eBay Cracks Down on PS3 Auctions

The madness surrounding Xbox 360's launch last year resulted in a mess in the world of online auctioning. Shady buyers and sellers, obnoxious asking prices (with people obnoxious enough to actually pay them) and a general bitterness amongst gamers over the amount of consoles being sold online, rather than in the hands of people who actually wanted them to, you know, play games.

eBay's started to crack down early-on with PlayStation 3 by enforcing their policy of not allowing auctions where the seller cannot guarantee the item will be shipped within 30 days of the auction's closing. Technically, sellers could have their auction last seven days, which would allow them to ship within the 30 day window, but it appears most didn't take this into consideration when listing.

[power of Green]

I'll just list them in the news paper. lol

[OC_MurphysLaw]

You almost have to wonder just how many people are actually buying a PS3 for themselves and how many are selling them given how nutty the prices get at launch time on ebay.

It just makes the launches seem that much more crazy when you hear the prices on ebay, etc....

[Watapata]

This sort of activity is horrible. I can understand why people will do this, its an easy way to make some money, but eBay and other similar ventures should crack down on this and not allow it period. I know its definitely wishful thinking, but even so. This sort of thing really disgusts me. Affording a PS3 is no concern for me, my internship this summer more than afforded that for me, but I and many other gamers out there would like the opportunity to actually buy our consoles at a fair price (in comparison, not looking for debates on retail cost right now). As it is, the money I had put aside for a PS3 will likely soon be going to a 360, with a PS3 following when I can actually find one in retail. I don't have the time with my courses to spend sitting outside a store for launch. Something needs to be done about the vultures circling in during every hardware launch these days...

[ScorpioKyle]

i agree with you on that. but sometimes the greed bites the people in the butt. last year i read a news story about a group of young guys who camped out when Best Buy got their 2nd shipment of 360s in and they bought on a pop and tried to sell them at a hundred dollar markup to people in line. no one bought them, so they went across the street to mcdonalds to have breakfast and left the youngest guy in the van to watch the systems.

2 guys who saw them trying to sell them, went up, stuck a gun in the kids face and stole all 5 systems from him.

[Grown Folks Talk]

dumb@sses quit buying them for 2,3x their worth online, people would stop doing it. i know if i can get someone to pay me triple what something is worth, i'm all for it.

[THE TRUTH]

Going to get worst and if eBay cracks down on these types of things another site will surely replace them. The Truth is this is the American way, supply and demand and while the true gamers will suffer it WILL be an self inflicted pain! Personally I would rather take off work and get up early to wait outside a big electronic store (after verifing the exact amounts of units they would have) then pay an ridiculous high price and have to wait for shippment, but that's me.

Yes this trend is bad for gamers but only for the ones that have no patients and like to waste money. And to be fair I am going to sell my launch PS3 for 3 reasons

1. Buy for 600 sell for 3Xs more is a deal I just can't pass away on

2. After the problems with the 360 launch console, if much rather wait til later shipments

3. Games, I own a 360 a PS2 and will possibly buy a wii, with games like GOW, marvel alliance, PSU, zelda, god of war 2, okami, FF12 reither just released or on the horizion I won't be too bored while I wait to get my PS3 around March when games like Heavenly Sword, fatial eternia, and AC will be out

[Watapata]

As I said, I can definitely understand it, I just have a VERY strong aversion to it. It upset me with the 360 launch, and unfortunately I understand its going to continue to upset me with every hardware launch unless something is eventually done about it. As I said, I'm likely picking up a 360 in the mean time, which I'm sure I'll enjoy and everything, I'll have no trouble waiting. The entire concept of, for all practical purposes, feeding off the desperate I find revolting however...Its more the people who buy a piece of hardware with the explicit intention of never enjoying it and just selling it to rip someone off taht really irritates me...

[Mikey_Gee]

SUPPLY AND DEMAND

They cannot police some items and not others.

If I have an item I want to sell (PS3) and someone out there want to buy it ..... ebay should let the transaction happen.

IF THEY DO NOT ..... they will have to put forth a HUGE POLICIING of other items as well.

[ScorpioKyle]

i think the thing they really need to crackdown are the fake ones. Like last year all the stories of people listing a "360" but hidden deep within all the crap and specs they post, the part saying it is just the box or a picture of the system.

[kmis87]

Yeah I remember that being a problem. Someone's on ebay and they search for xbox 360 and get a result that's a picture of the unopened box and a payitnow at like $400. Naturally they click on it as fast as possible so no one else can take this amazing deal they found only to later find that hidden in the description is the sentence "It's just a BOX," but by then it's too late. Then the jerk goes on the internet and shows off pictures saying "look at this noob I just scammed!" ebay should definitely try to stop all of that kind of stuff.

