When limits ARE needed!

Happy Halloween, Zhu Zhu Peeps!

It is agreed that limits can be super-irritating when you have a lot of kids to buy for. But in some instances, I think many would agree that some sort of purchase policy would be a good thing! Here is a story that was shared on the GottaDeals forum thread last night by "Katie811" from Massachutes:

"I had to share this with you all.

I got to Target this morning at 7:50 (waiting for the doors to open) and 8am comes around and I walk toward target this guy starts walking past me (of course i'm not thinking he is after Zhu Zhu's) so he grabs his cart looks back at me and RUNS! I was like WTH!? So I turn the corner to the Zhu Zhu isle, and there he is! He pushed the cart right against the shelves and threw EVERY zhu zhu item INTO HIS CART! Even the pegs went flying! I was speechless!!

Now all my son is asking for - for christmas is the Zhu Zhu slide.

So I very nicely ask the guy "could I have one of those slides please, my son wants it for christmas" he responds with "WELL IF YOU WANT IT BAD ENOUGH YOU WILL BUY IT OFF EBAY FROM ME!!" with the BIGGEST smile.. i was so in shock!

so all my trips to Target and never finding anything is because he is there taking it all every morning! looks like my son will never get the slide and I am not paying off ebay !"

A story like that just leaves you speechless! I cannot imagine being in that situation. When someone purchases all available stock, everyday, then a REASONABLE limit per person policy should be instituted. What do you think?

Personally, I think the guy should have felt like such a jerk. If she got the courage up to plead for one slide, it wouldn't have hurt him to give one up. My curiosity got the best of me, so I did a little simple math after I read this story:

$25.00 (average slide price on eBay from 10-30)
- $16.05 (approx. Target retail with 7% sales tax)
- $ 2.55 (approx. eBay listing fee/comission)
- $ 1.17 (approx. PayPal fee on $30 (sale price plus $5 shipping)
_________
profit: $5.23 per slide

Oh, and don't forget to deduct cost of shipping materials, and gas to/from Target and the post office. I just see very, very little profit in it at this point. Who wants to make people miserable and get paid pennies on the dollar to do so? Not me!

I hope everyone is having some luck at finding Zhu Zhu Pets™ items at retail prices!!

"November New Releases"? The truth revealed!

Good Afternoon, Zhu Zhu Maniacs!

For the past month or so, I have seen different toy-related websites (and eBay, to a much smaller extent) doing presales on the unreleased new Zhu Zhu Pets™ hamsters, hamster babies, and clothing. All of them seem to be touting a release/ship date of November. I have continued to wonder where they are getting their information, considering I was told by a Cepia representative that: The new hamsters will not be released before December, and the babies, outfits, and new vehicles will not be released before Spring 2010.

After reading a post this morning from an individual claiming to have found a pink/white Jilly on the shelf at a Walmart today, I decided to reconsult with my Cepia contact. Here is part of her response to me:

"This is highly unlikely. Wal Mart has not even placed their orders for the new hamsters yet and Toys R Us is the ONLY mass retail store that is expected to have the new characters before Christmas. If this woman really did purchase Jilly, the factory made a MAJOR mistake in packing and shipping, but again, it is highly unlikely."

Though I would like to believe that some new releases may have found their way to shelves, I will remain skeptical until I see photographic proof ☺

My real concern in this matter isn't the "he said/she said" of what and when items will be available. It bothers me that individuals may lay out a lot of hard-earned money for these presales in order to get a coveted item before Christmas, and it will be impossible for the seller to deliver on this promise. I suppose I can summarize it in two simple words: "Buyer Beware!".

On a happy note, here is a bit of good news my contact passed along to me today:

" For existing Zhu Zhu Pets goods: They are being shipped. We have over 2 million hamsters on the way that will hit store shelves before Christmas."

TRU Presale on Giant Hamster City Playset

**Yawn**

A headache has contributed to a bit of insomnia tonight. It was just brought to my attention on my Facebook page that TRU.com has their exclusive "Giant Hamster City Playset" available for PRESALE right now for 99.99 at this link . Estimated ship date is 11/23. Limit 3.

Several weeks ago, TRU.com had this posted, but not in stock yet. At that time, the retail price was listed at 84.99. Wonder what could have spurred at $15 price increase? Low-retail for the individuals pieces of the set (which DOES include Patches) would be about $86 + tax. So it might be worth it to you to nab the majority of the accessory pieces and two hamsters and save on gas!

UPDATE: As of this morning, this set/presale has vanished from TRU.com. Hopefully some of you who were interested were able to get in on it before it was gone!

