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Call Your Local Walmart if you want a PS4 (or walk in and insist on inventory check)

shandy706

Member
Ok, so I just had a conversation with a lady that I've know for years at Walmart.

It seems you CAN just walk in and buy a PS4. The thing is, she said they're not putting them out on the floor at all when they come in. I asked why, she said they're selling them to customers if they call for one or ask on the floor. She said if people ask and they have them, then they'll go get them. She also said a lot of employees at many stores want them and tend to get a lot of them across stores (but no one can have more than one at their store).

Anyway, see my picture of the receipt below....you can just walk in and get one apparently, LOL. The other option is calling (shipments seem to have arrived this morning) and hoping they aren't holding them all for other people.

iOWJhZ28lxs2Z.jpg


I blurred the gift card info (no idea if I needed too..lol).

Also, please don't harass this store. They were selling them to people and not hording them...harass your local one, lol. They had 11 PS4s available when this sale was made...but that was hours ago. :p

This also shows me that the inventory checker...tracker sites don't show them in stock (at least when I checked).
 

shandy706

Member
Why are they keeping them in the back like this? Are they trying to save them for Christmas shopping or something?

No idea...she doesn't run things. I asked about them, and that was what she was told. Don't take that as the "rule" for all stores. :)

She's not into tech...and only knew what she was told by the electronics peeps.
 

timlot

Banned
Don't know if I could have counted out $580 cash for a game system. Using my CC detaches me from my frivolous purchases.
 

shandy706

Member
Slightly OT, anyone have any good suggestions for cheap DS games for a 6 year old girl?

I've not messed with Nintendo handhelds since the GBA.
 
As someone who works in Wal-Mart's electronics department I can say this isn't true at all stores, at least it isn't true at mine. The drip feed of ps4/xbox ones we get go out on the sales floor and sell out within an hour.
 

FTF

Member
Slightly OT, anyone have any good suggestions for cheap DS games for a 6 year old girl?

I've not messed with Nintendo handhelds since the GBA.

Slightly?

Anyway, this is interesting and I wonder if other stores like Target and Best Buy are doing this too.
 
Sounds weird, what's the difference between selling them to customers who specifically ask in store or over the phone and just putting them out on the sales floor for anyone to buy?

Makes no sense.
 

shandy706

Member
Sounds weird, what's the difference between selling them to customers who specifically ask in store or over the phone and just putting them out on the sales floor for anyone to buy?

Makes no sense.

Remember, what she told me was passed down through employees (she doesn't work in that section). It may not be true...or may be just there.

Slightly?

"slightly"

Alright now, there is a DS on the receipt...:p

Back on subject, good luck to those who look today.
 
I'm working part time as a second job at Walmart and while they do do this, realize that the shipments most have been receiving have been almost nonexistent. So they're not in plentiful supply or something that all you have to do is call or go there and you'll get one. The last 2 trucks of freight we got in we got 3 in one truck and only 1 system in the next truck for PS4s. I don't know why they're doing it but they're keeping it in the electronics cage but if you call or ask and they have it they'll get it and hold it. Maybe they're afraid people will fight over it? Not sure, TBH.

As someone who works in Wal-Mart's electronics department I can say this isn't true at all stores, at least it isn't true at mine. The drip feed of ps4/xbox ones we get go out on the sales floor and sell out within an hour.

Weird, all the ones by me are keeping them in the electronics cage in the back.
 

AGITΩ

Member
Sounds weird, what's the difference between selling them to customers who specifically ask in store or over the phone and just putting them out on the sales floor for anyone to buy?

Makes no sense.

To prevent customers from seeing the units, calling up friends or posting up a message on Social media and then the stores start getting swamped. Calls and specific queries about it makes a bit more orderly.
 

turnbuckle

Member
I was lucky to have a friend/ manager at wal mart text me about a shipment of ps4's a few weeks ago. I got there and didn't see any so I asked the guy working in the department and he said they didn't have any. I told him I knew they just got a shipment in and he said they sold them all already. I texted my friend and he said they got 9 that day and there are three left. told the guy working and he said " your friend is wrong" ( paraphrasing, can't remember the exact words).

anyway, my friend comes over and goes around the counter in the electronics section, opens a box, and inside are three ps4s. I got one, and by the time I was out the door the other two were purchased too. so yeah, hard to know if something is or isn't in stock. I was just fortunate to have a friend working
 

jcm

Member
AGITΩ;93344626 said:
To prevent customers from seeing the units, calling up friends or posting up a message on Social media and then the stores start getting swamped. Calls and specific queries about it makes a bit more orderly.

Yes, there's nothing store hate more than having too many customers coming in.

I blurred the gift card info (no idea if I needed too..lol).

Actually, I think you ought to blur out the serials, too.
 

kierwynn

Member
Slightly OT, anyone have any good suggestions for cheap DS games for a 6 year old girl?

I've not messed with Nintendo handhelds since the GBA.

