I just checked EBAY-and people are asking some insane prices for their precious Ps3 systems…of course, asking and getting are two different things. Anyway, my stepson was one of the foolish ones who sat outside a store for two nights…to buy a PS3. Now he’s trying to sell it on EBAY-and getting nothing but bogus offers from buyers in NIGERIA! Who (of course0 want to buy OUTSIDE EBAY!
Another question: some of these buyers seem legit-they have legitimate EBAY names, ans “star” ratings-how does a scammer get a good EBAY buyer’s rating? Do they somehow use a mule?
I don’t know anything about how eBay works, so I can’t comment on that. But it is a fact that my ex-girlfriend’s brother and two of his friends literally camped out for days outside Best Buy to buy three PS3s for (I think) a total of around $900. They have since resold the machines for a total of $2,100 on eBay. It took them less than 36 hours to resell them.
So, if a return of around 133% is “big bucks,” then yes, it can happen. Personally, I wouldn’t have gone so gung-ho to make $400, but these guys are all in their early 20s. They’re still idiots.
I should add that the guys I referenced above bought their machines literally the first hour they went on sale and put them up on eBay within 15 minutes of getting home with them. I think your stepson is way late to the party.
One article I read when they came out referred to an extremely small number of people who were willing to pay big bucks to get the newest technology as soon as it became available. But they stressed that the market for this type of flipping was extremely brief. I suspect Lizard is correct.
There isn’t really much a market anymore. When they were first released, you could make a 100% profit or so, if you were lucky. They sell for $500-$600 depending on which version you get. Now, on Ebay, they seem to be selling for about $50 to $100 more than they cost.
Yeah, the answer is pretty much “not anymore.”
Lizard, I’m totally confused how anyone could have bought three PS3s for a total of $900, since that’s only about half of the MSRP.
No.
Worse for Sony, anecdotal evidence on teh intertubes suggests that retail demand for the PS3 is winding down as well. Ask any Gamestop employee about demand for the PS3 or the Wii, and most will tell you queries for the Wii outnumber queries for the PS3 by about 20-to-1 – which might be an indication of where most consumers’ interest is heading.
Okay, I went and called my Ex to clear this up, and it turns out my numbers were confused … but in the opposite direction! Her brother and his friends each bought a PS3 for ~$650 each, which comes to $1950, so I was off by about $1,000. But they then sold two of the three machines on eBay at a straight price (without putting them up for auction) for $2,100 each, a return of more than 220% per machine sold. They haven’t sold their third one yet; my ex figures the guy who bought that one probably succumbed to temptation and opened it.
[Moderator Hat ON]
This seems more like a survey than a Great Debate, so I’m sending it to IMHO.
[Moderator Hat OFF]
Doing an eBay completed-listings search for ps3 turns up the following prices for items that have sold in the last half-hour or so:
$825
$791
$710
$705
$700
$695
$679
$650
$610
$599
$570.05
$550
Average: $673.67
Median: $687
Looks like they’re moving, but not (today) at a rate to pay off anyone’s student loans.
In my quest for a Nintendo Wii, I’ve been dropping by several stores before and after I go to work for the past several weeks (and did an all-nighter last Saturday night that yielded nothing but this damn cough I have). Several times I’ve been told that they (Fry’s and Best Buy) had PS-3’s if I wanted them. So at this point, it seems like you can find PS-3’s sitting on some stores’ shelves. I think that the era of big bucks E-bay profits is rapidly coming to an end. (This statement has not been evaluated for truthiness regarding Wiis).
I’ve posted before about how I think the PS3’s hardware is overpriced shit, and how once people find out for themselves the demand will drop off. It’s happening faster than I thought; several gaming mags are already talking about how the Bluetooth wireless controllers tend to desync and mess up your gameplay. The Wii is doing very well, other than some reports of the wrist strap on the remote breaking because people are swinging it around too hard. If Wiis were as rare as PS3s right now, I think they would be selling for thousands on eBay. At this time last year, Xbox 360s were fairly scarce (not as much as the PS3) but they didn’t have all the problems and so were still selling at high prices.
Scored myself a Wii! Woo Hoo! Did my normal rounds this AM, saw a short line at a Toys R Us, and was #8. Hope that doesn’t use up all my lucky karma for next year. (I still want a girlfriend and world peace).
You folks need to be up here in Canada. We walked into a Future Shop the day after the Wii release, walked out with one 8 minutes later.
Earlier today, I was in line at a Microplay. The guy in front of me asked if they had any PS3s. The response he got was “Do you want 20 Gig or 60 Gig” They had several of both.
Is it possible to find out the most expensive unit sold on ebay as well?
I don’t know about world peace, but your chances of getting a girlfriend for Christmas went up about 6-fold with the aquisition of a Nintendo Wii. Pick up Elebits and Rayman and you’ll have them eating out of your hand in no time. Show them Wii Bowling to close the deal. 
-malkavia, who has sustained several Wii-related injuries in the last month and is still obsessed with getting the pro ball in Wii bowling.