All purpose sales and sales rumors/anecdotes thread next gen+

[djskribbles]

Well surely japan would be at the forefront of online shopping?? Who stands in a line for hours these days, when amazon and god knows how many other retailers can send you your new ps4 on release day?

Yeah, that has a lot to do with it. With pre-orders well in advance and online shopping being bigger than ever, I think the days of huge lineups are over. Still, the line/crowd looks decently big.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=101777753&postcount=2180

And like I said before, I think the fact that they're launching in a relatively slow month will cause the numbers to be a little lower than some expect.

 

[BoardBonobo]

Well surely japan would be at the forefront of online shopping?? Who stands in a line for hours these days, when amazon and god knows how many other retailers can send you your new ps4 on release day?

One queue had formed 3 days ago! So I think there are a few retail shoppers still hanging on it there.

 

[BoardBonobo]

All the Japanese online stores in which the console has gone up for preorder in the window mentioned above, including Amazon Japan, Yodabashi Camera, Bic Camera, Sofmap, Edion and Rakuten Books ran out of stock extremely fast. Some within mere minutes. Amazon Japan was the one to last the longest, for about 40 minutes.

Update – 9:00 Japan Time: Amazon Japan reopened preorders, probably after receiving a further allocation of units from Sony. We’ll see how long these will last. All other retailers are still completely sold out.
Update – 9:22 Japan Time: The bundle with the camera is now sold out again on Amazon Japan.
Update – 9:26 Japan Time: The box without the camera is gone again too. The second batch lasted less than the first.
Update – 10:00 Japan Time: Nojima opened preorders, and its server imploded.

So it looks like the Japanese still love Playstation. It looks as though Sony had a clear inventory on the first day. Now all we need to know is how many units were allotted to the launch.

[source]

 

[Strange]

Yeah, that has a lot to do with it. With pre-orders well in advance and online shopping being bigger than ever, I think the days of huge lineups are over. Still, the line/crowd looks decently big.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=101777753&postcount=2180

And like I said before, I think the fact that they're launching in a relatively slow month will cause the numbers to be a little lower than some expect.

We should keep in mind that they're relatively well-informed that if you didn't pre-order or line up at certain areas, your chances of getting one is pretty much nil.

Some guys even brought it to school (looks like high school) to have it confiscated lol.

They're loving it alright.

 

[Rangers]

Nah, I'm still hedging my bets http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=101799512&postcount=565

 

[-tkf-]

I haven't seen it mentioned yet, but there is an interesting phenomenon going on that those who live in the initial batch of countries for the XBoxOne, may not be aware of.

I live in one of those northern european countries that didn't belong to to the initial launch for the XBox. It was supposed to launch in April, but it is already available at all the major Electronics chains.
Not only is it available, but boxes are on retail shelves waiting to be handed to customers, with Microsoft promoposters and stuff up. The sales clerks caution that the menues aren't in our language yet, so most are assumed to use the English language version of the OS.

For those people who claim that a price drop will change the fortunes of the XBoxOne, I can contribute another observation. Since the PS4 is in such short supply, the retailers are jacking up their prices, so the XBoxes for sale are actually cheaper than the PS4. The boxes still aren't moving.

Summary - there is such a surplus of XBoxOnes that stock is redirected to territories that weren't supposed to have them yet. Due to the PS4 shortage, the XBoxOne are actually offered at a lower price to end customers than the PS4. The stock is still sitting on shelves - note that we are not talking about sales tailing off after the initial feeding frenzy, there is no initial feeding frency!

It's weird seeing sales clerks promote a system that isn't even supposed to be available, because they actually have systems to sell to customers, whereas the system that was launched three months ago is difficult to find at all. And still people aren't buing the new XBox. If I hadn't seen it I would never have guessed or predicted it.

It wasn't Microsoft that shifted those boxes. It's the retailers that decided to import them on their own because Microsoft didn't deliver or could say when they would. So they saw their preorders go away to others, most likely online shops. I was asked if I wanted a import version, I declined since my credit card wouldn't work.

Yes, it shows that there is plenty of xb1 around in the world. And i did mention my story earlier..

 

[Shortbread]

Nah, I'm still hedging my bets http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=101799512&postcount=565

Nope.

More located at the bottom of page... http://www.vg247.com/2014/02/21/ps4-japan-launch-photos-show-gamers-already-queuing-outside-sony-hq/

 

[Shortbread]

It wasn't Microsoft that shifted those boxes. It's the retailers that decided to import them on their own because Microsoft didn't deliver or could say when they would. So they saw their preorders go away to others, most likely online shops. I was asked if I wanted a import version, I declined since my credit card wouldn't work.

Yes, it shows that there is plenty of xb1 around in the world. And i did mention my story earlier..

Hum, so you're saying retailers in non-launched XB1 regions are importing XB1's and selling them cheaper? That doesn't sound right....

The taxes/tariffs alone would skyrocket the current outlandish XB1 price, if they were doing that.

 

[Rurouni]

Hum, so you're saying retailers in non-launched XB1 regions are importing XB1's and selling them cheaper? That doesn't sound right....

The taxes/tariffs alone would skyrocket the current outlandish XB1 price, if they were doing that.

