How Long Before This Happens Here?

Written by Kevin Alexander

Sunday, 12 November 2006 20:22

The PS3 launch in Japan seems to be more of a nightmare than we can even fathom here. Over at Kotaku they were sent an eye-popping email describing one of the most disgusting things I've ever heard in consumerism.

To be blunt, the rapidly growing practice of flipping highly-desired products on eBay is starting to disgust me. Before I even write another word I'll be the first to admit that I'm completely guilty of this. Last year I sold my 360 that I bought on launch night after opening it and seeing how much they were going for. In the end it wasn't really worth it as the hassle of doing this didn't equal the compensation. Combining this experience and watching from the outside I have since come around to my current opinion of this practice. I had an opportunity to preorder both a PS3 and a Wii but since I wasn't planning on playing either console right away I wasn't going to buy one just to sell. I know that somewhere out there there is someone who wants the console more than I do and more likely than not someone else is going to buy and sell it to them for twice the amount online. The principles of supply and demand rule business but there doesn't seem to be any room for consumer-to-consumer ethics when it comes to auctioning Elmos and consoles.

The email link again, be sure to read it.

Comments (4) Add Comment

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written by Liam, November 13, 2006

...Yikes.

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written by danzuke (NetPhantom), November 13, 2006

As far as here in the states goes there's only a few solutions. Have open pricing and let the stores make the killing, or wait until you have enough units to properly launch an item, so people that want it can go buy it. Probably the best way to do this would've been a lottery system. You go in, put your name into a drawing into a hat, then a week before launch they call the people that won and tell them to stop in and put their money down. It' simple, it'd work, and you wouldn't have the crowd/mob. But the majoy companies (hardware and retail) WANT the mob and the craziness, it makes for good news stories and therefore free publicity. When Sony looks at that mob they see devotion, demand, and popularity.

But in the end I honestly believe it's always been like this. eBay has made it easier for people to cash in, but every year for as long as I can remember people have been clawing over each other for some hot new/cheap item. I remember my mother waiting outside a store waiting for it to open to buy me Ice Hockey for the NES.

Ever see those videos of what they refer to as the running of the bride? Or some of those black friday videos with people trampling kids for a DVD player that costs 10 bucks? I'd say it's already happening here... and the stores themselves should shoulder some of the blame, for going out of their way to add to the already chaotic atmosphere. Do I really need to be cheered as I enter best buy???
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVvEChXulSs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7ZvYxb9BXk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnby-kDb0iE

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written by Harpua Scorpio, November 13, 2006

I know that there is a lot of this happening already, and it is mostly centered around Black Friday. Those sales have many different things so heavily discounted for a couple of hours that people almost feel like they HAVE to buy them. The email I pointed out was only for the PS3 and the crowd looked twice as big as any in those videos. You're right about the lottery system, that would help a lot. Remember when we used to actually have to go to a Ticketmaster outlet to buy concert tickets? Right before it became easy to buy them online they started using a lottery and it cut down on the crowd and camping overnight just to see Billy Joel.

Something just struck a chord with me about the email. Why was there no control of the situation? How much profit is there really to be made with selling a couple of consoles online after having to pay some poor people to do all the work for you? I guess my point is why is it so worth it?

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written by DanZuke, November 13, 2006

Once you pay someone else to wait for you, I think you're crossing some weird line that I don't want to go anywhere near. But with so few consoles available to for the Japanese launch, I shudder to think of what they must go for on the secondary market. Though these rich business men may just be buying for their kids.