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82 Comments
- afraydocurado, on 10/12/2007, -1/+31People should note that this is only for pre-launch auctions, and not for auctions after the system has launched or Playstation 3 is in hand.
- BigPapi, on 10/12/2007, -4/+26Nobody forced that guy to pay $500 for it. He was stupid enough to buy it without doing any research. That's like walking into a car dealership and paying $1000 over MSRP because you never bothered to see how much other people were paying for it.
It's called supply and demand. Stop whining. - EvolvedAnt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+17"Have you not noticed how bad the American society has become?"
Trust me, the stuff you mention goes on in plenty of places besides America. It's not American nature, it is human nature. - Alphateam, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16Did he go to the guys house and make him buy it at gun point?
His choice. - revenge7, on 10/12/2007, -1/+13@ Xarou
What is your problem? If someone is stupid enough to think they won't get a Wii at launch, they are free to spend as much as they want to make sure they get it. - Lane5slacker, on 10/12/2007, -0/+8I feel bad about what I am doing but I'm still selling mine on Ebay. I'm in desperate of some funds for college. If I see an opportunity like this I am going to take it. Besides, I'm not screwing over my fellow hardcore gamer. They're the ones waiting in line in the cold for 7 hours right next to me.
Go ahead, digg me down. I stand by my choice. - PeckerDunne, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Exploit? Law of supply and demand more like. Nobody forced the ***** to buy the thing.
- millixaw, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10Damn, I guess I can't sell pre-orders for empty PS3 boxes now.
- Tonyisbad, on 10/12/2007, -9/+16I sold mine preorder of the wii a couple of weeks ago on ebay for 500 bucks, ebay didn't stop me at all, but then again my auction was only up for 5 min till someone bought it via "buy-it-now". So i was thinking that they didn't have time to stop, and the guy who bought it paid instantly via paypal. But all i know is that some dude just over paid on a system that there will be plenty of at launch, which allows me to still get my wii and a whole bunch of accessories and what not.. Thanks ebay, your the best, and thank you stupid ebay consumers w/o you my new found wealth wouldn't exist..
- drakethegreat, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8People screw themselves by paying outrageous prices for them online. For awhile I was irritated that this sort of thing happened but overtime you realize its because of demand and lack of supply. If people want to pay tons of money let them because its their waste. A couple months later there will usually be a supply of the product in question and you will get to buy it at the regular price.
- t0ken, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8I totally agree with BigPapi- if the person wasn't willing to do the research then I have no sympathy for them. I'm so tired of hearing people whine about being "exploited" when they willingly waste their money.
You want to talk exploited, go to some third world country and talk to a 10 year-old kid making Nikes for 2 cents an hour. - Shorties, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7I think 99% are smart enough to be the ones profiting off of the Ebay Prices.
- dsendecki, on 10/12/2007, -11/+17And you'll sleep okay at night after knowingly expoliting someone? Live the American dream!
- Omega697, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5"Either way it's a win situation"
One might even call this a "win-win" situation. - dvddesign, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6I think it's less about scammers and more about them saving their own ass.
eBay got burned bad by all the bad publicity last year on defaulted auctions when a bunch of xbox 360 preorders didn't get filled. Their longstanding policy of allowing 30 days before an item's availability really needs mending to rectify this, and they made some headway with their recent restrictions and qualifications.
Personally, I'm not selling mine on eBay because everyone else IS. I've got bigger fish to fry, and yeah, there's people who'd pay for it. Why? Because it's rare, and they can't have it. Our consumer driven culture has bred in this need to have things as soon as possible. Some people can ignore it quite easily. Others not so much. And many mothers, come Christmas time would do ANYTHING to please their children. If you've never seen news footage of rabid parents fighting over Razor scooters, Tickle Me Elmo, or cabbage patch dolls, you really should.
That magic time between 5am and the time you awaken out of your turkey induced coma is when the crazies are out spending stupid amounts of money on things for you all. Bargains be damned.
This is more common than you'd realize.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVvEChXulSs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7ZvYxb9BXk - waygor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Everything is worth what the purchaser will pay for it. I learned that on Civilization.
- doodirock2, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Either way, I hope they can at least slow down the number of scam artists out there.
