A Playstation 3 Confession
by Dustin Burg 
{ Nov 5th 2006 at 11:00AM }
Friends, I have a confession to make. Last year when our beloved Xbox 360 hit store shelves there was a bit of a shortage, fanboys went crazy, parents were angry, and kids were sad. Microsoft just couldn't make enough consoles to supply the consumer's massive demand. And so many people felt they had no other options left, no where to turn, no other choice but one. Those consumers who needed a 360 by Christmas had to go spend their money on eBay where Xbox 360s were selling for crazy inflated amounts. Those who preordered the white console or had an extra one made a killing on eBay, racked in the big bucks and chuckled as they were selling Xbox 360s for two to three times their value. Well... we've come to a similar situation this holiday season with the release of the ::shiver:: Playstation 3...And so my confession is as follows: I have preordered a Playstation 3. Please, I ask you not to judge for I have similar eBay plans. I preordered the Playstation 3 not to keep, but to sell on eBay for crazy amounts of money come launch day. Greed may have had a roll in my decision, but how can one turn down extreme profit, especially during this holiday season when presents need to be purchased? So, I ask for your forgiveness in hopes that you understand the circumstances. But wait... I ask you to look in the mirror. Would you have preordered a Playstation 3 for the sole reason of selling it on eBay and making crazy amounts of money? Go ahead, confess below...
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
gig @ Nov 5th 2006 11:10AM
Most certainly I looked on ebay the other day and preordered units where up as high as 3250! paid! and 4 pages in sold orders the minimum was 1825.00! What the!?!?! I'm considering camping now I don't make that much in a day at work!?!?
moksha @ Nov 5th 2006 11:17AM
Eh, I'd have kept it if I could get a preorder in, and you'll surely see me at one of the midnight opening Best Buys come the 16th. I'm sure I'm not the only one with 360, PS3, and Wii Fanboy in my RSS reader.
Stevie @ Nov 5th 2006 11:19AM
Nothing shocking whatsoever. I know that's what I'm also going to do when PS3 releases over here in Europe.
murph @ Nov 5th 2006 11:39AM
amen brother! PS3 fanboys shall pay through the nose this winter. i will be at Costco that morning, hopefully I can convince my girlfriend to come with me so we can get two. from there it's off to Best Buy to buy about 4 games for each system and then list on EBay....
to help pay for COD3, Gears of War, and Guitar Hero 2 (PS2)!!
Tim @ Nov 5th 2006 11:47AM
Nowhere to turn but Ebay?
More like nowhere to turn but Microsoft.
I hope they make a killing this year.
demon5000 @ Nov 6th 2006 12:09AM
U should all be ashamed!! Cos the look on that poor basteds face when they get that ps3 home and put Ridge Racer 7 on "priceless" I paid AU $1200 for x360 last year. I could never be as crule as u people? G.O.W rules!!
footlong! @ Nov 5th 2006 11:56AM
I'm doing it too man, no worries. Actually, I sorta swindled a grumpy, middle-aged woman out of hers. So if any of us should be ashamed it's me. We'll easily forgive you as long as spend all that profit on 360 games. Luckily, there's a pretty sweet lineup ahead.
Matthew Mac @ Nov 5th 2006 6:14PM
Had I had the chance, I'd have done the exact same things. I could pay off a couple credit cards for what those things are going for.
n2 @ Nov 5th 2006 12:12PM
While I can appreciate opportunities to make money, I am not into the idea of purchasing a console for more than it's worth when it's an item I can purcahse myself should I simply wait for it to be available. It's not like it's not available anymore (ie, past end of life or antique), because that would be something else entirely. This one sad thing here, is that those who legitimately want the console, are denied that privilege because there are others who buy it simply to profit off an immediate resale. It's basically a form of extortion.
Since the PS3 is so expensive to start, I simply cannot fathom what the prices will be, and the lengths that people may go to purchase one. I can only hope that some people get burned by this and are unable to sell their units.
That's my opinion on this matter.
GANNONSMASH @ Nov 5th 2006 12:13PM
Um... What's your point?
"OMG360FNBOYLOLZ PS3IS TEH EVILZ IM NOT ALOWED TO LIKE IT."
Get over it.
Lewis @ Nov 5th 2006 12:17PM
Just hope it does sell out, otherwise you'll be stuck with one :O
I'm tempted to import one when they're available, but I'm not too sure about the compatibility.
cheezedog420 @ Nov 5th 2006 12:18PM
Dude... You screwed up... you should of Preordered a WII with intentions of selling it on EBay. THose presold out in 15 minnutes at the local Game stops across Madison WI.
360us Maxuimus @ Nov 5th 2006 12:18PM
Man I've got three of these things guarenteed and I don't even want one. but after the killing I made on 360's this year, I couldn't resist getting as many PS3's as I could lay my hands on. CHA CHIGGGG!
monkeyass @ Nov 5th 2006 12:25PM
Dude... You screwed up... you should of Preordered a WII with intentions of selling it on EBay.