[Andyg213]

Ebay is going to do jack squat to people. Remember kids, Ebay also makes money off the sale and guess what...Ebay likes money! Everyone here that is complaining about the high prices people pay for a console obviously don't have a pre-order, don't have much money, and are jealous of those of us that have pre-orders.

Oh and by the way, there are a lot of rich people in the USA that don't want to wait outside of a Best Buy/Walmart/Gamestop to buy a console on the day of the launch. So guess what they can do? They can go and purchase one online and that is why the price is so high...Snoop Dogg and all his posse want a PS3 on the day of the launch and they don't care how much they pay.

If you want to stifle people from making a quick profit or hold back wealthy people from making purchases that they desire then you are denying people living out the American Dream.

Think things through before you type them out.

P.s. I got a pre-order suckers.

[Watapata]

You know what, referring to everyone as kids is unnecessary and ridiculous. Its perfectly legitimate for someone of any age to have issues with the exploiting of other people. Obviously, you are someone that has no issue with it regardless. Also, lumping everyone who disagrees with it into a category consisting of 3 properties is also ridiculous. No, I don't have a preorder, but I do have more than enough money to afford it either way (even buying over eBay) but its the principle of the thing that bothers me most. Am I jealous that I don't have a preorder and some people on here do? No, not at all in fact, I wasn't about to skip my senior design course just for the opportunity to wait in lines, just a hunch, but assuring my future by making sure I graduate at the end of the semester, is just a little more important. Also, don't tell me or anyone else here about rich people being able to afford it. Yes there are plenty of rich people that can and will pay that amount of money, a second grader knows that and doesn't need you pointing it out to them. Far as eBay making money off it goes, I never suggested that they didn't or that I expected them to do anything about this, in fact I suggested that I expected just the opposite. The American Dream, by the way, is just that, a dream. Its an ideal that many strive for and less than few ever achieve. Our society and government does its best to hold people back. No person's perspective of the American Dream is protected by law so even mentioning it is pointless, it means precisely nothing. Also don't imply that you are the only one capable of thinking things out before posting. I would say taht everyone that has posted on this thread has thought out their posts to some degree or another and you don't possess any special capacity to claim to be mroe enlightened.

[Andyg213]

Explain to me how someone selling a PS3 on ebay is exploitation. There are people that are purchasing old consoles for $0.99 on ebay. Is that exploitation? There are people buying for $25. Is that exploitation? What decides worth of a product? Mankiw states that it is Opportunity Cost, which means the worth of a product is what people are willing to pay for it. So what is wrong with someone selling a product on Ebay/any other site for prices that the consumer is willing to buy it for?

Exploitation is defined as selfish utilization. Me selling a ps2 on ebay for $25 is a selfish act. Selfish is defined as caring for one's self. And obviously the person that purchases that for $25 is willing to part with the $25 for that console. Should we not be able to make money on anything?

Consumers decide what the product is worth, not you, watapata. It's economics.

[Lionel Hutz]

I reported 11 early auctions last week and all of them were taken down. (It's only fair to play by the rules.)

[Andyg213]

Why did you think you had to police that? Just wondering.

[Watapata]

Does it really matter why he did? No, the fact of the matter is, he was right to do so if the auctions were in violation of the rules put forth by eBay, especially considering the exhorbitant price that each could command, and especially considering the possibility of them being scams

[Lionel Hutz]

Thank you for your question, and here is my response:

I reported them because it's not fair that those people get to sell to nearly 100% of the PS3 market because they violated policy. I am not selling my pre-roder, but those that are should have equal opportunity to do so. The more people that put one up early, the less PS3 buyers there are for those that waited until is was okay to put one up for sale.

[PS360PCROCKS]

Um wow someone is selling 7 PS3'S and claiming their ALL 60GB versions which I am pretty sure EB and gamestop said they never confirmed to anyone which system they were receiving and the auctions at 32,000 with 10 days left, my god that's rediculous, that's over $4500 a PS3

[THELANDSOFSAND]

Ebay scammers are scum. They keep the units out of the hands of the true gamers and fans.

[Balance]

i agree with most people, i didn't like the practice of it with the 360 last year (remember the guy selling the box) the capitolist in me would say to buy a ps3 try and sell it for 2 or 3x the price on ebay if it sells, great, if it doesn't you have a console.
i won't do it because although it makes business/financial sense it is just an unethical and jerkish thing to do.