EB Games has sold out of its Xbox 360 bundles
by Ross Miller 
{ Sep 20th 2005 at 5:45PM }
EBGames.com is announcing via its Xbox 360 page that it has sold out of all its Xbox 360 bundles for Novemer's release. This is a great sign for Microsoft, especially considering the enormous price of some of the bundles offered. GameStop still has "limited launch quantities available," so if you still want that $2000 Omega Bundle, better grab it before it sells out.
So the console is going to sell well - initially, at any rate. What will be interesting is to see how big of a
dropoff console sales will be after the initial shipment.
[Thanks, :P]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Smaug @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
This is a good sign for Microsoft. I wonder how many units EBgames was allocated.
Scott @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
must...resist...HYPE!
Lord Gavin @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Well i saw the notebook that had all the reservations at my local gamestop. I say about 50 were reserve. Not many so my hopes are high.
ZildjianKX @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Have the stores gotten more allocations in for the first shipment? They have claimed to be sold out since August.
Lord Gavin @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Well i saw the notebook that had all the reservations at my local gamestop. I say about 50 were reserve. Not many so my hopes are high.
kopolee11 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
The Sega Dreamcast also sold well. (In fact, before the PS2 it had the biggest opening in America, if I'm not mistaken)
Look how that turned out...
Not Impressed (Dmitri) @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
This is so freaking old. I saw this a week ago when I was checking out Advance Wars DS.
Dralt @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Ah ah ah!
Yeah, right.
They are not going to make enough of them.
Just like they could not make enough Halo 2 discs.
Right, believe that.
As always, fake shortage to create some extra buzz.
Next, they will talk about this guy who started camping in front of his local EB...
jake @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
I wonder how they can be sold out of air since the allocation numbers are still up in the (you guessed it) air; this is just more stupid hype.. MS prolly set their allocation too low on purpose to generate more "demand" (sic).
Slashbunny @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Not surprising, but it doesn't mean much. Of course the hardcore gamers are going to buy this thing. Indeed, how well it sells after the initial release is the important part for how well it will do long term. Will people be hesistant to buy with PS3 around the corner?
Einhanderkiller @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
I bet they only had like 500 bundles.
They probably didn't expect so many people to waste money on games.
Rare Hare @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
500 bundles? for the whole country? are you joking?
Icelawn @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
I think i will sell very well after the initial hype. After all alot of people are still holding out for either the PS3 to drop which will definately be followed by a 360 price drop or even the 1st price drop alone, etc...
lefty's revenge @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
I recently discovered from my local EbGames that there's a chance the company won't be able to honor the allocation already preordered through their stores. Can't speak for the website, but I'm not putting money down on a system I may (or may not) actually get at release? Wasn't this the same issue for Xbox v.1?
reason @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
I seriously doubt that microsoft is purposefully keeping production low to "create hype." That would mean that their method of generating sales is to not have enough available, right? That's just stupid. "I know how we can sell more 360's! By not making enough!"
Take an econ class. Microsoft controls supply, not demand. All restricting supply would do is inflate the price (which is constant at $400). Demand is up to us, and it looks to be huge.
I know about 12 people personally who are buying at launch. Don't fret, Sony Fanboy, the PS3 will sell well too (probably better than 360). But I've got news for you... This time around Sony will lose market share, and microsoft will gain marketshare.
damoun @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Xbox 360 consoles are yet to be shiped to the retailers , how the F**k has EBgames sold out.
EBgames go F**k yourself
Dralt @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
reason, you need to go back to marketing 101.
And I am not a Sony fanboy. I never bought any console from Sony.
Xbox can gain marketshare. It's easier when you start so low.
reason @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Dralt, try Finance 101. Time-value of money. A dollar today is worth more than a dollar next week. How about net present value? A thousand consoles NOT sold at launch, even if they are sold a month later, cost microsoft money. They didn't get to be a $71 BILLION dollar firm by ignoring TVM.
For your assertion to be true, your premise must be that the NPV of intentionally restricting supply is greater than the NPV of meeting launch demand. For this premise to be true, their cost of capital must be such that the discounted revenues of your situation more than make up for the opportunity costs of selling as many 360's as possible on launch day. Or that these foregone cash flows are less than the cost of a commercial. Good luck convincing a financial manager that this is the case.
