Bag a Furby online
Frantic gift hunters can use the Internet to bag
their fuzzy, talkative quarry
November 17, 1998: 5:26 p.m. ET
All I want for
Christmas... - Oct.
31, 1998
New toy an
interactive fur ball
- Oct. 5, 1998
Raving Toy
Maniac
Furby Page
Portfolio manager
NEW YORK (CNNfn) - For many parents,
grandparents and other gift-givers, the holiday
shopping season is known by another name -- hunting
season. And increasingly, those hunters are looking for
hard-to-find gifts online.
Each year, they head out looking to bag the toy of
the moment. No hunting license is required, but
patience and a willingness to open up their wallets is
imperative.
Tickle Me Elmo was hunted to extinction during the
1996 holiday season. Elmo's giggling and
uncontrollable shaking was particularly unsuited for
survival and he was easily spotted by keen-eyed
shoppers.
The fate of Sing 'n Snore Ernie, last year's
much-sought toy, was similar. While the soporific
songster managed to avoid outright extinction during
the holiday season, he was at the very least endangered.
On the trail of Furby
This year's fur-bearing quarry is Furby. If you've
ever seen the movie "Gremlins" you've seen what a
Furby looks like. Now combine that with a tamagocchi,
an electronic "animal" which must be fed and played
with on a regular basis (and which has also been the
prey of determined shoppers in years past).
Smaller, more elusive and more varied than many
other gift species, the Furby attracted attention after a
series of high-profile sightings of the beast.
In September, Wired magazine named it the
"must-have" Christmas toy for 1998. When it was
officially launched in October, its manufacturer, Tiger
Electronics, launched an all-out morning television blitz
along with a press event at New York's preeminent toy
store, FAO Schwartz.
Soon afterwards, gift-seekers took to the main
habitat of Furby -- the local toy stores -- and soon there
were none to be found.
However, a new breed of hunter not content to settle
for disappointing their children on Christmas morning
with mere Legos or Barbies, has chosen to go on an
online safari to bag a Furby.
The move was an obvious one for these Internet
users. About 54 percent of Internet users made a
purchase online during the past year, according to the
National Retail Federation.
Additionally, about 30 percent of those on the Web
will be buying holiday gifts online, spending an average
of about $270, the retail trade group said.
Those online buyers could eat up a nice chunk of
that $270 with the purchase of a Furby. Even though
the toys retail for about $30, a lucrative secondary
market has sprung up to assist parents in bringing in a
Furby.
Now taking bids
You'll begin your hunt slowly, then spread out over
the Internet scouring places where Furby has been
known to hide.
For those who are not faint of heart, you can check
out online auction houses such as eBay. Simply put,
these sites allow you to bid for toys you may not be
able to find in a store, whether it be a particular Furby,
Beanie Baby or other toy.
Don't expect to find a Furby for $30, though. a
Furby can come in all kinds of colors and even the most
mundane ones are usually bid up to at least $60, with
some of the more rare ones leaping into the $200
range.
The market for Beanie Babies is somewhat more
tame. Many online auction offerings of Beanie Babies
fall into the $6-8 range with the more expensive ones
only reaching to about $20.
Chat groups offer you another option for getting
those hard-to-find toys. These groups, such as Beanie
Babies and Tamagotchi Trading Chat Room allow you
to exchange information in real time with other toy
seekers who may be able to give you advice as to what
online stores or other places may have your
hard-to-find toy for sale.
If you just want to leave your success up to fate you
can participate in a Web Furby giveway. Bangkok.com
is giving away three Furbys through December.
Newsgroups can be another effective way of
tracking Furby's movements. A quick check of the
newsgroup devoted to finding a Furby, alt.toys.furby
finds frantic parents scurrying around for the elusive
Furby.
"I have four children and each of them want a
Furby!" posted one parent.
Most of the people on the newsgroup seem to have
tried the usual online methods. One website in
particular, Wal-Mart.com, has received the bulk of
online buyer interest.
Daily, Furby newsgroup aficionados post messages
updating each other on the progress of Furby
availability on Wal-Mart.com. Almost as soon as
someone says Wal-Mart is accepting orders, another
posts that they have now run out.
It can be tough on parents like Jayne, a Staten Island
mother desperately seeking a Furby. However, she is
determined to sit tight and not pay more than the
$29.95 retail price.
"I can wait until after the holidays, if necessary,"
she said. "My kids are older. They'll understand."
Other parents are not so patient, and that's where
people like Jason Stark step in.
Stark is also a frequent visitor to the Furby
newsgroup, but he's on the supply side. Recently he's
been hawking Furby on the newsgroup but this isn't his
first stab at capitalism.
"Every year I try to figure what toys will be the hot
sellers and from that point I buy as many as I can when
I can," said Stark. "I also buy Barbie and this year
Tonka's Chuck the Truck is also hot."
Stark is an unabashed capitalist and has little
patience for those parents who cry foul over someone
trying to make a buck as a middleman.
"The people that criticize you for selling products
over the Internet are apparently not advocates of the
free market system," he said.
"You can't blame me for selling Furby over the Net.
I can only get what people are willing to pay. I have to
work hard to get these toys and that is what the people
are paying such high prices for."
Even those who buy toys and sell them again at a
profit online usually get their start using the tried and
true methods.
Stark said he did research on what stores may be
likely to have them and on what date they might be
available.
Often this requires getting an early start. Those who
resell their toys often start months ahead of Christmas
gathering information. Often, they try to establish a
rapport with the toy manager or, at the very least, the
people who stock the shelves at stores.
Additionally, you'll need to do some legwork.
Often, stores will stock their shelves at different rates.
For instance, a Wal-Mart might stock every two weeks,
a Kmart only once a month.
Once you establish a pattern, you'll know what dates
to check back on in order to be there first and have the
best chance to snatch a particularly scarce item.
These tactics require a lot of time on your part and
it might make it seem like paying a little extra to avoid
this might be worth it.
But even if you do choose to do all of your hunting
online it won't be easy and you'll have to be diligent.
However, you can end up victorious. After much
searching, tracking and waiting, our fearless hunter
Jayne recently emerged from the Internet forest happily
carrying a Furby she had bagged on the Wal-Mart site.
-- by staff writer Randall J. Schultz |
