Why is the DS Lite Suddenly Sold Out Everwhere?

[AutoGyro]

Before the holidays, they were everywhere, and now, I can't find it anywhere, except on ebay, which I will not buy from. Is there something new? Did the price drop, or something that I'm not aware of? Or is it just in my area that people have gone DS crazy? I've been wanting one for the longest time, and now that I actually want to buy one, I can't find it anywhere!

[SpaceButler]

It is because DS is the shit and people are just now finding that out.

[TnAdct1]

This is most likely a result of the holiday sales period, where many people were buying the system as Christmas gifts for others (usually parents getting it for their kids). I can understand what you mean because the day after Xmas, I had a hard time trying to find those cards that you use to get points to purchase classic games for the Wii Virtual Console.

I'm sure that regular DS sales will go back to normal in the next few weeks (as stores receive their post-Christmas shipments).

[ADC]

I wonder how much Wii production cut into DS production. (I mean, it's not as if they had to make room at the factory to push out Cubes these past few Christmaseses.)

In the meantime, it looks like all Wii accessories from the Mother Brain are very tough to find at B&M. I just bought my Wii points over the Wii itself. It's secure, so why not?

[DeadlyMessiah]

Actually there is a very rational explanation for it. You see, in the store I work at, we get these people called customers who come in, and offer to give us a substance called cash for our DSes. As such, we run out of them.

[Jarred]

It's called 1.6 Million units sold in December (http://gonintendo.com/?p=11575). Wii what?

[Lego]

This has been standard pratice in Japan for about a year now. Also add to the fact that it was the holiday season, and you have yourself a sell out.

[Super Saiyajin Joshua]

I live in the SE Michigan area and a friend of mine was also looking to get a DS. He had surgury on Thur. and wanted something to do for his week of bed rest he was supposed to take. He gave his wife a wad of cash and told her to go find one and she couldn't find one anywhere. Needless to say he's going out of his mind.

[FigNewton]

I was well aware of the X-mas time sell-outs, but I'm surprised that trend is still persisting three weeks after christmas.

[GHardin]

I was well aware of the X-mas time sell-outs, but I'm surprised that trend is still persisting three weeks after christmas.

No doubt the result of disappointed people not getting their DSes in time for Christmas... :sd: It's always the handhelds that will sell, especially since the parents want to give their kid a present that will keep them occupied wherever they go (though unwanted side effects may include them bringing it to places they shouldn't... :sd: ).

[FigNewton]

No doubt the result of disappointed people not getting their DSes in time for Christmas... :sd: It's always the handhelds that will sell, especially since the parents want to give their kid a present that will keep them occupied wherever they go (though unwanted side effects may include them bringing it to places they shouldn't... :sd: ).

Too true. I've known several people who have decided they need one after relatives and or friends got one for christmas as well. Even my wife who didn't see much reason to upgrade wants to replace her DS phat with a Lite after seeing how great FFIII looked on my future BIL's.

[quenelf]

I wonder how much Wii production cut into DS production. (I mean, it's not as if they had to make room at the factory to push out Cubes these past few Christmaseses.)

The most obvious option would be to convert whatever factory was used to make GCs to produce Wii instead, rather than eating into DS facilities.

And yes, a week before Christmas I trekked around the entire town trying to find a DS Lite without success until the last place (no, I don't mean the last place I tried, because that's by definition - the last place I could think of, after that I was giving up), and then still had to settle for a black one. (It's ok, the recipient likes it anyway.) But I too would have expected them to be back in stock everywhere by now.

Then again I'd have expected Wii to be easily available by now too, and, well, I still don't have one...

--quen

[Nyanyaan]

I was well aware of the X-mas time sell-outs, but I'm surprised that trend is still persisting three weeks after christmas.

An expected restock time of late Jan-early Feb would be common for something that sold out completely at the holiday. For each step of shipping from Nintendo to your local store the ship/processing time at BEST will be 3-4 days; and there are likely 3-4 steps (company warehouses, shipping companies, distro companies, etc)in the process. Plus, for anything coming from Japan (or most of Asia) the week between Xmas and New Years is pretty much downtime.

BTW -- The first small shipments of DS Lites did start coming back into Gamestops this week.

[Algernon]

I live in the SE Michigan area and a friend of mine was also looking to get a DS. He had surgury on Thur. and wanted something to do for his week of bed rest he was supposed to take. He gave his wife a wad of cash and told her to go find one and she couldn't find one anywhere. Needless to say he's going out of his mind.

That's strange. I was just about to post how I'd seen them around last weekend at Gamestops in Ann Arbor and Westland, both the black and pink ones. Not sure if they're still there, but try the Briarwood Mall and the Westland Mall stores.

[fantasydewdrop]

No, the REAL reason is so that I can't trade the black one I've got for a pink one. :P Once they restock them again, the stores will be fed up with Christmas exchanges/returns, so they'll just say "no" to me. :P

I find it a bit odd that the ONLY places in my area that have them are Gamestops and EB (but EB is owned by Gamestop, so they barely count). Everywhere else can't keep any in stock for the life of them. They're the same price, aren't they? Certainly cheaper than some of the eBay prices....

[DustoMan]

I saw only one DS Lite last Friday @ Best Buy.

I noticed that software is also severely lacking there. I've been looking for Bomberman Land Touch! since Christmas. (I should have picked it up when I was Christmas shopping.) Come to find out it's published by Atlas so I guess their track record for restocking games isn't that good.

[Magus427]

I find it a bit odd that the ONLY places in my area that have them are Gamestops and EB (but EB is owned by Gamestop, so they barely count). Everywhere else can't keep any in stock for the life of them. They're the same price, aren't they? Certainly cheaper than some of the eBay prices....


Yes, they're the same price. I'll still buy at a couple EB B&M stores because the employees there know how to treat customers. I'm still miffed about Gamestop buying out EB Games. I liked EB's online ordering and in-store pick-up/return (if ordering online).

-Magus

[jecca-neko]

I'm still miffed about Gamestop buying out EB Games. I liked EB's online ordering and in-store pick-up/return (if ordering online).


I also found EB to have better used game prices. Now they're about equivalent. I used to thrive on used games in the SNES/Genesis days, as well as early PS1 days, as a kid/teen that's all I could afford and the price margin was larger. Now that it's so small and I can find new games a lot of times cheaper than the used ones... yeah. I don't buy used anymore.

The last used game I bought was Resident Evil Code Veronica X for PS2 about a few months after it came out as I got it for a great deal ($20 in like new condition as opposed to $40 new) for it at EB. Looking at GameFAQs, that would be about very early 2002. Everything since has been brand spanking new.

[Lego]

Maybe it was me, but every EBgames I went into was nicer then the Gamestops. Yeah, I know it has to do with the people who work their, but it just felt nicer, looked nicer, and so on. Although most of that is mental really as one bad experience can ruin everything.

Then you have stores that horde stuff like Best Buy who horded PS3's and is currently hording Wii's.