a computer search engine to find out where the game machine is in stock, sold out or coming soon. Sign up for an e-mail alert to get notices about up-to-the-minute Wii availability at online stores ranging from Amazon.com to SamsClub.com.
4. Check out sellers on craigslist.com. Whether you buy a new or used system, most sellers will ask for cash. Be sure to check out the system before you take it home.
5. Search for a system on eBay. Be prepared to pay above retail.