@lilbroex you've already been proven wrong, but I guess you miss the time period where people could sell a BC ps3 anywhere from 800-1000 dollars. It actually happened twice in the ps3 life time, now that's unheard of.

I don't see why everyone hates scalpers. It's literally smart people taking advantage of stupid people. If you are not stupid, you won't have to deal with them.

I just would not feel good making money this way, no offense to others. I just have been someone desperately wanting a system in early days and having to wait 6-12 months to get one at the store.

This.  Thank you.  I've been called all sorts of horrible things and told I would burn in hell for buying an extra to ebay.

From what I remember, there were sites tracking the price of the PS3 on eBay and after the initial week of sales the prices collapsed because the PS3 was available on store shelves. I could be wrong but I also remember the PS3 having its initial shipment cut in half which was the only reason it sold out in the first place.

Train wreck said: lilbroex said: FrancisNobleman said: This works every gen with every console, yet I keep skipping this goldmine... I gotta learn how to succeed at life. It didn't work with the PS3. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-9663795-1.html   CNET   News   Crave   PS3 crosses $10,000 barrier on eBay PS3 crosses $10,000 barrier on eBay Bids for the coveted PlayStation 3 consoles have skyrocketed to three and four times their purchase prices. by Erica Ogg  November 17, 2006 3:25 PM PST Whatever you want to call them (opportunists, price gougers, geniuses), the slew of sellers auctioning those PS3 consoles they waited in line for could soon be laughing maniacally all the way to the bank. (Credit: discounts-from-philly ) We reported earlier that bids for Sony PS3s hadreached $9,000 this morning. By Friday afternoon bidding on eBay had jumped over $10,000 for a new, unopened 60GB unit. (Thanks to Evan J. for the tip.) One entrepreneurial young man, asking $16,000, pleads on his seller's page, "FREE OVERNIGHT!!!! Help fund my college education!" The accompanying grainy photo of him holding his receipt and PS3 is slightly reminiscent of those ransom videos where a kidnap victim is forced to hold that day's newspaper to prove he or she is still alive. But despite the creepiness factor, we can't fault "discounts-from-philly"'s desperation for higher education. But we can if he just uses the money to get bigger tires and a paint job for his truck.

Who are you trying to fool with that? I remember the reports of how everyone thought it was going to be a repeat of the PS2 myself, but it wasn't.

There was this one dude that they interviewed who had bought up a bunch of PS3's at launch. He said there was a "small" moment during the end of December where the ebay prices hit around $100-$150 more than shelf price. He held off on selling for another week to see if it would go higher, but they immediately plummeted. He ended up selling them a a loss to get them off his hands.

Reality didn't play out like the assumptions at all. The Wii, on the other hand, stayed hard to get for 2 years. I remember the havok that caused.

This is looking to be worse.

one would think lilbroex would be tired of being wrong, guess not. OT, Chandler already hit the nail on the head.

buying something at a price and finding/providing the consumer that is willing to pay a higher price? 

All retailers (like Target or Walmart) do it.  All of these import/export companies do it.  not sure why that is to be looked down upon.  it is a pretty fundamental part of our economy.  you won't have coffee or banannas or video games or really just about anything not crafted by yourself and immediate (walking distance) neighboors. 

don't get me wrong...i'd never pay scalper prices for a video game system but i have payed them for things like packers playoff tickets last year.  without scalpers i'd never been able to go to that game so in a way ... i appreciate them.  i have increased access to stuff provided i value it enough to pay the premium.

It's too bad this can't really be done here in Europe. It's virtually impossible for things to be sold out in every country. You just won't get away with trying to sell stuff for twice the price, there's always options for people here.

Let's say something's sold out here in The Netherlands, then people just buy things from Germany, France or the UK. The only thing I can remember that was really sold out everywhere was the Wii, but by the looks of things, the WiiU won't be completely in the end. Though a lot of stores have it sold out here now too.

Awe, passive agression. How cute. I would have to be wrong first to be tired, and history says that I'm not in this case.

The PS3 price gouging lasted only for a moment and at its highest point, it wasn't that high.

Note that I'm talking about the actual "real event results" not what people theorized would happen(like the the article the dude posted).

People certainly "attempted" to gouge with the PS3 but it was unrealistic and they got little to no sells in the short time frame that it was viable. In case you forgot the original statement was that "it works everytime". They tried with the PS3, but ,like I siaid, it didn't work. So, sorry to burst your bubble.

I would like to see someone who actually spent $10,000 for a PS3, though.