Walmart Gets Scammed Into Selling PS4 for $90 & Wii U for $60

[Yunru]

Customers have misused Wal-Mart's price match promotion to obtain $400 PlayStation 4 consoles for less than a quarter of the retail price using third-party sellers on Amazon.

The company announced on Nov. 13 that it would price-match select online retailers, including Amazon.com.

However, any Amazon member with a registered selling account can create authentic looking pages and list items "for sale" online. Consumers need only take a screen capture of the page and show it to a cashier at checkout in order to request the price match.

Wal-Mart's online price match policy states, "We're committed to providing low prices every day, on everything. So if you find a current lower online price from an online retailer on an identical, in-stock product, tell us and we'll match it."

Few employees appear to have verified the legitimacy of these online deals as many customers were able to purchase gaming systems for $90.

The scam seems to have been initiated after Sears accidentally listed several Nintendo consoles on its site for $60, according to Consumerist, a consumer advocacy site.

I realy laughed hard reading this. 90$ for ps4 ---)best price ever

[Independent voter]

Sounds like something you could go to jail for.

[Tradewind]

damn all the ones on amazon.ca start at $449

[willtron]

Sounds like something you could go to jail for.

I seriously doubt that. It's not stealing, it's clever use of game mechanics. Probably as close to a victim-less crime you'll ever get.

[Deleted]

Walmart gets scammed?

Good. Serves them - the company and it's filthy rich owners and CEOs - right.

[Deleted]

They treat their employees like shite, hard to feel sorry for them.

[Beazy]

Damnit. . . I dont use consoles, but I would have gotten a couple for 90 bux. . . . . . Could flip those easily on Craigslist!

[time0ut]

I know what I'm doing after work today! I'll be swimming in these PS4 things in no time.

[Zepiper]

So that video....I think if someone edited out all of the F-bombs from it, it would be a full 10% shorter of a video. He suffers from the Kat Williams syndrome where a decent portion of his entire verbal repertoire is centered on one word. Excessive use of profanity, to the point of using it as punctuation is a sign of a weak and uncreative mind.

[time0ut]

So that video....I think if someone edited out all of the F-bombs from it, it would be a full 10% shorter of a video. He suffers from the Kat Williams syndrome where a decent portion of his entire verbal repertoire is centered on one word. Excessive use of profanity, to the point of using it as punctuation is a sign of a weak and uncreative mind.

Stop fucking whining. :-P

[Kantalope]

So that video....I think if someone edited out all of the F-bombs from it, it would be a full 10% shorter of a video. He suffers from the Kat Williams syndrome where a decent portion of his entire verbal repertoire is centered on one word. Excessive use of profanity, to the point of using it as punctuation is a sign of a weak and uncreative mind.

And that's relevant, how?

[Yunru]

Damnit. . . I dont use consoles, but I would have gotten a couple for 90 bux. . . . . . Could flip those easily on Craigslist!

Yeah i would be getting all the 3ds xls if posible. Then i could resell them quite a profit.

[Conspicuous Cultist]

If only they sold computer parts that's meant for gaming on wall-mart.

Could get some nice graphics card out of that little gig.

[Crissi]

On one hand, I hate scams. On the other hand, its walmart... hmm...

[Deleted]

I for one wonder why this guy looks like a dwarve from the Hobbit movies :d

[cubby]

Not sure this is even legit - I mean, I love the theory but it looks like this guy is just vying for publicity without any real proof.

[SHT]

Well, in Australia if a store advertises a price (purposefully or inadvertently) consumer laws force them to offer it at that price.

If they're dumb enough to write lax conditions into their promotions then they should stick to them.

In terms of the legality: if someone else set up something fraudulently and another person used that incidentally as evidence then it's not even a grey area. If you're going out of your way to scam, then you may be opening yourself up to liability.

Personally, if I'm buying a console it's because I:
1) Can afford it.
2) Want to give a company money that they deserve for creating a good product (free market and all that).

If I wanted it cheaper I could definitely wait until sales/competition forced the price down or I just wouldn't get it.

[Conspicuous Cultist]

Well, in Australia if a store advertises a price (purposefully or inadvertently) consumer laws force them to offer it at that price.

If they're dumb enough to write lax conditions into their promotions then they should stick to them.

In terms of the legality: if someone else set up something fraudulently and another person used that incidentally as evidence then it's not even a grey area. If you're going out of your way to scam, then you may be opening yourself up to liability.

Personally, if I'm buying a console it's because I:
1) Can afford it.
2) Want to give a company money that they deserve for creating a good product (free market and all that).

If I wanted it cheaper I could definitely wait until sales/competition forced the price down or I just wouldn't get it.

Wallmart really doesn't make anything. It's just a distribution platform and the guys that made it already got their money.

Of course, if nobody buys the ps4s or anything then obviously wall-mart will stop buying from those guys.

[Reeve]

I seriously doubt that. It's not stealing, it's clever use of game mechanics. Probably as close to a victim-less crime you'll ever get.

If you're putting up a posting for $60 without intent to actually sell it at that price for the sole purpose of defrauding Wal-Mart, then I'd say it's fraud, not clever use of game mechanics.

[Conspicuous Cultist]

If you're putting up a posting for $60 without intent to actually sell it at that price for the sole purpose of defrauding Wal-Mart, then I'd say it's fraud, not clever use of game mechanics.

The lawyers would probably say that too.

But they'll also probably have to prove that you know that guy that's selling the ps4 and you were in cahoots with him.

So get a buddy from across the state or something.