In-Stocks, Price Hikes, and Bits

Hello, Zhu Zhu-ites!

Walmart.com has sporadically been adding hamsters for the last several days. Some people are reporting luck with nabbing some, while others say that by the time they are alerted by Zoolert, they are out of stock. Other problems include getting the hamsters in your cart but being unable to checkout with them. (This was a reported problem when TRU.com had them in stock, as well). Zoolert is unsure of what is causing the problem... if literally they are only adding a very small number of hamsters (less than 10) at a time, and the massive amounts of people are snatching them up before the Zoolert tracker refreshes every 2 minutes. Regardless, I hope some of you have been lucky in your recent hunting ventures!

One word of advice: It seems that when an online retailer starts consistently adding stock, the brick-and-mortar stores also seem to get more shipments during that time. With that said, keep a close eye on Walmart ☺ And a making a friend or two in the toy dept. doesn't hurt your chances, either!

eToys is at it again....it appears several days ago, they raised prices on all of the accessory packs! With their hamsters still at 19.99, the accessories did seem to be priced at comparable retail. Now they are about $5 above Walmart's retail prices. What gives? Anyway, if you feel like paying 3rd party prices at a supposed retail store, eToys has nearly everything in stock.

As always, keep an eye on the Hamster Blog , as they are always giving away little hints about good things to come! Of course, I will keep you updated of any Zhu Zhu Pets™ news/rumors here!

"Custom" Zhu Zhu Pets™??

Good Monday Morning, Zhu Zhu Lovers!

As the Zhu Zhu craze continues, people are starting to get creative to cash-in on the popularity and the looming holiday season. Up until now, this has consisted of individuals making custom, handmade items like clothing/outfits and sleeping bags.

It was brought to my attention a few days ago that people are "dyeing" the hamsters (usually Chunk, the all-white one) and selling them as custom. (All photos property of the respective eBay auction-holders). Is anyone else reminded of the "custom" tye-dyed Valentino Beanie Babies of years past??

I am not sure of the exact dyeing process that they are using, as traditional dyeing would saturate the hamster with water and ruin it beyond use. I am thinking it must be some sort of dye-marker (or even plain, old Crayola markers!).

If you search "custom Zhu Zhu" on eBay, there are currently 12 auctions, with quite a few completed auctions. It doesn't seem that these "custom" hamsters are going for any more $ than the plain, unaltered ones... and in some cases, LESS. This could be a risky venture for these sellers, as once they are dyed they obviously won't be able to be returned to a store if they do not sell.

Personally, I think I would rather wait until the new hamsters are released!

In Stock Today: Walmart.com!!!

Get your Zoolert screens up and running! Walmart has been adding hamsters and funhouses today! To make the process go more quickly, be sure to sign into Walmart and have all of your info (address, credit card, etc.) saved so you can check out ASAP if you nab them ☺☺

Something Fishy at eToys?

Happy Hump Day!

Talk on the boards seems to have shifted to eToys.com. As a supposed "retail store", they do currently have Zhu Zhu Pets™ in stock....at more than twice the retail price! Interestingly enough, the accessories are all priced at average retail, while the hamsters are $19.99 each. What gives?!

According to this link , eToys is owned by Toys R Us. Individuals state that packing slips from eToys orders (as recently as yesterday), have the Toys R Us/Babies R Us logo on them. So, it becomes apparent that they share the same warehouse.

What's the big deal? According to Zoolert.com, Toysrus.com has not had any hamsters in stock since 10-9, nearly 2 weeks ago. (Incidentally, at that time they were selling the hamster 3-packs for 34.99... $5 over their own seperate hamsters retail of $9.99). Now Toysrus.com is bone dry, yet eToys has had ample stock for days.

It is appearing to many of us that Toys R Us.com must be rerouting their inventory to eToys and charging double-retail by doing so. Makes sense because it would be very contradictory if they charged twice as much online at Toysrus.com as they do in their brick-and-mortar stores. At $19.99, I dare say they wouldn't have anyone waiting in line at the store.

It's a free country, and Toys R Us has the right to do whatever it feels, right? True. But it certainly puts a bad taste in many people's mouths regarding the company in general. On one hand, in stores they are limiting to 1 hamster/person/day (or sometimes 1 per household, as I mentioned in an earlier post)...in an effort to spread the wealth and discourage 3rd-party hoarders. But on the other hand, if they are using their alias store, eToys, as a tool to cash in on the craze and charge more than twice the retail... not cool. Not at all. Especially since the average completed price on eBay today is $20/hamster, they are no better than the hoarders they are supposedly trying to discourage.