- Portwineboy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4@Xarou - Let's talk about that McD's suit. The elderly lady who sued had never sued anyone in her life before, she only sued McD's when they refused to pay her medical bills and how hot what that coffee? She had "third degree burns on her groin, thighs and buttocks that required skin grafts and a seven-day hospital stay." and more than 700 other people had been burned by that coffee before this case came about.
In the end a court awarded her $480K.
/the more you know... - forumreader, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4The problem with the ps3 is that what is normally a couple of weeks of waiting could turn into a couple (or more) months with the way production seems to be going. Your point about overpaying is still valid, but unless it completely bombs the ps3 is going to be scarce till at least a month or a couple into 2007.
- imtigger2, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I believe they were referring to actual scams, per Ebay account.
During the Xbox360 fiasco, people were unknowingly (guess they can't read?) buying empty display boxes, or a photo, or a promise to be 1st 'considered' when they went on sale, etc...
All scams.
Allowing only 1 per account, with the 50 feedback requirment, will slow them down for sure. - natertots, on 10/12/2007, -2/+5you're preaching to the choir. i think 99% of diggers are smart enough not to buy one at ebay prices.
- sremick, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Crap, what am I going to do with PS3 made out of soap now?
- dengar69, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4"The seller must only accept PayPal payments and have a minimum of 50 feedback and a rating of 98% or higher to qualify for PayPal Buyer Protection."
I love this one. Are they really trying to protect the buyer or do they just want to rake in the Paypal fees, I think its the latter. - BigPapi, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Who says that the buyer is the victim? The buyer might live in a place where it's really hard to get a Wii, therefore they feel that $500 is worth it.
- secretivecoward, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3The rich and famous will all be looking for a PS3, and they will get them from eBay.
It's not that hard to get a 50 feedback rating.
Go buy 50 auctions of "web information" for a $1 each.
Done. - revenge7, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2They aren't trying to get prices lower. They are making sure that people don't sell pre-orders that they don't have.
- smokeyphikap420, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Between my fiance, my roommate and muself we will have around 14 consoles at launch of the ps3. Several are being kept, several are going to be presents, and several will be sold in various fashions. No one has the right to tell me how to sell it or say I am exploiting something. If i take the time to camp outside in front of stores and others don't, I am afforded the choice of doing whatever I may with my purchases. If people want to pay upwards of $1000 to $2000, so be it. I am a Steelers fan without season tickets, so when I go to all the home games in a given season it costs me a fortune, but I have the money and am willing to spend it because I enjoy football games. Do I think its right that people charge whatever, whats the difference? They have tickets they can. I don't, so if I wanna go I have to pay. If you want a system, wait for it on line like I am or buy one when the price comes down. Either way, shut the ***** up. And no, i don't feel bad for people that can't afford, my family was poor, and I have busted my ass to rise above that.
- koguma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2To clarify for everyone.. since I've been a victim of eBay's new 'policy'. The "milking you twice" policy (once on eBay, then bend over for PayPal), I'll post the details here. Just for everyone who thinks eBay is so wonderful with their new policy.. I had posted a wii pre-order using escrow.com for payment (an ebay approved escrow provider) and ebay told me I could not use it. Further ***** over was done with eBay 'Live Chat' where I got dicsonnected every time I mentioned the Wii pre-order. Here's the details:
Dear eBay Member,
Thank you for contacting SafeHarbor with your appeal.
I have reviewed the details of this suspension. As a result of this
review, it has been decided to reinstate this account.
Due to the high demand and limited supply of Nintendo Wii systems eBay
is taking stronger measures to protect both buyers and sellers within
the eBay community.
The following requirements are in place in order to presell a Wii:
1. PayPal as the only payment option
2. Item must qualify for PayPal Buyer Protection
(go to this link for more information on PayPal Buyer Protection https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=p/gen/ua/policy_pbp-outside
)
3. One Playstation 3 and one Nintendo Wii can be listed with a photo of
your pre-order receipt included in the listing for each.
4. Buy It Now option will not be permitted during presale.
5. One day listings will not be permitted during presale
Violation of these guidelines may cause further action to be taken up to
and including suspension of your account
When listing your item there are steps you can take to better protect
yourself as well as other members of the eBay community. As you are
required to include a photograph of your actual store receipt; be sure
to block out any personal information such as credit card numbers.
Thank you for your time.