Pokemon and Animal Crossing for sure. Also Style Savvy- got that one for my niece and she loved it. Can probably find them used for a decent price. There's also a bunch of games based on Disney movies on the ds that my niece liked that should be pretty cheap.
 

Persona7

Banned
Yeah, someone mentioned this and the sunday thing the other day on GAF and my friend was able to get one by just walking in and asking.
 
I can also confirm, 610 South post oak in Htown had about 50 in stock as of a few moments ago, my hookup put me on to it, he was tempted to make a throne out of them and taking a pic sitting upon it, a Throne of Game (consoles). I suggested against it because things would break. Bad.
 

Toki767

Member
It's in their Sunday ad or something so I'd expect they're making sure they have a bunch on hand come Sunday morning. Could be that some Walmarts will accept walk-in requests before Sunday.
 

mohuerta

Member
My brother just called a couple walmarts and a target a while ago and was told walmart had a small shipment this morning (10) and sold out. Both walmart and target said they'll have a larger shipment (walmart said 48 and local target usually gets more systems than walmart) for Sunday morning.

Try asking how many units they're expecting at your local retailers.
 

Pain

Banned
My brother just called a couple walmarts and a target a while ago and was told walmart had a small shipment this morning (10) and sold out. Both walmart and target said they'll have a larger shipment (walmart said 48 and local target usually gets more systems than walmart) for Sunday morning.

Try asking how many units they're expecting at your local retailers.
So Sunday would be pre-Christmas week which is when most shopping is done. Cutting it a little close there Sony :D
 

Kraut

Member
So my local Walmart (in Canada, if that matters) has PS4's listed in their flyer and effective tomorrow. That means they have to have them there tomorrow for the flyer, right?
 

WillyFive

Member
So my local Walmart has PS4's listed in their flyer and effective tomorrow. That means they have to have them there tomorrow for the flyer, right?

No, they'll probably have them available when it says it will be available; Sunday at 8 AM.
 
I can also confirm, 610 South post oak in Htown had about 50 in stock as of a few moments ago, my hookup put me on to it, he was tempted to make a throne out of them and taking a pic sitting upon it, a Throne of Game (consoles). I suggested against it because things would break. Bad.

Yo, thanks for the word, I'm going to head over there tomorrow.
 

JoRo

Member
I'm a zone manager at a Walmart and overheard on the walkie today someone asking if we had any PS4s in stock and the electronics department manager immediately answered, "No, we're sold out." So it's definitely a store by store basis thing. But most Walmarts get trucks every day so it don't hurt to call up if you're really trying for one. Location is northwest Alabama BTW.
 
When I called my local Toys R Us and asked when the next time they'll get a new shipment, the last on the phone told me she doesn't know and the store in general doesn't know. :| Yeah right, bet she just didn't want to check.
 

Kraut

Member
Does the flyer have products other than a PS4?

Ya, plenty of stuff from all the departments. I'm in Canada, FWIW. I remember people in another thread saying that stores are required by law to have stock for anything advertised in a flyer, not sure if that applies here as well (for whatever reason).
 

Comandr

Member
Ahem, if you are going to go in to a store and badger them head to electronics and then ask for an IMS associate to come by and ask them to search "on the salesfloor" for the sku: 071171910034. That will tell them (and you) if they have them, where they are in the back, or if any are on the way.

By going in with exact, pointed information you are much less likely to get the shitty off hand "duhhhh... We don't have any lol"
 

WillyFive

Member
When I called my local Toys R Us and asked when the next time they'll get a new shipment, the last on the phone told me she doesn't know and the store in general doesn't know. :| Yeah right, bet she just didn't want to check.

Or they just didn't know. The store might be able order as much as they want, but they won't know how many they will get or when it will arrive, especially for a high demand item. Stores buy things from distributors the same way you buy stuff from the store.
 

Shig

Strap on your hooker ...
This is really a store to store thing. Mine got a bunch in earlier this week, but we made announcements that we had them immediately after receipt, and they were all gone lickety-split.

Incidentally, we also got a bunch of Xbox Ones, have been making the same announcements periodically, and 3-4 days later we were still sitting on 8-10 units.

shinobi602 said:
Sounds weird, what's the difference between selling them to customers who specifically ask in store or over the phone and just putting them out on the sales floor for anyone to buy?

Makes no sense.
Electronics employees are spinning a dozen plates at any given moment during the holidays; Constantly going to the back, waiting around for a manger to unlock the security room to get stock, and replenishing the 3-6 units that can fit in the locked case as soon as they sell just isn't feasible. And just throwing them out in the open on the salesfloor is definitely not an option, Wal-mart is thievery central.

When I called my local Toys R Us and asked when the next time they'll get a new shipment, the last on the phone told me she doesn't know and the store in general doesn't know. :| Yeah right, bet she just didn't want to check.
What a dickish assumption. Stores have no concrete idea of when they're getting stuff until, at earliest, it's been scanned into a truck that's already en route to them.
 
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