[shifuimam]

I'm looking for a Wii. I'd like it to still include the original packaging and everything it ships with, and the receipt if possible (for warrany and stuff).

I don't want to pay any BS overinflated "I bought this just to make a profit" prices. If you want $300+ for your Wii, sell it on eBay. I'm looking to pay $250 + cheap shipping to 46204.

PM me or post reply here.

[uicandrew]

realistically, if a person pays tax [7%], and paypal fees [3%], that is roughly $25 extra, not including shipping, which is an extra $20, incl insurance via usps priority mail.

$300 paypaled and shipped is very reasonable for one, in my opinion. the $5 overhead goes toward the box, packing material, and gas to get to the post office.

these wii's are still difficult to find.

do you live in oregon where there's no tax?

[Gamoe]

I concur with the above poster. Please have some regard for those of us who bought the Wii without any intension of selling and indeed did not sell when the price was overinflated. These consoles still have limited availability and not every seller is trying to take advantage of the situation, and buyers should not try to do so either.

I just sold my Wii with two games and an extra nunchuck and Wii remote.

Total cost to me was as follows.

Wii: $250 + 7% tax: $267.5
Wii Remote: $40 + 7% tax: 42.8
Nunchuck: $20 + 7% tax: 21.4
1 Game: $40 + 7% tax: 42.8
1 Game: $50 + 7% tax: 53.5
Component Cables: ~ $30

Total: $458

I sold it at $300, so I lost $158, and that wouldn't include shipping or PayPal fees.

Mind you, I'm not crying over it. It's expected that a used system sells for less, but just keep this in mind.

[shifuimam]

You shouldn't have to pay PayPal fees unless you have a premium account - I had to upgrade mine to such awhile ago, but last time I checked, personal accounts didn't charge 3% for transferred money using your PayPal account (e.g. transferring money from a bank account to your PayPal, and then sending that to the seller). Shipping doesn't have to be $20. I'm trying to work on a deal with someone else who PMed me about this, and shipping from him (IL) to me (IN) is only $6.50-$7 via FedEx, DHL, or USPS. Insurance usually isn't a huge extra amount (and if insurance was going to be $13, I wouldn't request it - I've gotten expensive items in the mail before without insurance).

I'm not trying to take advantage of any situation. Buying a used product that is in high demand is still a used product. I think it's asinine that people are paying $350-$600 for one of these on eBay. If I pay shipping plus $250 for a Wii (which is retail price), the seller is losing out on about $25. That's a pretty small price hit, and it comes with selling things online or selling used (even if in excellent condition) items.When I sell stuff, I never demand that the buyer pay the equivalent of sales tax to me, no matter how new the product is that I'm selling. I'm not a business, and unless I'm buying a product from an actual business, I don't expect the seller to behave as one, either.

Not to mention that this is the only item that people are saying I should expect to pay over retail. If someone was selling an excellent or like-new iPod here, you wouldn't expect them to pay retail + sales tax + handling + shipping + gas, would you? In fact, if someone said they wanted $400 for a barely-used 80GB iPod, everyone would say "you're asking too much" - and it would be obvious the person was trying to pocket some extra money along with the sale of the actual product. If you want to do that, sell it on eBay.

And to gamoe and anyone else - I'm not assuming that anyone selling a Wii did it to make some money. I am saying that most people on eBay that are selling brand-new shrink-wrapped Wiis more than likely already have one and bought one when it happened to be in stock, just so they could make an extra $150-$300 on the sale. That's what I have an issue with.

[MacinTommy]

I've got a Wii, 2 controllers, 1 nunchuck, 1 classic controller, Paper Mario, Wii Sports, Wii Play, and the USB ethernet connector....... Possibly looking to sell..

[MacinTommy]

and its preloaded with Super Mario World...

[naevity]

Just so you know, it is against Paypal's policy to charge extra to cover the fee's. If they catch you, they will freeze any money you have in your account, and you'll never get it.

It is actually against the policy of any credit card company for a vendor to charge you extra to cover their fees, so if someone tries to pull that on you, you can report them to VISA or AMEX or Mastercard, and they will have their credit card privilages revoked. They take it pretty seriously.

[shifuimam]

MacInTommy, check your PMs.

And yes, it is against policy to require your buyer to pay an extra 3% so you don't have to pay it. If people pay through PayPal (as I mentioned before), you only pay that 3% fee if you have a PayPal premium/business account.

[Gamoe]

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

And to gamoe and anyone else - I'm not assuming that anyone selling a Wii did it to make some money. I am saying that most people on eBay that are selling brand-new shrink-wrapped Wiis more than likely already have one and bought one when it happened to be in stock, just so they could make an extra $150-$300 on the sale. That's what I have an issue with.

Yes, I would agree with you. I was just trying to point out that there are legitimate sellers out there and one shouldn't go the other extreme and expect a better-than-fair deal. I do think scarcity makes a difference, because of simple supply and demand. If you could get a new Wii at the store or on Amazon, you might not be looking for a Wii from a private seller in the first place-- Not saying this is your particular situation, BTW.

Originally Posted by naevity 

Just so you know, it is against Paypal's policy to charge extra to cover the fee's. If they catch you, they will freeze any money you have in your account, and you'll never get it.

It is actually against the policy of any credit card company for a vendor to charge you extra to cover their fees, so if someone tries to pull that on you, you can report them to VISA or AMEX or Mastercard, and they will have their credit card privilages revoked. They take it pretty seriously.

You could report someone for making you aware of their costs to ship you something to you on one-on-one, non-commercial deal like what this forum is for, but you can be sure that ALL commercial retailers are charging you their credit card fees. They just don't tell it to you so. But even worse, they'll charge you the fee even if you pay in cash, because they have to keep prices equal so that they don't violate their merchant account terms. So, why would you try to screw the little guy because he's honestly letting you know how much the cost to ship it and receive money electronically is?

Originally Posted by shifuimam 

And yes, it is against policy to require your buyer to pay an extra 3% so you don't have to pay it. If people pay through PayPal (as I mentioned before), you only pay that 3% fee if you have a PayPal premium/business account.

This is not true, unless Paypal is somehow singling me out. I have a non-business Premier account, and I get charged a percentage for all money sent to me. This is how Paypal makes its money.

I don't mean to make this thread something it is not. I just wanted to clear up my position. So good luck on getting your Wii.

[shifuimam]

Originally Posted by Gamoe 

Yes, I would agree with you. I was just trying to point out that there are legitimate sellers out there and one shouldn't go the other extreme and expect a better-than-fair deal.

...and I still think that paying over retail for something is unfair. Think of it this way: if the person wanting $350 for the Wii would be willing to pay $350 for the Wii, then it might be fair. Otherwise, they just want a profit.

...but you can be sure that ALL commercial retailers are charging you their credit card fees. They just don't tell it to you so.

I can't disprove what you've said, but markup is markup on a product. You can't expect a retailer to charge cost for a product - they wouldn't make any money. All the profits go to the company. How that's distributed is where you might be able to say that some of it goes to the credit card fees - because some of the money the company makes has to go to pay the expenses they rack up for accepting various credit cards. But if a company were specifically charging an extra 3% over MSRP for items, that would be an issue.

This is not true, unless Paypal is somehow singling me out. I have a non-business Premier account, and I get charged a percentage for all money sent to me. This is how Paypal makes its money.

Not according to PayPal's fee chart. "Receive payments funded by PayPal Balance, PayPal Instant Transfer or PayPal eCheck" is free - no fee to standard account owners. If you transfer money from your bank account to your PayPal account, and then send that money to another PayPal account, no fee is charged. Fees are charged only if you pay by credit card, debit card, or PayPal buyer credit.

Perhaps people who send you money are using credit cards to send it? I don't know, because it's been so long since I've upgraded my account to Premier status. Even eBay says that PayPal personal accounts don't get charged fees to receive money.

So I don't know what's up with your case.

I just saw that you have a "non-business Premier account". All Premier accounts charge 3% for every transaction. Many people have standard personal accounts, which you can use for general eBay use. If you start selling a lot of stuff on eBay, they'll upgrade you. If you receive more than $500 a month in payments, they'll upgrade you. But there aren't any fees on a personal PayPal account.

At any rate, I've sent off money for an actual Wii bundle (not the so-called bundles on eBay that really just mean the standard Wii package), so hopefully it ships out tomorrow and arrives by the end of the week!

[Gamoe]

shifuimam, the law of supply and demand dictates that when something is in high demand, but in low supply, price usually goes up. You might not think it's fair, but it can also work in your favor. You can buy a Dreamcast for $25 or less these days, because demand is so low in comparison to supply.

Anyway, if anything you made me realize that I don't need to pay most of those fees. I think I upgraded a while back, but didn't realize I would be charged fees all the time. There's no reason for me to have a Premier account, as I'm not a business. I just do the occasional personal transaction on the forums and such. I probably upgraded to accept a credit card payment a while back. Anyway, thanks for the valuable info!

[shifuimam]

If you don't need Premier status, you can downgrade once in the life of the account - I'd recommend doing it if you do enough PayPal stuff in a year. I'm keeping the status and paying the fees, because PayPal offers extra seller protection and I've been screwed a few times on eBay.

I do understand the whole supply and demand thing - and there are plenty of people who will pay far over retail for a Wii (or PS3s when they came out, or 360s when they came out...); I'm just not one of em.

Anyhow.

[Rooskibar03]

If I pay shipping plus $250 for a Wii (which is retail price), the seller is losing out on about $25. That's a pretty small price hit, and it comes with selling things online or selling used (even if in excellent condition)

Not to mention that this is the only item that people are saying I should expect to pay over retail.

In fact, if someone said they wanted $400 for a barely-used 80GB iPod, everyone would say "you're asking too much" - and it would be obvious the person was trying to pocket some extra money along with the sale of the actual product.

You claim you understand supply and demand, however these statments make me think otherwise.

Yes, asking retail or above for an iPod doesn't make sense as you can walk into any Walmart and buy one new. The same cannot be said for a Wii. Offering to at lease pick up the tax is the decent thing to do if someone found one and was willing to pass it along to you.

The bottom line it, you want it, be willing to pony up and pay for it. Either that or go sit at Best Buy or Target, or Walmart every morning when the truck arrives and get your own.

BTW I paid over retail for my Wii because I wanted it and my time to try and find one is worth more then small premium I paid to get it.

[shifuimam]

It's kind of a moot point, anyhow. I've got a Wii on its way to me - should be here tomorrow afternoon!!

If you're willing to pay over retail for a Wii, then it's worth that to you. For me, it wasn't. I wouldn't pay over retail for one, and I didn't.

[shifuimam]

Just got my shipment from MacInTommy Friday afternoon. He shipped within 24 hours of me sending payment via PayPal and kept in communication with me. A+ transaction. Thanks!!