I missed this last year, but in 2008, Wal-Mart cut prices on 10 “popular” toys, selling them for $10 each. This year, they’re selling 100 toys for $10 each. This includes things from board games to Transformers to Barbies to Play-Doh.
It’s not a terrible idea. I do think Christmas is overcommercialized, but it’s nice when kids do get at least one gift from Santa (or their families, however they choose to do things).
The article mentions that Wal-Mart worked with manufacturers to get toys to this price – which makes me wonder about the quality. Board games, okay, I can see cutting prices there, but for some of these other toys that will be involved in rough play (epic Transformers battle!) might be less likely to hold up. I could be wrong, of course.
I also wonder if perhaps these are loss leaders for Wal-Mart – products priced so that there is little to no profit on the item itself, but it brings people into the store, which means they will buy other things that are marked up a bit more.
It will be interesting to see what other toys are in this list of 100 products and how the sales fare. I would also be interested to know the quality of the items.
One interesting stat – 20% of Wal-Mart shoppers have finished their Christmas shopping by Halloween. No wonder there’s so much Christmas creep! I’m a fan of Christmas shopping all year, meaning that you pick up items for people on your gift list when you come across them, rather than waiting and rushing to buy things. But I can’t imagine being done by the beginning of November. It would be easier to truly enjoy the season though.
I am still a last minute shopper, sadly, but you are right on about those Walmart sales. I feel like thats really the point of any sale. Except Black Friday when practically the whole store is on sale…