pokoko on 16 September 2012
This kind of thing is really a shame, as it leaves manufacturers (and us) unable to determine actual interest. It turns into something like a stocks manipulation situation. Would preorders have sold out on their own, or is this a function of re-sellers soaking up those preorder slots? If it's because of re-sellers, then they've essentially created their own second-hand market at much higher prices. I would love to know the percentage of preorders that were actually placed for the purpose of re-sale. I'm guessing at least 20%, possibly higher if professional re-sellers have methods to get around limits.
The bad part is that most of them can simply cancel if the manufacturer ramps up production, leaving a surplus to deal with.
