Its been over a month since I last posted an update, so I have decided to give everyone a little insight into what has been happening with NowInStock.net and the market.

Wii Inventories Stabilized

It appears that Wii inventories have finally stabilized with Wii’s being in stock for some time now at a variety of online stores including Amazon, Best Buy, Gamestop, and even Radio Shack. The Wii has finally run its high-demand course!

As a result of the steady inventory stream, I have DISCONTINUED all TXT alerts for the Wii via Twitter. I suggest that all users stop “following” NowInStock within Twitter as I will begin using it for future site updates and no longer for Wii stock alerts. To unsubscribe from NowInStock on Twitter, login to your Twitter account and stop “Following” NowInStock.

Google Group NowInStockWiis subscribers will continue to receive Wii alerts, however, I have removed the sign up form from the web site as there is no longer a need to use this group.

Wii Fit Inventories Stabilizing

Just like the Wii, Wii Fit inventories also continue to be steady, but a little less so than the Wii. WiiFit Twitter alerts will continue through the Twitter account NISWiiFit. Also, the WiiFit Google Group will continue to receive email updates, but like the Wii the sign up has been removed from NowInStock. You still sign up for FREE alerts, the alerts will just be distributed via my NowInStock.net alert system.

Video Game Deals Tracker

What has been taking the majority of my time over the past few months is my effort to formulate a price tracker of sorts. The initial focus of these price trackers is to monitor Amazon for price flucutations and determining when “new lowest prices ever” are reached, when “all-time lows” are hit, when “new preorders” are available for preordering, and to “view all preorders” for each specific gaming system. I am tracking a series of video game systems with this new type of price tracker including Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, DS, PSP, PS2, PC, and Mac games. Also, I have a main video games deals page where one can see the deals found each day. As you will see on the this page there is also an RSS feed for each specific system so that you can use your RSS readers and have the deals delivered autmatically daily.

I will be working on add more features as time progresses, however right now I think this service is providing very valuable information. On each specific game system page you will find a complete list of all games I could find for each respective system along with price indicators and price details by clicking the icons in the info column for each game.

Please send over your thoughts or wishes for this deal tracker. I would love to hear your input. Also, rest assured that price alerts and inventory alerts are going to be included once I flush out the system to handle these.

That is all for now. I will continue to update every month with new developments.

~ Justin

Sears is back to their old tricks again. I always hesitate in keeping the Wii Fit tracking on at Sears because their inventory system stinks. This is why all who are subscribed to the Wii Fit alerts for Sears or the Google Group received alerts this past weekend. This is also why I make note on the Wii Fit tracker under the Sears listing that states “Sears inventory system is NOT good. May result in error.” This is not a lie. Once again this weekend the tracker picked up stock being available at Sears for the Wii Fit, however in order to get one you will need to be really lucky.

My suggestion for the future Sears alerts is to sit on the pageand continue to keep trying by refreshing the web page. Hopefully after one of those refreshes you might get lucky and snag one.

If you think that my tracker doesn’t work, below is a cached snapshot of the page that I store every time stock is found to be in stock. Take a look for yourself to see what my tracker saw. Click on the image to enlarge.

The times of the Nintendo Wii being out of stock seem to have come to an end. As of right now, it appears the Wii clearly has enough stock available at a variety of online stores including Amazon and Best Buy retaining inventory well over multiple days.

With the down economy resulting in deflation and the rising US Dollar value, I think Nintendo, after 2 years, has decided to finally flood the market here in the United States to capitalize on this increased dollar value.

Wii Fit on the other hand is another story. The Wii Fit in stock time has gradually increased over the last few weeks for sure. Recently Amazon had Wii Fit units in stock for over 4 hours with Best Buy matching that number. This is the longest time frame NowInStock.net has seen since the release of the unit. Is the down economy putting a damper on such purchases or are more units just available. I am sure in the next few weeks will get a better understanding for sure as more and more people truly being their holiday shopping. Will Nintendo do the same with Wii Fit as they have done with the Wii? Will inventory begin to flood stores? I remember reading that Nintendo was going to start pulling inventories from Europe and start pushing more units to the US. In a matter of a few weeks, the Wii Fit might also be very easy to find.

Subscribers of NowInStock.net Wii Mobile Alerts via Twitter:
As a result of these high inventory levels, there is no longer a need to utilize Twitter for mobile alerts. I will continue to monitor inventory closely, and if need be, I will turn the mobile alerts back on. Inventory will have to diminish, but this is something I do not envision this holiday season.

I wanted to shed some light on the recent alerts that have gone out for Amazon for both the Wii and Wii Fit. These units have indeed been in stock, just not that many at a given time. These are most likely the result of canceled orders from Amazon or customer cancels. When the units are released back into the system, there are very few units in stock. As a result, my spiders pick up that stock, but by the time the majority of you get the alert and make it to the site, the stock is already gone and it looks like I am throwing errant alerts. This is not the case.

Every time I spider a page and see stock available, I store a cached snapshot of the page to ensure I am not throwing these errors. Below you can see the most recent cached snapshots for both the Wii and Wii Fit. Also, when it comes to the Wii, Target has been selling Wii’s through Amazon, but when they do, they only release about 5 or less at any given time. This was the cause a week or two back when Amazon Wii alerts were going nuts.

Wii cached page w/Target as seller from yesterday the 28th of August:

Wii Fit cached page from today the 29th of August:

Again, this is just part of the tracker business. Remember, you are using the trackers as a backup to normal Wii and Wii Fit hunting so limit your expectations, but at the same time remember we have been successful for thousands of people.

Hang in there, NowInStock.net will get you one!
Justin

I have just completed the addition of mobile TXT alerts for the Wii Fit Tracker via Twitter. To sign up for these alerts, please visit the Twitter Alerts page for all the instructions. For those of you already familiar Wii mobile alerts of the past, login to your Twitter account and follow “NISWiiFit” within Twitter to receive the alerts. Do not forget to “turn on” Device Enabled under your Following list.

For less internet savy people, Twitter is a web service/micro blogging platform I use to send out mobile alerts to users. By creating an account at Twitter, entering your mobile phone number, and following my Wii Fit account at Twitter (NISWiiFit) you will be able to receive TXT alerts whenever the Wii Fit becomes available. If this is your first time using Twitter, or need a refresher, please read ALL the instructions on the Twitter Alerts page.

PLEASE NOTE: Not all stores are set up to be alerted via mobile alerts. Only those marked within the tracker with a “()” after them will be sent via mobile alerts. This helps limit the number of messages you receive.

Yes, they did have Wii Fit in stock earlier this hour. It only last a few minutes, 7 or so to be near exact, but they did have stock. This was what I captured from my cache, click to enlarge the image: