Gamecube at Walmart for $79.44 1 day only!!

[Masco73]

I am sure this was mentioned already. If so, I can't find it and it bears repeating. Walmart is selling the gamecube with the zelda bonus disc for $79.44 on Friday from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m.
I can't really stand shopping, especially this Friday, but I might have to go and grab on at that price.
Anybody work at Walmart or know if this is limited to stock on hand?? Also, is this at all Walmart stores or just regional???

[jhd7]

It was in the circulars here in PA. The ad also states "no rainchecks," so get there early. - Jeff D

[Neil Koch]

I'd rather pay the extra $20 than deal with the people that would actually get up early on the day after Thanksgiving to go shop at Wal-Mart.

/bad retail flashbacks

[Dobie]

I've been at Walmart the last two Black Fridays to buy up their cheap TVs (you can never have enough televisions in the house ;) ), and I can honestly say that its not too bad. Most people are going nuts in the toy and clothes sections, or scrounging through the DVDs. I found success ducking through the food section (nobody is in there!!) and getting to the electronics that way. If you get there by 6:30, chances are that the Cubes will be gone though. I imagine that with the lower prices, a lot of console-less kids have their sights set on a Cube this Christmas!

BTW--20 inch flatscreen TVs are 95.00. Crappy brand, but they work fine. Time for a telly in the bathroom methinks! Not as good as their 27 inch for $100 last year though.

[Tritoch]

I was looking at this on Wal-Mart's site (already have a 'Cube, just curious about the deal) about five minutes ago and added it to my cart to see how much shipping would be. I just went back to the page, and it's now "out of stock". O_O

So it was an online thing too, but not any more!

[Flack]

I got one. Well, *I* didn't, but when I woke up this morning my wife had already made the Wal-Mart rounds and picked one up for me. God bless that woman.

BTW, there are 3 Wal-Marts within 15 minutes of me. Two are those super megacenters. Wife went to one and said it was a nightmare. The third is one of the old Wal-Marts, in an older suburb. Just to give you an idea, she said the super Wal-Mart here was out of GameCubes, and the one in the suburb had a pallatte out with at least 40 or 50 on it.

That's the same place we went to when we needed Tickle-Me-Elmos one year, and Furbies another year.

[nesuser2]

LOL I made my rounds, but I cut walmart out of the deal. we'll just say i bought a large amount of cubes at toys r us last week.....dumped them on ebay, dumped the discs on ebay. and even bought a new one for myself and kept the disc. and i went into toys r us this morning and the lady handed me $180 :D so i came out a couple hundred ahead. still can't decide if it was worth all the running around but i had fun and made a couple bucks. yes at the cost of a lot of peoples ignorance....

but, I was really suprised that TRU honored it. the lady at the service desk said, "yes, we can do it. But we don't have that little case." would have been nice to have the case as well, but.....i figured that would be the factor cutting me out of the deal and I should think that's the reason walmart did it that way, to cut some people out of the loop. o well..... :-P

[Cmosfm]

wait, im confused, how did you get 180.00 from Toys R Us?

[jonjandran]

He got TRU to price match Wal-Mart for the Cubes he had already bought. :D

[Evil E]

My wife got up at 4:30 this morning and went to Walmart and got me a Gamecube for $79.44!!! She also got a lot of other X-mas presents for our nieces and nephews--she is the best!! I now have myself a brand new Gamecube!!! :P

[ManekiNeko]

Oh come ON, people. Wal-Mart's prices will only be better than everyone else's until they've run their competitors out of business, and let's not kid ourselves here... that's exactly what they plan to do. Is it really worth helping Wal-Mart establish a retail monopoly just to save $25 on a GameCube? If saving money is that important to you, just buy a Cube from your local pawn shop.

JR

[jonjandran]

Oh come ON, people. Wal-Mart's prices will only be better than everyone else's until they've run their competitors out of business, and let's not kid ourselves here... that's exactly what they plan to do. Is it really worth helping Wal-Mart establish a retail monopoly just to save $25 on a GameCube? If saving money is that important to you, just buy a Cube from your local pawn shop.

JR

Once again :roll: x_x

[ManekiNeko]

Dude, it's Wal-Mart. WAL-MART. They've already put other retail stores out of business with their exclusive prices and sleazy business practices, and many more will follow if they have their way.
Roll your eyes all you want, but you know it's true.

JR

[jonjandran]

In the words of Homer : " I said WOO HOO "
or in this case " I said :roll: x_x "

LOL

[jonjandran]

Dude, it's Wal-Mart. WAL-MART. They've already put other retail stores out of business with their exclusive prices and sleazy business practices, and many more will follow if they have their way.
Roll your eyes all you want, but you know it's true.

JR

Yea it's called a free enterprise . If others don't want to go out of business then lower their prices , offer better and more items, and advertise more.

[SoulBlazer]

Whatever. There will ALWAYS be other shops and companies around, and I'm not that worried about it. I'm content to shop around, to hit used stores and look online to prive match. Besides, it's ONLY $20 cheaper and I'm sure they all sold out quite fast this morning.

I told someone at work about this, and I work night audit with her tonight -- wonder if she got it. 8-)

[ManekiNeko]

Dude, it's Wal-Mart. WAL-MART. They've already put other retail stores out of business with their exclusive prices and sleazy business practices, and many more will follow if they have their way.
Roll your eyes all you want, but you know it's true.

JR

Yea it's called a free enterprise . If others don't want to go out of business then lower their prices , offer better and more items, and advertise more.

I would be inclined to agree IF Wal-Mart and other retail stores were on a level playing field. However, they're not, as this article from the Motley Fool's Jeff Hwang clearly demonstrates:

"In the Oct. 6 issue of Business Week, Anthony Bianco and Wendy Zellner discuss a growing concern: "Is Wal-Mart Too Powerful?" The article leaves me with another concern.

Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT) is known for passing on its low-cost advantages to the customer. For example, the article points to a UBS Warburg report suggesting that food prices are 14% lower in markets where Wal-Mart competes. But as the authors note, there are several overwhelming negatives.

For one, the company has dominated its suppliers. Wal-Mart, which owns a hefty 30% of the U.S. consumer staples market and 15% to 20% of all music and video sales, plays a role in determining what gets sold. For example, the company has forced record companies to produce clean versions of explicit-label CDs or risk losing out on sales. And based on the complaints of a few customers, modern male magazines such as Maxim, Stuff, and FHM have been removed from store shelves.

And if you think that's a problem, Wal-Mart accounts for 28% of Dial's (NYSE: DL) sales, 24% of Del Monte Foods' (NYSE: DLM) sales, and 23% of Clorox's (NYSE: CLX) sales. If Wal-Mart has too much power over these companies now, what will happen when Wal-Mart's share hits 50% at the end of this decade?

Among other negatives, the article points to the fact that Wal-Mart employees earn 20% less than those at unionized supermarkets. In addition, Wal-Mart's entry into new markets has forced the closure of existing stores: According to Business Week, "for every Wal-Mart supercenter that opens in the next five years, two other supermarkets will close." And this is done without creating new jobs.

Which brings me to my new concern: the possibility of monopoly pricing.

According to a Retail Forward report cited in the article, 30 supermarkets have "closed since Wal-Mart saturated Oklahoma City." Think about this: Wal-Mart is successful because it can offer lower prices than anybody else. But what if nobody else exists to compete?

In business classes, you hear stories of the unacceptable practice of predatory pricing -- financially stable companies pricing at a loss until weaker competitors exit the marketplace. Today, the accepted business practice is to actually create value. Wal-Mart and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV), for example, can offer lower prices because of operating efficiency. As capacity is removed from an industry, pricing power is created.

Wal-Mart today is saving money for consumers everywhere. But 10 to 20 years from now, are we going to want a Wal-Mart with pricing power?"

If this is the kind of behavior you want to support, by all means run down to your local Wal-Mart and pick up that cheap GameCube. Just remember that those prices won't be so hot when Wal-Mart is the only game in town.

JR

[jonjandran]

It's all just blah blah blah.
If a company doesn't like Wal-marts demands they don't have to give in to them. example the clean dvd's.
And saying that Wal-Mart put the other companies out of business is speculation. Except maybe K-mart. LOL
And the what-if in 10-20 years. :roll: Good lord it's probably like the game industry , the whole Atrai then Nintendo , now Sony thing. Some other company will probably come and put Wal-Mart out of business just like Wal-Mart did to K-Mart. Who would have thought that would have happened ?

[SoulBlazer]

Hey, you may be right about Wal-Mart -- I'm not passing judgement on any of that, and I really don't want this thread to go off topic and end up in Battlezone -- but it still leaves me back to my original question. Sales like the one that Wal-Mart did today with the GameCube are VERY common on Black Friday. I'm also aware of HD's being discounted at Best Buy, game sales going on at GameStop, and TV's on sale at my local Target. How are any of THOSE sales different from the one here? If someone wants to take advantage of a sale and save $20 on a GameCube at Wal-Mart, how is that any different if they save the same ammount of money at the sales mentioned above also on the same day?

[Evil E]

Hey, you may be right about Wal-Mart -- I'm not passing judgement on any of that, and I really don't want this thread to go off topic and end up in Battlezone -- but it still leaves me back to my original question. Sales like the one that Wal-Mart did today with the GameCube are VERY common on Black Friday. I'm also aware of HD's being discounted at Best Buy, game sales going on at GameStop, and TV's on sale at my local Target. How are any of THOSE sales different from the one here? If someone wants to take advantage of a sale and save $20 on a GameCube at Wal-Mart, how is that any different if they save the same ammount of money at the sales mentioned above also on the same day?

Exactly!! Here I am excited about getting a Gamecube, and saving a few bucks doing it, and I get chastised for it!! I merely wanted to add to the thread, and in turn get attacked for "supporting the evil walmart empire that is gonna take over the planet"!!!! Some people around here are so ridiculous!! It's sad really....laughable, but sad!

[MarioAllStar2600]

You guys act like 20 bucks is nothing. That is a new Gamecube game. But stop whinning cause WAL-MART has the best prices. really. Just start shopping there.

[Stamp Mcfury]

You guys act like 20 bucks is nothing. That is a new Gamecube game. But stop whinning cause WAL-MART has the best prices. really. Just start shopping there.

Hehe Wallmart does have good prices on "Image" items but they do make it back on alot of there regular stuff.

Still I don't know if Waiting in the cold for for 4 hours in advance (like some people actually do) just to be one of the people who has a shot at getting the thing before it is sold out. they save $20 for 4 hours shivering in the cold outside the store door that $5 an hour thats not even minimum Wage x_x

[Evil E]

You guys act like 20 bucks is nothing. That is a new Gamecube game. But stop whinning cause WAL-MART has the best prices. really. Just start shopping there.

Hehe Wallmart does have good prices on "Image" items but they do make it back on alot of there regular stuff.

Still I don't know if Waiting in the cold for for 4 hours in advance (like some people actually do) just to be one of the people who has a shot at getting the thing before it is sold out. they save $20 for 4 hours shivering in the cold outside the store door that $5 an hour thats not even minimum Wage x_x

Well for one we live in Phoenix, so it's not THAT cold right now, my wife got there around 5-5:30, so that was just before the sale started, and it was a superwalmart (open 24 hours) so there was no waiting outside!! She went right in and was like 15 people behind in the Gamecube line--she said it wasn't that bad at all. She said it was much easier than she thought it was gonna be, and would do it again. I think you are overexaggerating a bit.

[KirbyStar27]

Well. Alot of kids are getting gamecube this Christmas! :D

[Stamp Mcfury]

Well I do work retail I don't work at Wallmart. I do have relatives who have worked at Wally World though.

My store was sellling some GBA for $49.99 on Thanksgiving there were people lined up at the door when i got there 3 hours before the store opened. ( I don't know how much longer they were there before i got there!) Once the store Opened its doors we sold out of all the gameboys in the first 10 mins.

I don't know how the evnioment was at Wallmart I was just guessing from what happened there. plus it might have been better since the store was open allready since it was a Super Wallmart?

[stargate]

I went this morning. There were about 600 people in line. Some people had been there since 4:30 am.

The tv's went quick. the $30 DVD players were sold out by the time I got in. They had alot of Gamecubes, however, and I grabbed one. Great deal. All in all, not too bad of an experience.

[nesuser2]

walmart has built an empire, and it's taken them a long time to do so. I don't get how a thread about a cheap gamecube turns into a free for all bash on walmart(not saying everybody is doing so) and i didn't read all the posts because i get sick of hearing the same thing over and over. ok, nobody cares if walmart knocks everybody out of business because it's a free country. If they knock everybody out of business and spike the price, they'll sink faster than they went up. and I don't think they have intentions of doing so. it's a fact, the big chains will knock out smaller ones because the big ones can order in bigger quantities and create better deals for the customer and still make the same money as the competitors, and end up with more because more people shop there. you can expect the same junk equipment and service from walmart as you would expect from kmart. so if walmart has any tricks up their sleeve, they probably better leave them there.

[zmweasel]

so if walmart has any tricks up their sleeve, they probably better leave them there.

I live in a rural area, and I've watched Wal-Mart systematically destroy small businesses in three communities over the past half-decade. I also got a whiff of Wal-Mart's internal business practices during my days at Working Designs, and the smell was not unlike that of sulphur and brimstone. If any of you bought a GameCube from Wal-Mart today, PLEASE consider taking it back. Give your money to a mom-and-pop business instead of the corporation doing whatever it can to eliminate the American middle class.

Lots of information about the evils of Wal-Mart here: http://www.walmartwatch.com/info/myths.cfm?subsection_id=103

-- Z.

[calthaer]

Walmart = Master Control Program

Be Tron: Fight for the Users

This message is PRIORITY ONE.

END OF LINE.

[Masco73]

Does anyone here actually think there is a profit made on selling a gamecube at $79.44? I highly doubt it. I imagine it was a loss leader to get people in the store. Since you were already in the store, they hope you will continue buying and pick up the games for the cube. This is where they make thier money.
So, if you go and buy just the gamecube and leave, walmart doesn't make any extra money, you get a good deal and everybody is happy!!

[zmweasel]

So, if you go and buy just the gamecube and leave, walmart doesn't make any extra money, you get a good deal and everybody is happy!!

You're almost certainly correct that the Cube was used as a loss leader, but you're missing the point. Giving Wal-Mart any of your business at all, whether it's the purchase of a loss-leading Cube or a thousand dollars of software, is helping to strengthen Wal-Mart's stranglehold on the American retail sector.

-- Z.

[SoulBlazer]

Et tu, Zach? (sigh)

Well, whatever. I'm going to continue to shop there as well as Target, Best Buy, Staples, and all the other stores in my area as long as they have good prices and the items I want. (Service helps also, and that's why I stopped going to the local KMart -- forget about trying to get out of that place with something!)

Besides, I said it once and I'll say it agian -- it's ONLY $20 FREAKIN DOLLARS!

[Masco73]

You're almost certainly correct that the Cube was used as a loss leader, but you're missing the point. Giving Wal-Mart any of your business at all, whether it's the purchase of a loss-leading Cube or a thousand dollars of software, is helping to strengthen Wal-Mart's stranglehold on the American retail sector.

-- Z.

How does buying something from a store where they are not making or even losing money still benifit the company??

[Half Japanese]

I don't support Wal Mart. Every time I go in there and see a decent price on something I think about it for a minute. Then, it never fails, one of their inbred employees with 4 chins walks by and I cringe and have to leave. Wal Mart can eat my ass.

[Looter]

Well here's an idea if you don't like Wally World then buy the $79 Game Cubes. Loss Leader = no profit or even a loss of profit for good 'ol Wally... so buy up and screw Wal-Mart.

[zmweasel]

You're almost certainly correct that the Cube was used as a loss leader, but you're missing the point. Giving Wal-Mart any of your business at all, whether it's the purchase of a loss-leading Cube or a thousand dollars of software, is helping to strengthen Wal-Mart's stranglehold on the American retail sector.

-- Z.

How does buying something from a store where they are not making or even losing money still benifit the company??

More hardware sales than other retailers (and Wal-Mart is already the leader in North American videogame sales) equals more clout with videogame publishers (and Wal-Mart already has no compunctions about using that clout -- it's why PC games now come in standard-size boxes). Every hardware sale registered at Wal-Mart, whether loss-leading or not, makes them even more powerful than before. It benefits Wal-Mart whenever you shop at one of their stores, even if you're just buying a loss-leading GameCube (and I assure you Wal-Mart can take the short-term financial hit).

-- Z.

[kai123]

Anybody think that these mom and pop shops go out of business because they suck. What I mean is if I can go to one store and get everything I need why not? At a lower price to boot. Wal-mart is here to stay. BTW I got my sister a gamecube for christmas from Wal-mart.

[WiseSalesman]

There are no mom and pop shops around here, so I don't really know how I can support them. Wait, there are two, actually, but they're both very overpriced. I mean VERY overpriced. Anyway, I rarely buy anything gaming-wise from wal-mart. I usually hit up eb or gamestop or, god help me, bestbuy for that.

Oh, and when I say "no mom and pop shops around here", I mean pretty much literally, not just for game stores.

[zmweasel]

Anybody think that these mom and pop shops go out of business because they suck. What I mean is if I can go to one store and get everything I need why not? At a lower price to boot. Wal-mart is here to stay. BTW I got my sister a gamecube for christmas from Wal-mart.

You are also missing the point. Wal-Mart impacts EVERY other American business, from mom-and-pop outfits to smaller chains which actually pay their employees a decent wage. Thousands of southern California grocery clerks from various chains are on strike because their corporate bosses are trying to reduce wages to poverty-line levels in order to "compete" with Wal-Mart. If more grocery stores and retail outfits follow this horrendous lead, the tens of millions of Americans who work at retail jobs will greatly suffer.

Every time you buy something from Wal-Mart, you damage the American economy and help to destroy what remains of the American middle class. Why you'd want to brag about this is beyond my understanding. Perhaps you're too young to realize that it's not worth indirectly harming millions of people to save twenty bucks on a GameCube.

-- Z.

[buttasuperb]

Every time you buy something from Wal-Mart, you damage the American economy and help to destroy what remains of the American middle class. Why you'd want to brag about this is beyond my understanding. Perhaps you're too young to realize that it's not worth indirectly harming millions of people to save twenty bucks on a GameCube.

-- Z.

Yea because someone buying a Gamecube is putting so many people out of business and on the streets.

And yea the economy is hurting so much all because of Walmart. Should I not shop at Sam's Club either? I want to do my part in saving the economy, even if I have to sacrifice getting candy and beer at a cheaper price than anywhere else.

[jonjandran]

You are also missing the point. Wal-Mart impacts EVERY other American business, from mom-and-pop outfits to smaller chains which actually pay their employees a decent wage. Thousands of southern California grocery clerks from various chains are on strike because their corporate bosses are trying to reduce wages to poverty-line levels in order to "compete" with Wal-Mart. If more grocery stores and retail outfits follow this horrendous lead, the tens of millions of Americans who work at retail jobs will greatly suffer.
-- Z.

I think you're missing the point. At least they have a job.
Of course they could go to a country where the unemployment rate is 30%.
Or they can work in a country where the unemployment rate is 5% and even a job at Wal-Mart makes you 3 times what you would get paid in 99% of the other countries.

Give it up zmweasel , your reasoning is based on personal feelings and every argument you have has a counter argument.

[wberdan]

i personally really doubt that walmart is selling gamecubes at a loss... i mean, how much do you think it costs nintendo to manufacture those things? i bet wal-mart is still doing alright selling them at 79$.

who cares if wal-mart runs other stores into the ground... any of those mom and pop stores would do the same if they had enough motivation and power.
hope you dont buy anything on the internet either, cause its doing the same exact thing as buying at wal-mart.

[Flack]

It's too late for my town. Super Duper Wal-Mart moved in and closed down all our locally owned grocery stores (only 2 national chains stayed). The Blockbuster they put in the parking lot closed down our last local video rental places, and the gas pumps in their parking lot closed down the gas stations along the strip.

The mom-and-pop shop here has GameCubes for $129. They buy them from Wal-Mart for $99 and resell them. Enjoy that paradox.

[Captain Wrong]

There's an interesting contrast here. We have a thread about selling back games to EB where everyone is bashing the hell out of the "corporate" game sellers, then we have this tread were (nearly) everyone is defending the largest corporate game seller of them all because they saved $20 on a GameCube.

[jonjandran]

Not defending, just saying who gives a crap. :D

[josekortez]

You guys have been talking about the evils of Wal-Mart...

I just saw a report on CNN where a woman in Florida was trampled during the shopping frenzy in a Wal-Mart while trying to get a $20-something DVD player. She was hospitalized, but the Wal-Mart apologized to her family and offered to HOLD one of the DVD players for her.

Anybody else see anything wrong with this scenario?

[Evil E]

Not defending, just saying who gives a crap. :D

Exactly!!!! Amen brother, Amen!!!!!

[Evil E]

You guys have been talking about the evils of Wal-Mart...

I just saw a report on CNN where a woman in Florida was trampled during the shopping frenzy in a Wal-Mart while trying to get a $20-something DVD player. She was hospitalized, but the Wal-Mart apologized to her family and offered to HOLD one of the DVD players for her.

Anybody else see anything wrong with this scenario?

If you don't want to get hurt on Black Friday, STAY HOME! Seriously though, your little scenario is a very isolated one. Anything can happen anytime. I know a ton of people who were out getting great deals at walmart and other stores, and there were no problems. Moot point.

[Masco73]

I really think at this point, Walmart is here to stay. Everytime I stop ther the place is packed. Most of thier prices are way better than any other stores. The bottom line is that people will go where the best deals are and walmart has them. If I find a better deal somewhere else I will go there. At this point in my life every penny counts. I can't afford to spend more money on something at another store just to "hurt walmart".

I wasn't trying to start this heated debate. I was just trying to save my fellow gamers some money. Saving $20 to me means getting 1,2 or even 3 extra games.

[nesuser2]

it would be the same as letting people know that walmart sells the sims for GCN for $29.99 versus $50 elsewhere. why on earth wouldn't you buy it at walmart? I still think, no matter how powerful walmart is, they are still at the mercy of the customers.

[Dobie]

All of these things about Walmart "taking over retail" could have been said about another retailer 15 years ago. Anybody remember K-mart? They were huge. Now look at them. Bankrupt and closing stores left and right. These things are cyclical. Walmart is the most competitive for the moment, but that doesn't mean that they are going to destroy the American economy, or ruin all competition in the marketplace.

Remember the "evil, monopolistic Nintendo?" They don't hold a candle to Sony's market share today, 20 years later. Even the biggest corporations aren't all powerful, even if they DO have influence on policy making and other company's decisions.

Corporations do suck at times. But in today's world, they are an evil that we must deal with. There is some good that comes from having large companies at times as well. Give a little, take a little.

By the way, I'm probably one of the most liberal, left-wing people you will ever meet. I used to avoid Walmart like the plague. But now I shop there, because the only other option for grocery stores in my hometown is Albertson's or Winco. If you've ever shopped at Albertson's for anything, you'll realize that Walmart is much less evil in about a thousand ways. Plus Walmart has more than just groceries. ;)

[wcmiker]

LOL LOL LOL