Would You Pay $948 For A Wii?

[CantGetAWii]

Over the Christmas holiday, some people went to pretty desperate measures to acquire Nintendo's coveted Wii. One local woman offered to lease my used Nintendo Wii until she could nab one for herself. I wondered "who would do that?" and politely declined. I wonder if this same woman would be crazy/desperate enough to give into the predatory rent-to-own schemes.

The Consumerist informs us of one extreme example of rent-to-own rip-off pricing. This "lease-purchase" from Kelly's offers a Wii for $79 a month. That price doesn't sound too terrible until you find out that customers are expected to pay that installment for 12 months. What would normally cost $250 would be bumped up to a whopping $948! That's almost enough for a Wii, Xbox 360, and a PS3.

They point out, in contrast, that a credit card at 18% interest would only cost you $23 a month for 12 months, and you'd get "out the door" for $673 less than the Kelly's "deal."

The pitfalls of rent-to-own schemes are nothing new, but I hate to think that some of our down-and-out or desperate gaming brethren might give into this predatory sales tactic. While I enjoy my Nintendo Wii, I know it's not worth almost $1000, let alone their $500 cash price. If things are tight right now, just do what The Consumerist recommends: stick that $79 monthly payment in an envelope for three months and go buy your Wii with cash.

Source

 

[stugots]

ufk NO

 

[EffeKt]

god no

 

[jimbo]

feel sorry for the person, and at that price ffs.

buy all 3 consoles you seroius, cool.

and i wold only do that if it had, next gen graphics, came with an extra wii mote and 2-3 good quility games, and online (free)etc

 

[kmcheng]

desperate move for desperate people, fair is fair

 

[CocoSSBB]

Are the consoles seriously STILL sold out? I'm happy I found one last February.

 

[kmcheng]

Are the consoles seriously STILL sold out? I'm happy I found one last February.

yes, but the non MSRP price is lower now in ebay, half or amazon, between $300 and 350, lower than $300 in some deals

 

[zapasant]

hell no

ide buy me something nice with that money

 

[CocoSSBB]

yes, but the non MSRP price is lower now in ebay, half or amazon, between $300 and 350, lower than $300 in some deals

$300 isn't that bad. I'd probably just put in the extra $50 for a 360, but it's better than $950...

 

[Cinq]

Hell no, I was looking for one a year ago and could not find one in my area, I wasn't desperate enough to even pay the 350 - 400 prices I saw online. I rather wait till I can find it for the actual price.. and I did, I got a 360 in the mean time to hold me over

 

[nice_wii]

Hellz No!

 

[meehanuk]

No chance lol

 

[261311]

Do you guys know how many hookers you can get in Taiwan with that money and still buy your Wii? Good lord!

 

[BirdMasterLv100]

Nope i would never pay that much i would just wait until they had them restocked and then get killed by a mob of wii wanting owners.

 

[PKU4GOOD]

now, this just proves the idea that the human race is slowly de-evolving at a constant rate. if you want to pay about $950 for a ****in' wii for one year of use, you are a RETARD