Sincerely,
XXXXXXX
eBay Customer ***** Over Support - GolfDude, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3and the beauty is that if you do what they say and put your reserve ticket as the picture on the auction, gamestop will CANCEL THAT TICKET! it will be null and void!
have fun wasting money! - koguma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Now why won't eBay accept escrow.com if they were really on the side of the buyer?
http://pages.ebay.com/help/tp/payment-escrow.html - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4The seller's are the real ones who need protected, and eBay is not there for them at all.
I sold a Wii to a seller with 0 feedback who almost immediately emails me that he cannot pay for it.
So I lose $20+ in fees (Featured) that I WON'T get back, since eBay will only give the Final Value Fee back.
This could have been avoided if I had the choice to only allow BUYERS to bid if THEY have 50+ feedback.
More on this here: http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?threadID=1000365460&start=440 - whoisnumberone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2For all the poor people who cannot understand why some person would pay $1000 for a PS3 on ebay instead of waiting weeks/months to buy one for $600 let me put it in terms you might understand.
Imagine that you are going to mcdonalds and you really want a Big Mac. Unfortuantely there is a shortage of Big Macs. Sure, you could get a McChicken (360) or a Happy Meal (Wii) but you want that Big Mac.
Some customers in line ahead of you are buying Big Macs just so they can run outside and sell them for almost twice the price they paid. Fortunately for you, your parents just gave you $20 so that you might leave the basement for a short while. You are so rich that you can pay double the normal price for a Big Mac and still have lots of money left.
Is it clear now? - blackomegax, on 10/12/2007, -3/+5paypal will freeze your account for sneezing.
- chriskzoo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Seeing as Wiis are going for $500-600 now, I just put my pre-order up. I figure a Wii for a PS3 is a steal any day of the week (I have a PS3 pre-order).
- thebuggalo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not really. No offense, but that really didn't clear anything up...
I think a better example might be Game Prices. When games first come out, they are around $60... but after a few months they drop... some all the way down to $20. So why do people buy the games for $60? Because they want to play it now, not later. That is simple reason for people buying consoles for so much. - RedZeppelin, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1PeckerDunne gets a digg simply for using the word "*****."
Ebay can put in all the restrictions and safeguards they want, but as long as there are people inpatient and stupid enough to pay double or triple an item's value, there will always be greedy smacktards ready to take advantage of them. Nothing will change that. - shitthisfook, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1But still, the scarcity now can prevent you from buying an early, crappy system. The ones released later will likely be more improved than the very first ones which they ARE HAVING DIFFICULTY PRODUCING. (You said it yourself)
If a company is having problems producing something, a _brand new_ something at that, I wouldn't buy the first few batches. Sure I'd like to experience this new technology, but I can wait for them to fix it.
In the meantime, you can save up some more money, have a better opinion on what games to buy, special deals, etc, from the early adopters who bought it. Honestly, I really don't see much advantage in purchasing a console so early. Maybe if you wanted to impress other people... - inactive, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"If you've never seen news footage of rabid parents fighting over Razor scooters, Tickle Me Elmo, or cabbage patch dolls..."
None of those things cost $600. I assure you, 95% of parents in American would never dream to buy this product for their child, Christmas season or not (much less pay a premium price on an auction site). The only ones who would are either the rich parents with a LOT of disposable income to just blow on their child's entertainment, or the people who have the money to buy it for THEMSELVES.
The PS3 is not a "children's gift" type of product. - mgold1n, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Sounds like a good idea.
- OwdenBowden, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2eBay sucks and any Auction site that puts in place any form of governor is not an auction site while also padding their other venture PayPal. It is called survival of the fittest and if some moron wants to spend thousands of dollars for a product via an auction then so be it. eBay is not "Doing Something Right" they are going against the definition of an auction. WTF. If you can sell a piece of toast with (what some call) the image of the Virgin Mary on it for thousands of dollars then why is it more holy to prevent an individual from selling as many PS3, WII Xbox360 and whatever else they want for as much as the market will tolerate. This is ***** and I do believe that with this action by eBay there needs to be a new sheriff in town. Someone heed the call and start a new auction site. Screw eBay.
- refreshingmedia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2you could always list your pre-sale on a niche classifieds site like http://www.consoleconnector.com for free and not have to pay ebay or meet requirements.
- koguma, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1That doesn't work. It seems that eBay counts multiple feedbacks from the same seller as a single feedback. Go figure!
- zdiggler, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Do you really have the be the first person to have this *****!!