Yeah right, thats why wiis are going for $500 or less on ebay now. Hell i would get 5 ps3 systems and sell them if i had the cash and the luck to find them. the profit the sell for is more than most of us make in 1-2 weeks.
Josh Smith @ Nov 5th 2006 12:32PM
I am camping out for one to sell on ebay. How else can i afford to pay for my 360 game addiction.
Justin @ Nov 5th 2006 1:03PM
Why list now? Wait until the day after Thanksgiving when people really start thinking about christmas shopping. I'm sure there are a bunch of rich white folks with spoiled children thats willing to hand over enough for a small tropical island just so their little Johnny can get what he wants for christmas.
Les Doodis @ Nov 5th 2006 1:17PM
I missed the preorder but I'm planning on sleeping out for a PS3 for this very purpose. Hey, if I can pay for all of Christmas by sleeping in the cold one night, I'm all for it.
Psycho300x @ Nov 5th 2006 1:34PM
well I got my 360 for Christmas but i didnt get it on launch day and i didnt get it off ebay, I got my ass to best buy and camped all night for one and it was sure as hell worth not paying 800$ or more for a 360
rubarb23 @ Nov 8th 2006 6:34PM
Brother, dont even worry. I'm doing the exact same thing. I'm buying a PS3 and WII and then selling them both on e-bay for God knows how much. Hey, if people are dumb enough to pay 3 times the price of the friggin thing, then i say rip the bastards off. I need the money to buy the wicked ass 360 games coming out...gears, call of duty, rainbow six, smackdown, lost planet, hd dvd drive - yeah it's alot shiznit.
Trauts @ Nov 5th 2006 1:58PM
Be ashamed.
I can't believe people would preorder with the sole purpose of re-selling.
That prevents honest people from getting the console they wanted.
I wouldn't give a crap if you played a PS3. But buying one only to try and rip some poor sot off... that's terrible.
Edge of Blade @ Nov 5th 2006 2:31PM
The market works. You can whine and complain about microtransactions, scalping, and next-gen price hikes. It's what the market can bare. If it couldn't, it wouldn't be priced the way it is.
Congratulations Burg on being an integral part of the market. Good luck.
And for those parents who succumb to PS3s on eBay, you are asking for it by bowing to every wish of your brat child. PS3 auctions is just another manefestation of Darwin's natural selection theory. And you appear to be on the short end.
Bennyishere @ Nov 6th 2006 11:46AM
Definitely!
Sure it's immoral, but I love money!
audioeric @ Nov 5th 2006 2:23PM
Just be careful with the sale on eBay.. I had an extra 360 because I ended up camping to get one and had preordered one that I didn't think was going to be in for a while. When I got the call that my preorder was in I picked it up and put it on eBay. This was mid December.. Loads of 360's on eBay it seemed like going for a lot.. What I finally figured out is that other sellers were bidding on my 360 to get the price up higher so that their console would be cheaper. I ended up listing it 4 times after no payments. The first time it was up to $1500, second time it was up around there, third time around $1000, and fourth time it was up to $600. I finally ended up just keeping it. It wasn't worth the trouble.. I had heard so many stories of people selling for a lot of profit or people offering $2000 to end the bidding right then and there.. I had good pictures, a 100% seller rating and about 200 items sold, full explanation, and even threw in an extra game and controller in the end. All to no avail...
I wish you all the luck in making some profit on the PS3, but don't be surprised when you have sold it on eBay a few times only to have bidders back out. By the time I was considering doing the 5th listing of the console, it was already late January and I had started to see a few in the stores.. So I doubt it would have been worth it..
eric
Logan T. @ Nov 5th 2006 4:16PM
I was going to do the same thing, but every local store was out of preorders before I could get one.
jasonb @ Nov 5th 2006 4:47PM
dude, are you crazy?
how could you have missed this?
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6159868.html?sid=6159868
You're totally screwed man. You have to keep that hunk of shit you're buying.
sorry.
mr.truth @ Nov 5th 2006 5:15PM
you ppl make me sick and so does the video game BUSINESS
Brian @ Nov 5th 2006 10:08PM
Yup, I'm selling mine on eBay... just like the rest of the 50% of people who placed preorders.
Ian @ Nov 5th 2006 5:42PM
Edge of the Blade's got it right. Always so many people whining once the topic comes up. Preventing "honest people from getting the console they wanted".
Honest people can probably wait. Spoiled children should learn to wait. Sony fanboys...They're a lost cause. The demand's going to be there no matter what.
refinedsugar @ Nov 5th 2006 6:30PM
It was sad when it happened with the 360 and it's sad now with the ps3. The worst is everyone who does it feels the god given right to brag about it ... 'oh look at me! exploiting the system of supply and demand! Aren't I cool little businessman?' ... get a life.
Which makes your sympathetic see-threw plea Dustin Burg come off all the more retarded.
DaKing240 @ Nov 5th 2006 6:12PM
I already have my plans lined up... I am already selling for about 20 other people... I guess that is the cool part of being an eBay Powerseller... if anyone needs a hand... just let me know...
www.TheRares.com/eBay
P. Samson @ Nov 5th 2006 6:45PM
If I can't get one myself, you just got yourself a bidder.
