I picked up a PS3 on ebay for $599 and got a sob story from the person about how they actually lost money on the sale. He actually asked for another $25 to cover his costs.....

I'll attest to this. I work at a best buy and PS3's have been coming back literally in the dozens. Once people figure out it is costing them money just to keep it up on eBay and they aren't going to make their quick buck they rush to beat the 30 day return.

That's what they get, freakin' pirates! Anyone got a Wii?

AAAhaha this is what happens when you don't do any market research. The window of oppertunity was about 2 months, now they all are hurting. Picked up a 60GB system for $599 at Best Buy 2 weeks ago. Sure glad I didn't miss work or sleep to pick up a system.

And the guy in the article IS a scalper. $400 profit is scalping, don't know why he doesn't see himself as one.

I wonder what happened tho that family of morons who bought like 10 PS3s so the mom could stay home with her kid. They were practically begging people to buy them.

Muhahhahaha, the laws of supply and no demand.

Aww, that's too bad... I hope something comes along to make it even worse and stick the knife a little deeper (and twist it, yeah!) to these hype whores.

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha *deep breath* hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.

I feel so much better now.

Maybe each of those scalpers should be awarded a booby prize in the shape of a Cabbage Patch Kid?

and thus balance was restored unto life.

There was about a 5 day window to turn any money on those... I pre-ordered and mine was delivered on launch day... I saw the idiotic prices on eBay and listed mine with a 1600$ reserve and it was bought within the hour... I later picked up another at Target and it's pretty much just sit there since we hooked up our Wii... I'd have never scalped it if there hadn't been obvious idiots willing to be stupid about how much they'd pay... I'd sell the one we have now at cost - the games aren't there and the Wii is just lightyears more fun...

Karma is a bitch!!!

why such hatred towards ps3..i don't understand. I would love to have a ps3..but not the bundle offer.

So, where do I go to trade my Wii in for a PS3? Eh? Shes only been played a couple o' times...no takers?

As Red Foreman said it best...

"Dumbasses"

I saw my first real live PS3 today at target.
Only one in the glass case. The place was packed and noone gave a shit about it. I asked the geek who worked there about it and he said they weren't going for squat on ebay, I believed him. I had a slight desire to buy it, but not that strong.
The geek told me that an hour earlier they put out 25 Wiis and they all sold out instantly.

Man, I love my Wii. It's really is fun for the whole family. I was skeptical about getting one, but the more I read about it the more intrigued I became. I am just not that interested in what games are available for the PS3.

Either way, I still have my PS2 and that will continue to be fun. Hope of God of War 2 is as good as the first.

I played all 3 new systems over the weekend at a friends house who cares way more about that stuff than I do anymore.

We played some shooter game on the PS3, and it didn't look NEARLY as good as the game we had just played on the XBOX360 (gears of war i think?). The controls weren't as good either (tightness, responsiveness, etc). Ya ya, second gen game vs first gen, but still. You had fucking BETTER back that pricetag up with some quality shiz. What I saw was not that.

We rocked the wii for considerably longer. Wii sports is fantastic. We rocked through every variation and they were all fun and we laughed a lot. The bowling and golf get high marks. A quick play through some zelda was a blast as well.

PS3 = not too much fun for $600
Wii = Quite a lot of fun for $250
I kinda want an xbox more than either one of those, though :)

Yes, Wii is for the little girls, women, elderly, and families. PS3 is for the 18-40 Alpha males.

By choosing one system over another we know exactly who you are....

What is particularly troubling is that these systems being returned could have been under Christmas trees for people who genuinely wanted a PS3. Instead, all of the systems were horded by people trying to make a quick buck. Even though they have to go through the 'pain' of returning the unit, I would prefer that Best Buy, Costco, and the rest refused to take them back. Make those grinches eat the cost of that PS3 for ruining someone else's Christmas.

Oh, wait. No one wanted a PS3. Oh well. Make them eat it anyway.

Hahaha. PS3 is for people who like boring games.

PS3 is for alpha males who have no idea what makes a good gaming system.