They do their best to anticipate demand, and create adequate supply within manufacturing contraints. That's all. There is no grand scheme to keep 360's out of consumers hands. Remember, they don't make a dime off of the ebay sales.
Conspiracy theories are fun though, am I right?!?
Pretty Obvious @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Its not only EB games thats sold out of pre-orders. I live in the NYC area and have called every single Gamstop and EB that exists in Queens. They are all sold out of the first shipment of 360 preorders, some are already sold out of their second shipment pre-orders.
This is a good sign for Microsoft, but not a good sign for me cause I want the damn thing at launch. Now I dont know what im gonna do. I went to Bestbuy to ask if they would have the system when it comes out. I was pretty suprised to find out that Bestbuy of all places even took preorders this time, they were sold out as well.
DidYouLoseASock @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Now if a system sells Very Very well, but there are unites left, its not a big deal...
Now lest say they sell the exact same amount of units but now there out of stoke...
well it will then be national news and everywhere saying every place is out of it and the news will lable the item as HOT and MUST HAVE, so then when more units come in, some people will go out a buy it just because they saw it on the news or because its HOT...
Dralt @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
reason,
You don't get it. I never said they will not satisfy launch demand.
Quite the contrary.
I said they want to have everybody *believe* they will not be able to satisfy launch demand, in order to entice people to pre-order.
Then, they will want the media to marvel at how desperate people are to get it on launch day.
Of course, comes launch day, anyone with money will be able to go back home with one.
Enticing the market to register the strength of its interest early on helps in production planning, lot assignment, supply chain management and logistics.
And, grabbing the money in 2 weeks flat is always better than doing the same over the course of a 3-month window.
They did exactly the same thing with Halo 2.
People were led to believe there would be a shortage, but everyone got their copy right away.
In fact, 80% of Halo 2's total sales occurred during the first month of its release.
E2 @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
I remember the day the Xbox was released. Went to BestBuy, stood out in line for about an hour before they opened that day, they gave us tickets, and basically said if you received a ticket you're guaranteed an Xbox. Mind you none of us pre-ordered. The line was rather long. By the time they opened, they were already sold out. Not everyone got one. But at least 50 of us did that day.
And if I'm not mistaken, inventory was rather scarce until January.
I also distinctly remember a shortage of games. Had to wait like 3-4 weeks for the game I wanted to be stocked again.
Spartacus @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Everyone has this chip on their shoulder regarding Microsoft. People seem to think that Gates' company is where it is financially today because of scheming and marketing ploys. Bill is of course the antichrist and nothing but lies and deceit can come from his brain child company. Here's a more realistic scenario:
Microsoft is preparing for the largest console launch in the history of mankind. What took Sony 6 months to do with the PSP, MS is doing in 10 days. Europe, US and Japan will all get the 360 by December with production of the units starting only recently. Therefore it isn't to hard to believe that there may be more demand than supply at launch. Microsoft crunched numbers and figured out approximately how many would be available for each region and therefore allocated X number of units per retailer. The retailers then used their allocated unit number and started selling pre-orders (which benefits MS none, only the retailers). When the well ran dry, EB, Gamestop, Bestbuy etc. stopped selling them. I know a manager for both EB and Gamestop, both of them have given me the same story. They got X number of 360's allocated to them in the 1st shipment. MS later allocated a 2nd shipment. At no point in any of this did Microsoft REDUCE the number in any of the shipments, only added. So all this conspiracy theory BS is just ridiculous. MS is selling a product across the globe with only a few short months to crank out units. The rest is just common sense...
reason @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Dralt, good point. I misunderstood you originally.
Spartacus, dead right.
LMAO this is funny @ Dec 18th 2005 10:08PM
Sold Out? I think if I'm not able to walk into Walmart on the launch day and pick up an XBOX360, I'll wait. I mean I walked into Walmart at 8am on launch day of the PSP and got the very first one there. If they try to sell me a bundle, I'll pass, unless they give me agood discount, like $50 or so.