Edge of Blade @ Nov 5th 2006 7:06PM
Well, if you feel like a cloud of bad karma follows you, give 20% of your profit to a charity.
Eric @ Nov 5th 2006 7:36PM
Hell no! I curse all of you greedy ebay pigs to become stricken with some incurable disease and die a horrible death. You greedy jerks are 1/2 of the equation of whats wrong with the gaming world today. You don't care about being a gamer, only how much money you can suck off of someone stupid enough to pay you escalated prices for a new console. And to the other 1/2 of the equation...the idiots who pay these high prices. STOP!Be patient!
If you don't fuel the greed machine then ebay system sales at high prices would stop.And maybe there would be more systems for sale at your local store for retail price because all the eBay pigs wouldn't be grabbing them up.
Jeffroman654 @ Nov 5th 2006 9:57PM
ya i pre-ordered one for the same reason e baying it
Jef @ Nov 5th 2006 9:56PM
"But wait... I ask you to look in the mirror. Would you have preordered a Playstation 3 for the sole reason of selling it on eBay and making crazy amounts of money?"
No, I wouldn't. I think this practice, which seems to have started with the 360, is abhorrent. Gamers souldn't stand in the way of other gamers who only want to play their PS3.
360us Maximus @ Nov 5th 2006 9:59PM
"I wouldn't give a crap if you played a PS3. But buying one only to try and rip some poor sot off... that's terrible."
Yeah, cry me a river. and get out your chequebook.
mr.truth @ Nov 5th 2006 10:26PM
And to think ppl have always been this greedy,they just don't hide it anymore,hell you're even bragging about it wow,just....wow,are you really THAT in love with money?Especially on a "fanboy" site no matter the system its still stunning.Steal land from indians,steal freedom from blacks,deny freedom for mexicans,deny gay marriage,and steal money from everybody...ah the american way.
mr.truth @ Nov 5th 2006 10:28PM
#33 cry you a river?I'd rather kick your ass you geek.
CaplistGroup @ Nov 5th 2006 10:32PM
Asking for pity to xbox360 fanboys on the xbox 360 joystiq for selling a ps3 to ps3 fanboys for ridiculous prices and profit.
Well good luck. The group we have put together will be busy this holiday season bidding up your greedy little auctions into the tens of thousands of dollar ranges so you can take a break from robbing people blind to get their kids some systems for christmas! Be it a wii, be it a ps3. A little warning to you guys who enjoy exploiting the system as it happened with the xbox360(preventing me and others from securing a system for months), were not putting up with it anymore.
have fun!
miguel @ Nov 6th 2006 1:01AM
Sell. Out.
Matt @ Nov 6th 2006 1:06AM
I did the same thing. I feel quite good about it actually.
STEVE @ Nov 6th 2006 8:28AM
"This one sad thing here, is that those who legitimately want the console, are denied that privilege because there are others who buy it simply to profit off an immediate resale. It's basically a form of extortion"
Amen brother! I am also on board with this logic. I think it is really shitty for someone who is a true gamer to not get a system because some greedy bastared who doesn't like video games bought up all the ps3's in town and sold them for a major profit. I think a true gamer would never do this to another gamer!!!
Pixelantes Anonymous @ Nov 6th 2006 11:20AM
Scalpers suck donkey's balls. That's all I'm saying about this.
mr.truth @ Nov 6th 2006 8:22PM
at #43
I'm sure you do...he who has the most toys wins eh?Hollow jackass,I've always known ppl like you but how could I not,i'm american.You sound like the kinda guy whos always looking for the oppertunity to brag,you don't know anything about real pride.
BAZ @ Nov 7th 2006 3:36AM
I know what I am going to do come launch date... BID on Every PS3 there is on EBAY.. jack up the prices till you get an orgazm and then bail out!! Muhahha.. that you will love... I guess there will be more PS3 fanboys who will follow me to do that.. Give the XBox1.5 scumboys saying I will use the money to buy a wicked crapbox360 from the money a RUN for thier money..
MUHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH.. THanks for giving me this idea FOOLS...
Mart @ Nov 8th 2006 8:35AM
I can only hope that your post is satirical.
Profiteering like this disgusts me and anyone who engages in it should be thoroughly ashamed of themsleves.
I realise I leave myself open for merciless mocking but I don't care.
JJ @ Nov 15th 2006 11:17AM
Last year I sold 4 XBOX 360s on Ebay for an average of $1300 each. This year for the PS3 I already have 3 pre-orders (through friends and family ), and I'm paying 5 people 200 bucks each to wait with me for 2 days for a midnight release. Then all of us are going to another location that night to camp out and get another round. If everything works out right I should have 17 PS3, and sell them all for retarted prices on ebay. Evil? 20k says "I don't care".
Lee @ Nov 18th 2006 2:29AM
Blame the buyers, not the sellers. Thats how are system works, and we know nothing better. Strong over the weak. Rich over the poor. Think it all the way through before you blame the sellers. I would do it if I had one.