Ebay And Playstation 3's ....

[Jimlad]

Just read this on eBay....

"We wanted to let you know about some restrictions that will be placed on pre-sales of the Sony Playstation 3 console and games. To protect the whole eBay community, sellers will not be permitted to list PlayStation 3 consoles and games on eBay.ie until the authorised European pre-sales period begins in February 2007. Once the official pre-sales period has begun, ebay.ie will also be asking sellers to comply with the following requirements:

1. You may only offer one PlayStation 3 console.

2. If you are pre-selling a console, your listing must comply with our Pre-Sale Listings Policy. You must guarantee that the item will be available for dispatch within 30 days of the date it is listed on ebay.ie.

3. You must offer PayPal as the only payment option. The item must qualify for PayPal Buyer Protection.

4. You may only offer a PlayStation 3 console that you obtained within the EU. PlayStation 3 consoles obtained outside of the EU cannot be listed on ebay.ie.

5. Your listing must include a photo of your purchase or pre-order receipt. We recommend that you block out any personal information such as credit card numbers on the receipt to make sure that they aren’t visible on the photo.

Our top priority is to ensure that eBay remains a safe and reputable place to buy and sell. Please be aware that we may take action against your account if your listing doesn’t comply with these guidelines."

My question is, why can't you sell a Jap console on ebay now if you genuinley had one!?!?!.... I don't get it!! Also, there are some on ebay for sale anyway... wtf?

[ricomr2]

Have you seen the price some of them go for? Last one I saw was over a grand!

[Demonic Angel]

I've never agreed with pre-ordering a new console only to sell it on eBay for a massive profit... its tantamount to greed.

And lets face it, they pre-order and get one, whereas some little kid misses out for Christmas so their Mum & Dad are either forced to pay a ludicrous price so little Johnny can have what he asked Father Christmas for or see their childs disappointed face on Christmas morning....

I think its wrong, I get the whole supply/demand thing but the majority of people who want one are children. I dont think eBay should allow it full stop, but then thats my opinion and most people would prefer to pocket the hundreds and hundreds of pounds they make.... me, I wouldnt order one in the first place if I didnt want one and let my order go to someone who truly does...

[Flat Pack]

Its not the people buying and selling the consoles who are at fault as much as the manufacturers themselves.

The latest figures show that at launch Sony only had 80k consoles in Japan and 240k in the US. That's compared to their latest promise of 400k total, already revised down from 1m and 8m. That's a tiny tiny number, so small as to be practically insignificant (total user base for PS2 is over 100m for example).

Its a paper launch to generate hype, with the pictures of people queueing and clamouring to get the latest and greatest. PS3 won't really be properly released until you can go and buy one off the shelf, same as the 360 last year.

Having said that, its not gone as well for Sony in Japan this time round as they'd have liked. Rather than a few individuals buying consoles to resell, it looks like people have been employing gangs of poor / unemployed Chinese to go and buy up as many as possible. There's a load more about it here. Funnily enough those gangs seem to have managed to flood their own market though, PS3s aren't going for the silly money they'd have hoped for on the Japanese Yahoo auctions. If you must have one now that's the place to buy at the moment.

At the end of the day launching when you've got a sensible quantity of goods to sell would solve all these kind of problems. Probably wouldn't get the attention though ;)

[Johndcfc]

I bet eBay love it when new consoles come out - they must make a packet in fees.

Regarding selling consoles for profit, I dont see the problem it aint greed its business. If people want to buy at inflated prices its there call - maybe I have watched Wall Street too many times!

[Carrera_C]

I think it's technically illegal to sell an imported consol without the manufacturers concent. And Sony have been kicking up a right stink about trying to make sure that grey imports don't happen with the PS3.

I don't really like the whole 'buy it just to sell on ebay' thing, but it's basic supply and demand. And it will always happen until the suppliers / manufacturer sort themselves out.

[Robie]

If anyone is willing to pay more than the RRP for a product simply for the convienience of doing so from home and having it before there mates then fair play to those that take advantage of these people with more money than sense.

eBay are constantly trying to force people to use Paypal because they own it and get more money from it rather than so they have more control and to look after their customers.

[Kev Mc]

Personally I don't see the problem. People know how much they could get hold of PS3s or whatever for if they waited but if they're prepared to pay a lot more to get it quicker then that's up to them, I don't think the people selling them are doing anything wrong.

[Demonic Angel]

Not generally, but when its a possible kids Christmas present.... I liken it to being a grinch and stealing Christmas. Consenting adults is different, but most people are kids wanting these consoles for Christmas - stealing from a child, it sounds awful and thats the way I look at it.

I'm not a parent, but if my child wanted one and I couldnt get one, it'd be heartbreaking - and then seeing them on sale on eBay for double, triple the price, I'd be really :censor: !

I'm going to get a Wii and I'm not going to buy one on eBay, I can wait for a pre-ordered one. I'd rather line Nintendos pocket than that of a greedy Ebayer.... and I still stand by that its pure greed.

[DaveSR]

If I was Sony I would be wanting some of those eBay prices to be in my back pocket rather than other peoples.

Consoles are selling at double there prices and that would be a nice profit/bonus :D !

However I'm not really bothered about people buying to sell on - fair enough it's annoying but anyone with a brain would be sensible enough to wait for them to be available in the shops so no harm there.

It's the people with more money than sence and TBH they deserve it :P !