Can you people just wait! - Canute, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2"Trust me, the stuff you mention goes on in plenty of places besides America. It's not American nature, it is human nature."
I bet the ones digging your comment is American. I actually wrote an essay about that. In European country it's more common to think that "It could have happened to anyone".
You may commence the burying. - Xarou, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@theragu40
I disagree. You don't have to use and abuse people to get to the top. Right now I'm making at least twice what both of my parents combined were making when I was growing up. Who did I have to crawl over to get there? No one. I went out, got a good education and succeeded. I may be living idealistically, but it's working for me. You can scrape your way to the top and still avoid destroying people in the process. I know I'm never going to be a multi-millionaire with this attitude, but what does it matter? Believe me, the thought of buying extra Wii's or PS3s (God forbid if I ever do that) to gain a profit has crossed my mind, but then I realized that it would be dick to do that and it's only making it so the poorer people, who could afford it at 250, not able to get it, at 500+. - LocalH, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1So buy from different sellers then, durp.
- theragu40, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@Xarou
Well, that's your viewpoint, and that's great. If everyone had the same empathy for others and didn't do potentially immoral things to get to the top, then the world would be a better place. But you have to realize that you are not in the majority...not by a long shot.
You may be doing twice as well as your parents did by being a decent guy, but I'll bet you any money that you could be doing ten times as well if you had gone on with no concern for others. Perhaps you wouldn't be happy, and perhaps you would be bothered by how you became successful, but in purely economic terms, happiness is meaningless...all that matters is the amassing of wealth.
I realize this is a cynical view of the world, but you say you don't have to step on people to get to the top, and this is not true. Maybe you don't have to step on people to be successful, but if you truly want to get to the top of the economic ladder rest assured that someone will have been hurt by your ascent. It's simple logic. If one has more, another must have less.
As for not having a right to exploit other people, that is patently false. In America you absolutely have a right to exploit other people (though exploit may not be the correct term when the person is choosing willingly to pay the money). The whole basis of the American economy is founded on exploitation of others. Perhaps you're not in America, but if you live here, you know that it's true. For better or worse, it's an empirical fact that morality has no place in American economic thought.
The bottom line is this: video game consoles are not staples. They are luxury items. As such, no one needs them to survive, or to succeed. So it's silly to say people are being exploited for them, because when it comes to luxury items, it is based purely on the valuation of want. If I want an item and another person wants an item, and I would pay 100 dollars for it, and he would pay 1000, that means in an economic sense he "wants" it more. Plain and simple. And if he is willing to lay down 10 times more money for the item, then he gets it. I don't get to have it just because I want it too but can't afford the same price. Prices are artificial for everything. There is not a single item that is sold in this country that wouldn't rise in price if people were willing to pay for it. Think about items like Beanie Babies. Those costed probably pennies to make, but TY saw the demand and started inflating prices and capitalising on the popularity. Consumers did the same thing. When demand outstrips supply, prices will go up, whether at retail or artificially through "black market" techniques. It's unavoidable. If you don't like it, then a capitalist country is not the place for you. - rdtx2005, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@revenge7 and others
what i meant to say is that Ebay should just ban the selling or pre-orders in general. The item is not in your immediate possession anyways. (though it'll be hard to enforce) - theragu40, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2@Xarou
No. The point is, they are *not* making it any harder for people to get ahold of one. They're making it easier. Just more expensive. A person who can't afford a $500 luxury item is probably not going to be able to afford a $250 one. The people buying these expensive systems were going to buy them anyway. The people who don't want to spend the extra money and were too lazy to camp out get to wait. It's just that simple.
And your argument about the time it takes to makes cars and stuff is waaay off base. Don't think for a second that cars cost anywhere near the amount you pay to make them. Payed time for employees, fuel, legal fees included. They are making a massive profit, just as any company selling items with a high ticket price is. Is that exploitation? Why shouldn't they give us the cars for cost? By your logic, we ought to be going back to the barter system.
And I would also contend that some people probably do buy and resell things on ebay for their job. To them I say: congratulations. They are taking full advantage of what the capitalist system has to offer. Don't think they are putting no work into this. These people camp out for days to purchase items to resell. The people who are buying the items are paying to not have to camp out. It's as simple as that.
Idealism is great when it doesn't have to stand up to the test of real-world situations. -
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