Buying Games Consoles ? Watch out for the SCAMMERS !

Its a Fact - The Nintendo Wii and DS lite are still in Short Supply within the UK. Nintendo currently allocate stock to their Customers who then allocate stock to their Distributors or wholesalers. How do we know this ?, because we fit into that loop of allocation.Over the last 12 months the wii and ds lites have been in huge demand, more so than Nintendo could of ever imagined. So when you buy a Nintendo, Where and who should you buy from ? How do you know if its genuine or a copy ?. The Harsh reality of life is that "our safe community of trading "ebay" does have some fakes" how do we spot them ?You may ask "why am I writing this review ? " Simple "I know someone that has been had twice" Scammed, and I never want to see anyone else go through this.Here we will try to help you pick out the good from the bad.1. When buying a Games console, we all want a bargain - dont we !. But is that best .... By buying a bargain (a ds lite for 50 instead of 99) you are also buying uncertainty. I can tell you now You CANT buy a GENUINE DS LITE for 50. There are sellers on ebay that will try to sell at this price and you will find that they are mostly imports. Of course its up to you if you just want a bargain and you dont mind if its genuine, but what happens if the machine goes wrong ?. Well thats it, youve had it, Nintendo wont repair the machine, if it is not genuine.So thats the first thing. Make up your mind do you just want a cheepie or do you want the real thing. The Genuine DS LITE will cost you around 99.00.The Wii, Ok BE VERY CAREFUL......... The uk pal Wii at the most is in very very short supply, so whats happening ? !!!. Just this, They are being Chipped (so to speak), this means the units are being tampered with (having the chip changed) so they are in theory region free and will play uk games. Lets face it if you ordered a wii from China and its a Jap spec, the only way you will know is when you switch it on, but if its been chipped it will load in English and you will never know.So again try to Buy from a UK Seller, you can buy these for around 179.00, although in short supply, they are about.2. Who to buy from, well of course The High Street Stores, UK Companies on the Internet, and Yes Ebay, but when buying on Ebay, try to checkout who you are buying from. If they are a Company (such as we are), Check at Companies house to see if the company exists. This only takes 2 mins on the website and costs nothing. This will give you piece of mind. If you are buying from a company on Ebay or the internet (Note that on the search engines, any company must state their - company reg number - telephone number - registered office address - vat number if they wish to display this), If you find a company on the internet and they have NO CONTACT DETAILS, please dont buy. We have found 2 companies like this that trading standards have now removed. It is nice to see this information on ebay listings, as you can then check them out before buying from them).3. Look at the feedback scores. Be careful if you are buying from someone who has a low feedback score especially if they havnt sold many consoles. You will find that some sellers, will sell items really cheap to increase their feedback score rapidly, giving you a false sense of security.Also when buying from a company on Ebay, the company has a duty to you, and can provide invoices for you, and of course guide you through warranty procedures.4. Paypal, try to pay using paypal, this covers you for non receipt of an item, or if you need to post a dispute against a seller.5. Need help or advice, feel free to contact us, we arn't experts, but we can help and advise you as much as possible.Good Luck, and shop safely.