For the price of a piece of garbage PS3 and one game, one could have an infinitely better system in a 360, and a Wii to boot.

PS3 is for boring games? Exactly when did games come out for this system?

The PS3 will be the final nail in sony's misguided gaming system attempts - there will be NO PS4.

Let's face it. PS3 is for people who wanted a blue-ray player.

I like the comment about these should have been under Christmas trees.

Somewhere on the island of misfit toys there are a million PS3s asking the little doll that poops jello "WTF!"

darkstar said:

Aww, that's too bad... I hope something comes along to make it even worse and stick the knife a little deeper (and twist it, yeah!) to these hype whores.

Now that's priceless.... I love that comment... wish I knew the proper tags for quoting.... not sure how to do it? but that comment was the best.

I had to wait outside of a Futureshop for 12 hours to get my Wii, and I am glad i did it.

Also I would like to add Fuck Sony.

I'm with Monty. Sony should have made it a provision of resale - this has hurt everyone. If there was an extremely short return window on high-demand items (ok, even high-priced-potentially-high-demand ones), it would greatly reduce scalping because of the risk of getting stuck. Serious scalpers might risk losing money on one or two, but we could weed-out the worst offenders and half-serious scalper-wannabes pretty quick.

Although Sony dropped the ball on the potential of the PS3, I would rather have them succeed and keep up the pressure and competition than be forced into conceding to MS. The PS2 still rocks, but there won't be many new games from here out.

The Wii is in a class by itself. Long live Nintendo!

Sell your Sony stock pronto. That's the only thing that will be bombing more than the PS3 next year.

I think more stores need 5 minute, sales. On the day before christmas, all the chain stores should have sold one PS3 at $50. The upshot: Anyone who tries to return a PS3 w/o a receipt is bound by the "lowest price sold during the return period" and will thus get $50 for their unit.

Nothing like a big corporate kick square in the nuts of scalpers.

But I'm happy with my 360 and Wii. I still think I came out ahead financially, too.

I still find it interesting, scalpers or not, that demand basically plummeted a month after release. Basically, one month after release (Dec 17-ish) PS3s stopped selling. They were at most going for 10% above cost. Now very few are being sold...

I picked up a PS3 fairly easily that week from a retail store.

Looks like all the PS3 demand was just... scalpers. There weren't many "hard core gamers" willing to ante up for a system. This may turn out to be the worst launch ever when demand basically plummets. Low supply, but no demand...

Some of you are definitely super gay. When 360 was launched, it also didn't have any good games. If PS3 are so easy to find, why doesn't Amazon stock them? They're one of the largest e-tailers in the universe. PS3s are expensive because it's not just a game machine. It's also the next gen DVD player. What part of that do you gay people not understand? Can Wii play the next generation DVDs? How much will a 360 cost once you get it up to similar specs as the PS3, you know, with the HD DVD and a 60GB HD etc? Use your large head to think and the small head to play ok gay wads?

wow jcc, who abused you as a child? sorry you get offended over comments on a website.

it's amazing that the demand has dropped so fast, but I can't say I didn't see it coming. Blu-Ray (and maybe even HDDVD) is doomed, and Sony should have waited to at least have one killer launch title.

We're all super gay, I love to play with my Wii, and even my brother does too, but he doesn't like the strap on...

Hey Nick, don't be gay and give me a kiss!

How did an article on scalpers go to a flame war on gayness? Oh well enough of wasting my time on this junk. Wii browser rules thats all. Wiimote home/ Wii menu/ Zelda/ done.

I'm totally gay... for the Wii

oh wait, that sounds gayer than I thought.

i think jcc's got a crush on the PS3.....jcc and ps3 sitting on a tree k-i-s-s-i-n-g.....thats basically all you can do with it right now.....hey jcc why dont you go relax and take a $600 vacation.....oh wait....you cant....you just blew that cash on a machine you makeout with in a tree

Sony's mistake was too little, too late if you ask me, with emphasis on the too little. Look at the Wii.