I hadn't been following the price of Wiis on eBay, since I acquired one last summer - but I assumed that they were spiking towards Christmas. Looks like I assumed wrong: Nintendo actively tried to limit the spiking:

On December 14, Nintendo held a conference call for reporters in which it talked about its plans for handling holiday demand for the Wii. It discussed many different options, including a rain-check system (which I discussed in my story about looking for Wiis), as well as new stock that would be available at a series of retailers.

And while the rain-checks wouldn't result in actual Wiis in hands until January and the retailers got limited shipments that quickly ran out, the moves, along with the outreach to video game journalists, seemed to have worked in creating a public impression that the consoles were at least marginally available and therefore it maybe wasn't necessary for consumers to pay a year's college tuition to get a Wii on eBay.

That's fascinating - I would not have thought they would do that, but - high prices on the gray market and limited supplies are going to lead to nasty stories, which is bad PR. Looks like Nintendo has some forward looking people in that group.

Technorati Tags: marketing, gadgets, Wii