You might be able to buy a SNES Classic from ThinkGeek—but there's a catch
You don't need us to tell you that Nintendo's NES Classic and SNES Classic are notoriously hard to come by, with online restocks selling out in seconds and shoppers lining up well before doors open for the chance to pick up the retro consoles.
It's super frustrating, especially as the holiday season is well underway and everyone is looking for the hottest tech gifts. Nintendo is notorious about underproducing its consoles, pissing off retailers and customers alike.
When the hard-to-get consoles do go on sale, they're often snatched up by bots and re-sellers who post them on sites like eBay at a mark-up. To avoid the mad rush and reseller interference, retailers are getting creative with their sales tactics. Most recently Toys R Us had the SNES Classic available in stores only and Walmart released their stock over a span of three days. (The consoles still sold out in seconds each day.) Still, demand heavily outweighs supply right now and ThinkGeek just announced a clever new way to distribute their latest shipment of consoles.
According to a new page on their website, ThinkGeek has an undisclosed amount of NES and SNES Classic consoles sitting in their warehouse right now. Rather than open online orders on a first come, first served basis, they're holding a lottery for the chance to order one of the coveted consoles. Just enter your email address and choose which console you want to buy, cross your fingers, and wait.
This is the full statement on ThinkGeek's website:
We know that many of you who were hoping to get a Nintendo NES or SNES Classic Edition for the holidays were disappointed by the lack of supply. We feel you. But there’s still some time left, and we’re trying to distribute them in the fairest way we know.
We received a shipment of NES and SNES Classics to our warehouse, and we're holding a drawing to let you buy them without having to be at your local store the moment the truck shows up. Because ain't nobody got time for that.
All you have to do is sign up here, and if you're one of those randomly selected, we'll email you with instructions on how to buy yours.
The drawing will take place on December 7, so you have a week to enter for your chance at glory. In the meantime you can check out Mashable gaming reporter Adam Rosenberg's tips on how to increase your chances of picking up the SNES Classic next time it goes on sale.
According to twitter, Emily Heller is a fake geek girl and a SJW. If you ask her friends, she laughs too loud and cries at cute animal videos. Prior to Mashable, Emily wrote for CollegeHumor and Reductress and most recently worked at a very bro-y tech startup. She lives in Brooklyn with three dudes, a cat who acts like a dog and a dog who acts like a houseplant.
