As I woke up this morning to the check out NowInStock.net’s status, I noticed at 2:58 A.M. this morning Wii alerts were shot off to everyone that Amazon had the Wii in stock. A little surprised and thinking that this might have been an error, I verified my cached snapshot (I store a snapshot every time I see stock available), and sure enough they had stock available!

The really odd thing about this was the fact it was 3:00 AM when stock was available. Amazon never releases Wii’s at this time of day. Their typical release time is around 12:00 PM or 1:00 PM. I assume this is to give the west coast equal opportunity at acquiring one. But 3:00 AM!

So I beg to question, why this was done? Was this left over stock from the day before?

Yesterday, on Thanksgiving, they began their 6 Days – Amazon Customer Vote deals. Were these the leftovers? It happened at 3:00 AM EST, which is 12:00 AM PST and when the Customer Vote deals would have expired. So all the unclaimed $79 Wii’s from Thanksgiving, might have been thrown back into the pot and released at standard cost.

The other option is that Amazon wanted to beat the majority of other stores that opened up early for Black Friday. JCPenny opened up at 4:00 AM! As a result, those early risers getting ready to crash the doors on Black Friday got a really early Black Friday surprise of Wii’s In Stock! (Thank you Amazon, now I can go back to bed.)

I like to think of it as a little of both. Some may think it was coincidence that Amazon ran their $79 Wii, $319 PS3, or $219 Xbox 360 Customer Vote deal on Thanksgiving, but I feel it was strategic and a good strategy at that. You knew the Wii would win, which it did. You also know that not all of those randomly selected to receive a Wii would claim it. It was Thanksgiving! All unclaimed Wii’s get released as soon as the deal expires which happens to be 3:00 AM EST or 12:00 AM PST on Black Friday.

I maybe stepping out on the limb on this one, as it does sound to be a little too good to be true, but it happened just like that. I guess the real question is how many Wii’s were available this morning and how many went unclaimed yesterday? Something we will never know.

Yes, Sears did have Wii’s in stock online. I have subscribers who thanked me already for providing them with the opportunity to purchase them. Remember, there are thousands of people just like you looking for the Wii; you have to be quick.

Here is a little more detail on the situation, and I hope everyone reads the following so they understand exactly what happens with Sears and NowInStock.net.

What you have just been subjected to, as well as NowInStock.net, is the infamous workings of the Sears’ website. Their inventory system is not directly tied to their web site. So, what happens is the site says they are in stock, when in reality they are not. I have dealt with this over the past year now. I can only read and alert people on what my spiders see, and that is exactly what my site did.

Currently, the only solution for NowInStock.net is to manually pull down Sears ASAP after stock has been sold out. The issue with this process is that I have to manually check the link frequently (add a Wii to my cart and try to check out) until I see it is sold out, at which time, I go into my system and deactivate the Sears tracking. So, if this occurs when I not at my computer, then indications continue to show stock as available until I get the opportunity to flip the switch.

Please note: I do work a day job and when at work that job takes precedence over this site.

Again, sorry for your inconvenience with Sears errors. If you feel cheated, depressed or just downright mad at NowInStock.net or Sears; please unsubscribe from the Sears alerts. By doing so, you will not have to deal with this in the future. I say this because it will happen again. Seriously, there is no need to get stressed out about these errors.

Remember, there will be plenty of alerts before Christmas. If you can hang in there and be quick with alerts, you WILL get a Wii!
Justin

All, sorry about the errors this morning on Sears price. I made a few adjustments last night and now have fixed the issue. While the stock status of Sears will continue to be an issue because of their site displaying incorrect inventory status, the pricing is fixed. I am sure quite a few of you were a little shocked by the price sent in the email. I trap the stock status as well as the prices and sometimes when sites make adjustments the price has the potential to get messed up. We should be good from here on out.

As Best Buy preps for the holidays, so does NowInStock.net. I just added the 3 bundles they have on the site. These new bundles are not overly priced like we saw last year from a lot of retailers. Here is what the following bundles include:

• Starter Bundle – Console, Wii Play w/Remote, Mario Party 8, Extra Nunchuk, and My Mii Manager
• Nintendo Fan Bundle – Console, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Extra Remote Controller
• Sports Bundle – Console, Madden NFL 08, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08, Extra Remote Controller

To be notified as soon as they come in stock, visit the Wii Tracker page and subscribe to the email alerts. The links will lead you to the Games & Toys page, from there just go to the top right Games & Toys link and select Wii from the drop-down menu.

This year, Microsoft has pulled some stops and is now releasing bundles for the holiday season. These new bundles will consist of two full, free games including Forza 2 and Marvel Ultimate Alliance. This should aid in swaying some customers in their direction, however with the Wii still doing some pretty good domination this entire year, it will still be an interesting season to see who comes out on top. The premium console will be priced at $350 and the Elite system will be $450.

The crimson/black, two-tone DS Lite that was previously available on through the Brain Age 2 Bundle, is now available for purchase unbundled. The units are already available on Amazon for the standard $129. To me this unit looks really slick compared to all of the other colors. It looks more professional and non-toy like.

Santa, if you want a Wii for Christmas, I suggest you sign up for Wii alerts right now. There is no way Santa Claus will be able to deliver Wii orders unless you get in line early!
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Nearly 10 months after the initial release of the Nintendo Wii, Best Buy has finally released the Wii on their site for the first time. They are the last of the major retailers to do so. They must still feel that driving customers to the store is priority number one. Come this holiday season, I wonder if they will continue to offer the Wii online?

Today, for 49 minutes straight, beginning at 1:00 PM EST the Wii was in stock at Amazon. This is by far the largest time frame that the Wii has been in stock at Amazon since the release of this unit back in November of 2006. Simply amazing. Those of you that might have missed this opportunity, make sure that you sign up for Wii In Stock email alerts to be notified of the next opportunity.

For those of you that have not been in tune with the Wii, it is still one of the hottest items on the market. Demand is still so high that market analysts have extended their estimates to mid-2008 before the Wii market will be saturated. This means this holiday season will end up being good for Nintendo, but maybe not that good. Nintendo has stated that production will continue to be low as a result of third-party parts still be delayed. If you had any thoughts of getting a Wii for the kiddies this holiday season, better start looking now. What better place than signing up for our Wii in Stock Alerts! We have helped thousands since last November and are planning on continuing our tradition this holiday season.

Wow, after 20 long minutes, the Wii is still in stock at Amazon. We may set a new record here on the length from first being in stock to sold out!