I have a few X1/PS4 preorders I plan to sell on ebay when the time comes.

 

I've been watching preorder sales on ebay. These are not the actual consoles yet of course, it's people with preorders in hand promising to ship the console to the buyer on release.

 

Ebay rules are you cant sell a preorder until 30 days before release. So PS4 has only been legal on ebay only for about a week and X1 only a couple days.

 

Anyways a couple points, ebay/paypal combined takes in my experience about 13% of the sale price in various fees. Yes it is that much. Also, remember tax was paid on all consoles (unless you were lucky to be not taxed at Amazon, I am taxed). This means a PS4 doesn't cost 399, it costs more like $440 depending, and $550 for X1 after sales taxes and/or shipping depending.

 

So yeah I just watched a PS4 preorder auction end, it went for $630. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sony-Playstation-4-AMAZON-PS4-LAUNCH-DAY-EDITION-/221299826345?pt=Video_Games&hash=item33867f5ea9&autorefresh=true Sounds ok, but knock off 13% for fees, and assume the guy paid 440 for the console. He only nets 548-440=$108.

 

This particular auction offered free shippng as well. So likely knock another $20 off as he has to pay shipping. Unless he so called "drop ships" from Amazon (has it shipped directly to buyer) and I'm not sure how that works, I've also heard rumors you may lose your spot in preorder line if you change shipping address, so it seem dicey to me.

So yeah $100 bucks may sound good, but remember there's also risk of something backfiring, the buyer filing a backcharge on you or some problem like that. You could be out the whole cost of the console.

Anyways X1 is not much better, it seems to be selling for maybe $770, but remember it costs more like $550, plus ebays 13%...

I sold a PS3 at launch for $1200, so things have declined. Granted PS3 demand fell off a cliff, they only sold for high prices in about a 2 day launch window I happened to catch.

So yeah is this an indication of soft demand? PS3 and 360 both sold only like 200k there first months in NPD. VGchartz says they are track to sell over 1-1.5 million each this time, even if that may be worldwide, so this may hold ebay prices down as well. I also think the fact TWO consoles are coming out nerfs demand, as their is in effect 2X supply. I think demand would be higher if ONLY X1 or PS4 was hitting this year.

 

It's also possible demand/prices will be much higher at launch. I'm not sure sales of preorders mean a lot. We will see.

 

I also think next gen consoles may not be providing enough of a graphical leap to entice the average consumer here. Average Joe may not see enough improvement over his X360 or PS3 right now.

I'm sorry but are we supposed to emphasize with your financial pains or rethink the demand for next gen?

JoeTheBro said: I'm sorry but are we supposed to emphasize with your financial pains or rethink the demand for next gen?

i guess the point is to discuss demand. ebay discussion of consoles is a fun topic i think, at least to me. mr rude.

 

It just seems obvious to me so far there is not this huge stampede for next gen, they are not going for $1000+ and so on, which is interesting. Maybe that will change at launch though.

fallen said: JoeTheBro said: I'm sorry but are we supposed to emphasize with your financial pains or rethink the demand for next gen? i guess the point is to discuss demand. ebay discussion of consoles is a fun topic i think, at least to me. mr rude.   It just seems obvious to me so far there is not this huge stampede for next gen, they are not going for $1000+ and so on, which is interesting. Maybe that will change at launch though.

Stock was very limited for all 3 consoles at the start of last gen, hence people could charge those crazy prices.

This time around, all 3 seem to have fixed that.

Ebay sales are not indication of future sales, I know I also buy and sell things online.

fallen said: JoeTheBro said: I'm sorry but are we supposed to emphasize with your financial pains or rethink the demand for next gen? i guess the point is to discuss demand. ebay discussion of consoles is a fun topic i think, at least to me. mr rude.   It just seems obvious to me so far there is not this huge stampede for next gen, they are not going for $1000+ and so on, which is interesting. Maybe that will change at launch though.

Or maybe both Sony and Microsoft did a very fine job this time around in trying to meet pre-order demands both online and through retail stores so that most of those who would pay top dollar for the new consoles got their pre-orders directly from online stores/retail outlets. Keep in mind that both the Xbone and the PS4 are using similar architectures/parts that are similar to what PCs use, so parts aren't an issue as before... Only a nut case would go to eBay and get a PS4 or Xbone when clearly both Sony and MS can meet demand faster than they did back then.

Wait until like a week before Christmas. Or a week after launch when the "all my friends got one and I didn't" pressure is strongest and those left out start impulse buying.

it is not only the demand that plays a rolein the hike on these plrices but also the supply. this time around both companies will alot more units available at launch compared to last gen so many more early adopters will be able to find them on the stores

fallen said: JoeTheBro said: I'm sorry but are we supposed to emphasize with your financial pains or rethink the demand for next gen? i guess the point is to discuss demand. ebay discussion of consoles is a fun topic i think, at least to me. mr rude.   It just seems obvious to me so far there is not this huge stampede for next gen, they are not going for $1000+ and so on, which is interesting. Maybe that will change at launch though.

Sorry. Reselling consoles at a higher price is something I morally disagree with, but that's not something I meant to express with my question.

JoeTheBro said: fallen said: JoeTheBro said: I'm sorry but are we supposed to emphasize with your financial pains or rethink the demand for next gen? i guess the point is to discuss demand. ebay discussion of consoles is a fun topic i think, at least to me. mr rude.   It just seems obvious to me so far there is not this huge stampede for next gen, they are not going for $1000+ and so on, which is interesting. Maybe that will change at launch though. Sorry. Reselling consoles at a higher price is something I morally disagree with, but that's not something I meant to express with my question.

What is the reasoning behind your moral objection?