eBay PS3 Listings - Cracking Down on Scams

[Digital-Nitrate]

Looks like eBay is trying to prevent all the problems they had with many of the XB360 listings last year:

From Eric Bangeman at ars technica:

Online auction house eBay has decided to halt all PlayStation 3 auctions for the time being. According to a post in the eBay Trust & Safety forum, those listing PlayStation 3 systems for sale have had their listings pulled. In addition, eBay is putting very stringent requirements in place for any future listings of the next-gen consoles: sellers need to provide eBay with a copy of their drivers license or other ID, copy of a credit card statement or utility bill with their current address, an invoice or receipt showing "purchase or posession" of the consoles, and written acknowledgement of agreement with eBay's policies.

Last week, preorders for both Sony's and Nintendo's consoles began. Allocations for the PS3 were very limited, and the GameStop/EB Games chain went through their entire preallocation of systems in a matter of hours. Wii preorders began on Friday, and once again, the retail outlets went through their anticipated stock very quickly—much more quickly than some gamers expected.

As was the case last year with the launch of the Xbox 360, a number of early adopters appear to be capitalists first and gamers second, hoping to flip their systems quickly on eBay for two or three times what they paid for them. As a result, within hours of the preorders starting, PS3s and Wiis began showing up on eBay.

In some cases, eBay allows users to sell items that they do not physically have in their possession. However, any item offered as a "presale" must be within the seller's possession within 30 days of the auction ending. eBay's subsidiary PayPal has an even more stringent policy, forbidding any sale where the seller cannot guarantee or "reasonably expect" the item to be shipped within 20 days of the purchase date.

A search of eBay's listings found a handful of PS3s in the search results, but clicking on individual auction listings returned a message that the item had been removed or is no longer available. In contrast, auctions for preordered Nintendo Wiis are being allowed to proceed for the time being. That may change if eBay believes the Wii will be as difficult to come by as the PS3 is anticipated to be.

The PlayStation 3 launch expected to echo that of the Xbox 360 in terms of the supply of consoles available, with only 400,000 allocated for the North American launch next month. Last year, eBay was inundated with Xbox 360 listings, with many sellers who had preordered systems unable to deliver their consoles to auction winners in a timely fashion. It made eBay look bad, and the auction house appears eager this time around to avoid the kind of problems experienced last year.

 

[Dave A]

That's fair enough it'll cut down the scams a lot with people being easier to track down and contact should they only send a picture of the console or something stupid like that.

 

[Digital-Nitrate]

Agreed!

BTW: I added a poll to this thread...

 

[red70mach1]

Fair in my book because the seller must verify that he/she has the item at hand.

 

[Solid Lifters]

I posted here the first add from eBay for a PS3 with in minutes of its listing. And I immediately reported to eBay how in several ways it could turn out to be a huge scam. Less than 12 hours later, all PS3 listings were took down.

He-he.

 

[Earth]

A little OT but,

Anybody who buys a PS3 for the soul purpose of selling it to others at a higher price should -

Let's just say that tells alot about your personality

Anybody who does something like that loses alot of respect from me

 

[Jay]

A little OT but,

Anybody who buys a PS3 for the soul purpose of selling it to others at a higher price should -

Let's just say that tells alot about your personality

Anybody who does something like that loses alot of respect from me

Well I know a few people on this Forum that is just planning to do that (Not me).

 

[German Muscle]

about 75% of the ppl who get them at launch will sell them on ebay.

 

[Circle T]

Let's just say that tells alot about your personality

Anybody who does something like that loses alot of respect from me

Supply and Demand, my friend. As supply goes down, the demand goes up, along with the market value. If people really want the item (high demand), and there is very few available (low supply), the price they are willing to pay to get said item will be high. Its no different than car dealers charging markup on new high-profile cars.

People want it, and are willing to pay. That is the key phrase there. People are willing to pay for it. This is why they drop the price over the life of the console. The demand drops, and thus the price people are willing to pay goes down with it. Would you pay $200 for a SNES today?? No, you wouldn't. But, many people will spend much more than $600 to get a PS3 at launch.

And yes, I put this to good use with the 360 launch. A friend of mine and myself were able to purchase a total of 7 premium units last year. I kept one, as did he, which then left us 5 to sell. And yes, we made very good money on them. We had them, people wanted them, so they willingly paid for them. No one forced them into it. They bid, just like everyone else, and the price they paid was determined by them. If someone offered to buy my half-used tube of toothpaste for $10, I would sell. I'm fine with that.

I'm not doing this for the PS3 or Wii launch. But, the friend I did this with last year has preorders for 4 60GB versions, and he plans on selling all of them. And, I'm sure he will do well with it. Supply and Demand, its a wonderful thing.

CT

BTW - I chose "maybe" for the poll for the reasons I talked about. I don't need one personally, but I can see how some will.

 

[MustangSVT]

Well I was looking into selling a PS3 on ebay, simply because I could use the extra money, have good feedback on ebay and know how easy it is to go to the post office and ship stuff. But anyway, this whole ebay crackdown thing, they cracking down on people selling the "pre-orders" or are they gonna be strict about selling the PS3 even after it comes out? I think it's rather dumb to try and sell the pre-order receipt or whatever, might as well wait till you actually have it.

 

[Solid Lifters]

Well I was looking into selling a PS3 on ebay, simply because I could use the extra money, have good feedback on ebay and know how easy it is to go to the post office and ship stuff. But anyway, this whole ebay crackdown thing, they cracking down on people selling the "pre-orders" or are they gonna be strict about selling the PS3 even after it comes out? I think it's rather dumb to try and sell the pre-order receipt or whatever, might as well wait till you actually have it.

I think eBay has a policy that a seller must have the actual item in order to sell it. Although, I see this "rule" broken all the time on eBay. Just today, looking for a SOG knife, I came across this one seller that has 16 red feedbacks for not having the item in stock, and giving people's money back instead of shipping the item they just bid, won and paid for.

Plus, selling, as well as buying, a piece of paper (receipt) for $1,500-$2,000, on eBay sounds like a very stupid idea. Think about it; it has "scam" written all over it.

 

[Pupik]

There's a word for someone willing to buy an item from someone who doesn't actually have it yet: Sucker.

 

[a6m5]

I would have spent a lot of money for PS2 on eBay at launch, but it was going for over $800.

But with the new scams like the infamous Xbox 360 box scams, I wouldn't even look for PS3 on eBay. Besides, other than GT and Killzone, nothing really interest me on that console. I should be able to wait about a year or so(famous last words).