Sony PS3: Get your hands on the hottest Christmas toy of ‘06
Tuesday, November 14th, 2006 - 11:30 am
I’m as certain as I can be that the soon to be released Sony PS3 gaming system will be a VERY hot item to sell on eBay between now and Christmas. I’m predicting it will be THE hot item of this holiday season. You heard it here first…
In the U.S. I expect overnight lines at nearly all Best Buy, Target, Walmart etc. As evidence consider that the PS3 systems sold out in hours in Japan when they were released a few days ago.
The Japanese version of the PS3 is selling for $1200+ on eBay already. The prices keep going up.
Want to get your hands on one?
It’s likely you’ll have to stand in line VERY early at a large retailer to have a shot. They go on sale in the U.S. Friday November 17th. It will be hard to justify keeping it if you do get your hands on one though.
With millions of die-hard PS2 fans in the U.S. alone it’s likely that the hundreds of thousands of units rumored to be shipping here will sell out quickly and will then in turn sell VERY WELL on eBay.
Why the shortage?
In mid-Sept Sony cut its PS3 shipment forecast to 2 million worldwide units down from 4 million units due to a shortage in a key machine component. Recent reports indicate that Sony may not even acheive its lowered shipment forecast in time for launch.
No one is sure how many units are going to be shipped, but when I do the math it sounds like not very many per store. Some are saying as few as 3 per store, but that’s obviously a worst case scenario.
My prediction:
ALL PS3 UNITS WILL SELL OUT ON THE DAY THEY ARE RELEASED. The only question is will you have to spend the night camping out to get them or not. I have no intention of camping, but I’d be interested in swinging by Best Buy around 9AM or so if they still have some!
As early as mid-day Friday the 17th I expect to see PS3’s on eBay selling for 3 to 5 times retail price.
My advice for getting your hands on one:
Being there when the doors open will likely be too late. Be early.
If you live on the west coast read the news posted at online news sources early morning Friday Nov 17th to see if the hype is real…then hustle to a Best Buy, Target, or Walmart if they aren’t sold out already on the East coast.
Monitor news reports by going to yahoo.com or google.com and search for “buy a ps3″ and click on “news” between now and Friday. There is still a chance someone might sell pre-sale units online.
If you do get your hands on one (try to get two!) and you want to make a “clean” sale with as much profit as possible on eBay I suggest you note the following precautions and tips:
-Make sure you take an original picture and make sure that your picture of the unit contains proof of possesion. Do this by hanging a sign in the frame that contain your eBay ID as proof for potential bidders. A simple handwritten sign is best.
- If you are new to eBay allow someone with atleast 50 or so feedbacks to sell it for you so you can maximize bidding activity. Experienced sellers earn far more per sale and attract far more bids because of their credibility.
-In the past hot items like this quickly cool off. You aren’t likely to regret putting the unit up for sale immediately on a 3 day auction. Don’t wait a week to sell it and don’t make it a 10 day auction. On an item this hot there is no need to run an extended auction.
Disclaimer:
I could be wrong. The PS3 hype could just be hype, but it sure feels like demand is WAY stronger than supply on this one.
I just talked to my Son who works at a BestBuy and as of 3:00 pm there were 40 people lined up to get their PS3. He told me their store is only getting 34 games only 34 for the 40 people already there who must wait till Friday morning, they expect over 100 to be in line by tomorrow night. I would hate to be the salesperson who must greet the 35th person in line. I asked our local 24 hour Wal-Mart how they were going to handle distribution. They said they were having people come inside and line up at the lay-a-way counter in the front of the store and at midnight on Thursday they were going to hand out the games to the people in line, another great idea, don\’t know how many they will get but rumors say no more than 50 per any store if that. Good luck all who will be looking.
Same deal here in Charlotte. I know people who have been in line since YESTERDAY (it is now Thursday). At one store, they were only expecting 20 and my friend called until there were already 10 people in line. They got 13th. I had no way to stand in line but I wish everyone good luck who is.