The retailers selling them cheaper vs the PS4. That happens because the retailers jacked up the PS4 price because of the very strong demand for it. Going by that logic, the X1 wouldn't had any chance of conquering a country like that even if they have the same price or even lower than the PS4 which is some people are saying as one of the solution to to make X1 more competitive. Lowering the price might work in the US, but I doubt that it would have big enough impact for X1 sales outside of the US.

 

[Shortbread]

The retailers selling them cheaper vs the PS4. That happens because the retailers jacked up the PS4 price because of the very strong demand for it. Going by that logic, the X1 wouldn't had any chance of conquering a country like that even if they have the same price or even lower than the PS4 which is some people are saying as one of the solution to to make X1 more competitive. Lowering the price might work in the US, but I doubt that it would have big enough impact for X1 sales outside of the US.

I get that.....

What I don't get is importing a product with a current lofty price tag, then factoring in the additional international shipping cost, import taxes, and whatever else tariff - just doesn't make any business sense. Meaning, if the PS4 is $800 because of high demand... do you expect selling an XB1 ($700 minimum) would sway purchasers away from waiting on the PS4 in these non-XB1 regions?

Anyhow, I'm pretty sure (101% sure) the huge reduction in our vendors XB1 inventory was shipped outside the states. Which does make sense... MS swallowing the cost of redirecting units across other territories on "feeling them out" and seeing if units move (sales).

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I get that.....

What I don't get is importing a product with a current loft price tag, then factoring in the additional international shipping cost, import taxes, and whatever else tariff - just doesn't make any business sense.

There is none of that stuff within the EU, well there are some shipping costs, but not much. They are probably getting the units from Germany, perhaps from a previously known associates. Their costs probably aren't that much over what someone like Amazon.de is paying for them, more but not that much. It's happening here in Finland as well on some stores. Some stores had raised the PS3 prices, but the base model has been cheaper than any Xbox One model I've seen here. Lowest PS4 price in Finland is €449 though. Imported Xbox Ones are selling at €549-599 at the moment. I imagine the volume is quite low.

 

[-tkf-]

Hum, so you're saying retailers in non-launched XB1 regions are importing XB1's and selling them cheaper? That doesn't sound right....

The taxes/tariffs alone would skyrocket the current outlandish XB1 price, if they were doing that.

Nope, i am telling you that this is the case for Gamestop in DK, their price is higher than the official XB1 price was expected to be. But lower than what another chain sold the PS4 for when the demand was exceptional high.

 

[Rurouni]

Maybe, because X1 is supposedly the pricier hardware which being sold at a cheaper price relative to the PS4.
Sometimes retailers don't really understand about it. They think X1 is similar to PS4 thus if PS4 is not in stock then people would buy the alternative.

So how big the mark up is anyway?

 

[Shortbread]

Nope, i am telling you that this is the case for Gamestop in DK, their price is higher than the official XB1 price was expected to be. But lower than what another chain sold the PS4 for when the demand was exceptional high.

Ok. I must have missed something in Entropy post.

IMHO, I would find it quite irresponsible that any retailer would import a product with drastic declining sales in other territories... only, to have it sale poorly within their stores at a higher cost.

 

[DieH@rd]

Argh, those uncivilized Japanese! When will they learn that running, shoving, trampling people down and destroying store equipment just makes them look like savages!!

 

[Cjail]

^^^
So uncivilized.

 

[AlexV]

Dagnabbit! I was gonna change your title from 'Senior Member' to 'Sissy', but my mod powers don't appear to extend that far!

There are ancient powers in this world, great and malevolent, whose name is best left unuttered. Nice title you have there DieH@rd!

 

[-tkf-]

Ok. I must have missed something in Entropy post.

IMHO, I would find it quite irresponsible that any retailer would import a product with drastic declining sales in other territories... only, to have it sale poorly within their stores at a higher cost.

In Gamestops case i think it was a question of losing market share, maybe not much but enough to care, they also have their whole used sales stuff going on for them. And if their customers go online or across the border to get a XBOX1 then they are potentially losing money in the future.

The markup on the import was "only" around 10-15%, i asked if the PS4 was in stock the last time i was around (a week ago) the answer was no.

There are ancient powers in this world, great and malevolent, whose name is best left unuttered. Nice title you have there DieH@rd!

HA! Look at the sissy!

 

[Deleted member 11852]

HA! Look at the sissy!

Yeah, I just noticed that having just read Shifty's post in the sales thread about not being able to change it

 

[Entropy]

In Gamestops case i think it was a question of losing market share, maybe not much but enough to care, they also have their whole used sales stuff going on for them. And if their customers go online or across the border to get a XBOX1 then they are potentially losing money in the future.

And this may be the reason for the apparent lack of interest - many early adopters have already bought theirs online. Still, there are a LOT of people who aren't buying relatively expensive technical stuff from foreign online shops! I'd expect it to be the overwhelming majority, and nothing in the launch reports from USA or the UK prepared me for this. The XBox360 has a large marketshare here. Bizarre. It would be interesting to hear more about hat has happened to sales in Italy, Austria, France, Spain, Germany and other initial launch countries apart from the English speaking.

(I would add that you can take a look at your local price tracking sites. Here all the chains are carrying the XB1, and all list having stock, as of this writing. Two months before launch.)